North Carolina Business Startup Guides

Starting a Business in Sanford, North Carolina

Thinking about starting a business in Sanford, North Carolina? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Sanford.

Which Business to Choose?

Choosing a business that is right for you is very important. You might get some good ideas about what kind of business to start by reading Finding Your Niche in Life.

For in-depth how-to guides on how to start specific businesses, browse our Good Businesses to Start section of our site. For example, you might be interested in our Starting a Barn Business guide or our Starting a Skiing Clothing, Equipment & Supplies Retail Business guide.

Always keep in mind that your new startup will be located in Sanford. Think about what needs are currently being underserved in Sanford. Make sure you fully understand Sanford demographics before you lock in on your business idea.

Sanford, North Carolina Demographic Information

Sanford has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.

To give you a better feel for Sanford demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Sanford.

Business Size
# of
Businesses
1-4 Employees
15225
5-9 Employees
6153
10-19 Employees
3738
20-49 Employees
2373
50-99 Employees
966
100-249 Employees
357
250-499 Employees
168
500-999 Employees
84
1000+ Employees
63
All Sanford Businesses
29127

As a new Sanford entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Sanford for each business category. By looking at this chart, you can get a general sense for how much competition there is in the business niche that you are pursuing.

Business Type
# of
Businesses
Adhesive Manufacturing
1
Advertising Agencies
1
Amusement Arcades
1
Appliance Repair and Maintenance
1
Automotive Exhaust System Repair
1
Automotive Glass Replacement Shops
2
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores
7
Automotive Transmission Repair
1
Baked Goods Stores
1
Beauty Salons
7
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores
4
Book Stores
1
Bowling Centers
1
Business Associations
1
Cable and Other Program Distribution
2
Cafeterias
1
Car Washes
6
Cemeteries and Crematories
1
Child Day Care Services
26
Children's and Infants' Clothing Stores
1
Civic and Social Organizations
7
Claims Adjusting
1
Clay Refractory Manufacturing
1
Coin-Operated Laundries and Drycleaners
3
Commercial Lithographic Printing
3
Community Food Services
1
Computer and Software Stores
2
Computer Systems Design Services
1
Construction Sand and Gravel Mining
2
Consumer Lending
6
Convenience Stores
3
Credit Unions
2
Custom Computer Programming Services
1
Diagnostic Imaging Centers
1
Diet and Weight Reducing Centers
1
Digital Printing
1
Direct Life Insurance Carriers
1
Discount Department Stores
2
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)
2
Educational Support Services
4
Electric Power Distribution
2
Electrical Contractors
21
Elementary and Secondary Schools
6
Emergency and Other Relief Services
1
Employment Placement Agencies
1
Engineering Services
6
Exterminating and Pest Control Services
2
Family Clothing Stores
7
Family Planning Centers
1
Farm Supplies Merchant Wholesalers
2
Fine Arts Schools
2
Finish Carpentry Contractors
9
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers
7
Florists
5
Food Service Contractors
5
Framing Contractors
6
Fruit and Vegetable Markets
1
Full-Service Restaurants
35
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services
5
Furniture Stores
8
General Freight Trucking, Local
4
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals
1
General Rental Centers
4
General Warehousing and Storage
2
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores
7
Glass and Glazing Contractors
2
Golf Courses and Country Clubs
4
Heating Oil Dealers
1
Home Centers
2
Home Furnishing Merchant Wholesalers
2
Home Health Care Services
8
Home Health Equipment Rental
1
Homes for the Elderly
6
Household Appliance Stores
4
Ice Manufacturing
1
Industrial Building Construction
1
Industrial Pattern Manufacturing
1
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages
21
Interior Design Services
3
Internet Service Providers
1
Investigation Services
1
Iron and Steel Forging
1
Iron Foundries
1
Janitorial Services
9
Jewelry Stores
8
Land Subdivision
1
Landscaping Services
20
Lessors of Other Real Estate Property
2
Logging
11
Machine Shops
5
Mail-Order Houses
1
Manufactured (Mobile) Home Dealers
8
Marketing Consulting Services
1
Masonry Contractors
12
Meat Markets
1
Mortgage and Nonmortgage Loan Brokers
2
Motor Vehicle Metal Stamping
1
Motor Vehicle Towing
2
Motorcycle Dealers
2
Musical Instrument and Supplies Stores
1
Nail Salons
1
Narrow Fabric Mills
1
New Car Dealers
10
New Housing Operative Builders
5
Newspaper Publishers
1
Nonresidential Property Managers
3
Nursing Care Facilities
7
Office Administrative Services
6
Office Equipment Merchant Wholesalers
4
Offices of Certified Public Accountants
8
Offices of Chiropractors
5
Offices of Dentists
18
Offices of Lawyers
18
Offices of Optometrists
6
Offices of Real Estate Appraisers
4
Optical Goods Stores
2
Packing and Crating
1
Paging
1
Paint and Wallpaper Stores
3
Painting and Wall Covering Contractors
2
Passenger Car Rental
1
Payroll Services
1
Pet and Pet Supplies Stores
3
Petroleum Bulk Stations and Terminals
1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores
8
Photography Studios, Portrait
1
Plastics Bag Manufacturing
1
Portfolio Management
2
Poultry Processing
1
Precision Turned Product Manufacturing
1
Quick Printing
1
Radio Stations
3
Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturing
2
Real Estate Credit
5
Recreational Vehicle Dealers
2
Refrigerated Warehousing and Storage
1
Remediation Services
1
Residential Remodelers
7
Reupholstery and Furniture Repair
2
Roofing Contractors
3
Sales Financing
1
Securities Brokerage
6
Security Guards and Patrol Services
2
Septic Tank and Related Services
1
Shoe Stores
5
Siding Contractors
1
Site Preparation Contractors
9
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars
5
Soft Drink Manufacturing
1
Sporting Goods Stores
5
Sports and Recreation Instruction
3
Tax Preparation Services
3
Television Broadcasting
1
Temporary Help Services
7
Testing Laboratories
2
Tire Dealers
4
Tobacco Stores
2
Tortilla Manufacturing
1
Travel Agencies
1
Truss Manufacturing
1
Used Car Dealers
15
Used Household and Office Goods Moving
2
Used Merchandise Stores
3
Veterinary Services
5
Video Tape and Disc Rental
5
Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers
5
Wired Telecommunications Carriers
1
Women's Clothing Stores
7
Wood Preservation
1
Wood Window and Door Manufacturing
1
Yarn Spinning Mills
5

