South Dakota Business Startup Guides

Starting a Business in Spearfish, South Dakota

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

Do You Have What It Takes?

Being an entrepreneur is hard work, much harder than working as an employee. Are you certain you want to start a business?

Before you move forward with starting a business, be sure to do these three things:

  • Talk to other entrepreneurs in Spearfish. Get their candid feedback on what it takes to start a successful business.
  • We recommend reading Should You Become an Entrepreneur?. For aspiring new entrepreneurs, it's a must read article.
  • Have a candid conversation with friends and family. A support network of family and friends can be a great sounding board for good advice before you decide for sure to go into business.

What Business Are You Starting?

Choosing a business that is right for you is very important. To stir your creative juices on what kind of business to start, take a look at Finding Your Niche in Life.

If you still are not sure what type of business to start, peruse the Good Businesses to Start section of our site. For example, you might be interested in our How to Start a Golf Equipment & Supplies Wholesale & Manufacturers Business guide or our Opening a Meditation Instruction Business guide.

Remember that you are opening your new business in Spearfish. If Spearfish already has plenty of the kind of business you want to start, you might want to change your plans. A critical consideration is whether Spearfish demographics mesh well with your startup concept.

Spearfish, South Dakota Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size
# of
Businesses
1-4 Employees
1181
5-9 Employees
330
10-19 Employees
183
20-49 Employees
99
50-99 Employees
39
100-249 Employees
6
250-499 Employees
6
500-999 Employees
3
1000+ Employees
0
All Spearfish Businesses
1847

As a new Spearfish entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Spearfish 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
Ambulance Services
1
Amusement Arcades
1
Architectural Services
1
Art Dealers
1
Automotive Exhaust System Repair
1
Automotive Transmission Repair
1
Beauty Salons
5
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores
5
Boat Dealers
1
Bowling Centers
2
Building Inspection Services
1
Business Associations
2
Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning Services
4
Casino Hotels
1
Child Day Care Services
4
Civic and Social Organizations
3
Claims Adjusting
2
Collection Agencies
1
Commercial Lithographic Printing
2
Computer and Software Stores
1
Construction Sand and Gravel Mining
1
Consumer Lending
1
Continuing Care Retirement Communities
1
Convenience Stores
2
Credit Card Issuing
1
Credit Unions
1
Dental Laboratories
1
Diagnostic Imaging Centers
1
Direct Life Insurance Carriers
1
Discount Department Stores
2
Document Preparation Services
1
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)
7
Drywall and Insulation Contractors
2
Electrical Contractors
8
Elementary and Secondary Schools
1
Engineering Services
3
Family Clothing Stores
2
Fertilizer (Mixing Only) Manufacturing
1
Fine Arts Schools
1
Finish Carpentry Contractors
3
Floor Covering Stores
2
Flooring Contractors
1
Florists
3
Food (Health) Supplement Stores
1
Fossil Fuel Electric Power Generation
1
Framing Contractors
2
Fruit and Vegetable Markets
1
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services
1
Furniture Stores
3
General Automotive Repair
7
General Freight Trucking, Local
2
General Rental Centers
1
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores
4
Golf Courses and Country Clubs
1
Hardware Stores
1
Home Centers
2
Home Health Care Services
2
Home Health Equipment Rental
1
Homes for the Elderly
4
Household Appliance Stores
2
Industrial Building Construction
1
Internet Service Providers
1
Investment Advice
1
Janitorial Services
6
Jewelry (except Costume) Manufacturing
1
Jewelry Stores
2
Landscaping Services
3
Lessors of Other Real Estate Property
2
Locksmiths
1
Logging
3
Machine Shops
2
Mail-Order Houses
1
Manifold Business Forms Printing
1
Marketing Consulting Services
1
Masonry Contractors
2
Mobile Food Services
1
Motor Vehicle Towing
1
Motorcycle Dealers
2
Museums
1
Natural Gas Distribution
1
New Car Dealers
6
New Housing Operative Builders
3
Nursing Care Facilities
3
Office Administrative Services
2
Office Supplies and Stationery Stores
1
Offices of Certified Public Accountants
3
Offices of Chiropractors
7
Offices of Dentists
8
Offices of Lawyers
12
Offices of Real Estate Appraisers
5
Optical Goods Stores
3
Painting and Wall Covering Contractors
3
Parking Lots and Garages
1
Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services
1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores
1
Photography Studios, Portrait
2
Portfolio Management
1
Private Mail Centers
1
Radio Networks
1
Radio Stations
2
Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturing
1
Residential Property Managers
1
Residential Remodelers
5
Sawmills
3
School and Employee Bus Transportation
1
Securities Brokerage
3
Septic Tank and Related Services
2
Sheet Metal Work Manufacturing
1
Shoe Stores
2
Siding Contractors
2
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars
4
Solid Waste Collection
1
Sporting Goods Stores
3
Sports and Recreation Instruction
1
Tax Preparation Services
2
Temporary Shelters
1
Theater Companies and Dinner Theaters
3
Tire and Tube Merchant Wholesalers
1
Title Abstract and Settlement Offices
1
Travel Agencies
1
Truck Trailer Manufacturing
1
Used Car Dealers
6
Used Household and Office Goods Moving
2
Used Merchandise Stores
2
Video Tape and Disc Rental
1
Vocational Rehabilitation Services
1
Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers
1
Window Treatment Stores
1
Wineries
1
Wired Telecommunications Carriers
1
Women's Clothing Stores
3

Forming a Company in Spearfish, South Dakota

It's very important that your business is formed as a legal entity that is separate from its owners. Among other things, forming a legal entity for the business limits your liabilities.

When forming a company, you will pick from many company types, such as a corporation, LLC, sole proprietorship, partnership or other structure.

Incorporating is a very common way to legally create a business entity. Of course, you have to decide which type of corporation to form and where to incorporate. If you are starting a business in South Dakota, it doesn't mean you are required to incorporate in South Dakota. As it turns out, you can incorporate in the state of your choosing. For example, it's very popular to incorporate in Delaware, and incorporating in Nevada has become very trendy as well. Don't forget, though, that you will have to register as a foreign entity in all states that you do business in.

There are many nuances to forming a company. We recommend you read some of the educational articles about company formation that are availabe on our site, such as Where to Incorporate. You should also consider getting professional assistance from your business lawyer. On a final note, since you will be starting a business in Spearfish, South Dakota, our web page covering Incorporating in South Dakota may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in South Dakota.

Don't Skip the Business Plan

Having a business plan is essential in laying a solid foundation for your business success. Indeed, a business plan is a written description of the future you envision for your business. Failure to write a business plan makes you more prone to becoming a business failure statistic.

To learn more about business plans, read Free Business Plan Templates. You should also take advantage of free counseling sessions provided by your local SCORE chapter in South Dakota.

Marketing Your New Venture

To rise above the crowd in Spearfish and build your business, having an excellent marketing plan is fundamental to your beating the competition.

We have some helpful resources on this site for entrepreneurs who are working on marketing plans. Point-of-Sale Displays is an article that will stimulate a few thoughts on your marketing plan. There are many more articles on marketing on our site. Visit our Small Business Marketing resource section to see them all.

Now It's Up To You

As an entrepreneur in Spearfish, you won't be working for the boss anymore. You are the boss.

From this point on, you control your own destiny.

This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Spearfish and elsewhere to achieve real success. We have a wealth of experience in business start-ups, financing, marketing, sales and more...and we've made all of our knowledge available to you.

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Spearfish, South Dakota

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

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