Don't Forget to Create a Business Plan

A business plan is vital to the health of your new business. In effect, a business plan is a written description of the future you envision for your business. Starting a business without a business plan is a recipe for disaster.

To learn more about business plans, read Business Plan Contests. A great resource for business planning assistance is the free counseling sessions provided by your local SCORE chapter in North Carolina.

Marketing Your New Venture

Whether your goal is to attract Sanford customers or you plan on selling elsewhere, you'll need to have a good marketing plan.

You can learn a ton about marketing on our site. Making the Most of Trade Shows discusses marketing strategy and tactical marketing in a way that should get you thinking about how to creatively promote your business. That's just a sampling of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.

Building Up Your Sales

Mastering the art of selling is a must if you want your new Sanford business to do well.

Good selling involves demonstrating that your wares meet your customer's needs. Fortunately, we've got plenty of good advice to help you improve your selling skills.

Sales Prospecting offers some helpful tips on how to sell. It's one of several good articles on our site regarding Entrepreneurial Selling.

How to Improve Your Entrepreneurial Abilities

The best business owners know that they need to continually improve.

With your business being located in Sanford, North Carolina, you will want to take advantage of the many programs available at nearby North Carolina universities, colleges and community colleges. It's also smart to see if there are any networking groups or organizations in which Sanford entrepreneurs get together to network and trade their business experiences.

Next Steps

Most new Sanford businesses underestimate the number of challenges they will face.

From this point on, you control your own destiny.

Our goal here is to promote the vitality and growth of small businesses in Sanford and throughout the United States . We want to be there for you to answer your business questions, whether you are a new Sanford entrepreneur who is just getting started or you are already up and running with your new venture.

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Sanford, North Carolina

Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Sanford.

More Business Startup Guides for North Carolina

Starting a Business in Salisbury
Starting a Business in Scotland Neck

Browse All Business Startup Guides for North Carolina
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