Louisiana Business Startup Guides

Starting a Business in Sulphur, Louisiana

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

Do You Have Entrepreneurial Drive and Passion?

Being an entrepreneur is difficult, much harder than working as an employee. Are you positive you are ready to take on this challenge?

With so much at stake when you start a business, we strongly recommend you do the following before you proceed:

  • Talk to other entrepreneurs in Sulphur. Get their candid feedback on what it takes to start a successful business.
  • We recommend reading Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs. For aspiring new entrepreneurs, it's a must read article.
  • Seek the advice of somebody who knows you well. 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 Type of Business Should You Start?

There are many businesses that you can start. How do you know which type of business is right for you? To help you decide on a business type, we encourage you to read Free Business Ideas.

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 How to Start a Paint Store guide or our Starting a Rubber Reclaiming Business guide.

Always keep in mind that starting a business in Sulphur has some implications. Some businesses will do better in Sulphur than others. Don't forget to review Sulphur demographics to see if there's a market for what you want to sell.

Sulphur, Louisiana Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size
# of
Businesses
1-4 Employees
1770
5-9 Employees
1098
10-19 Employees
696
20-49 Employees
516
50-99 Employees
132
100-249 Employees
120
250-499 Employees
18
500-999 Employees
6
1000+ Employees
0
All Sulphur Businesses
4356

As a new Sulphur entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Sulphur 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
Architectural Services
3
Automotive Exhaust System Repair
1
Automotive Glass Replacement Shops
2
Beauty Salons
4
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores
1
Boat Dealers
1
Book Stores
1
Building Inspection Services
1
Business Associations
1
Cafeterias
1
Casino Hotels
1
Casinos (except Casino Hotels)
1
Caterers
2
Cemeteries and Crematories
1
Child and Youth Services
1
Child Day Care Services
10
Children's and Infants' Clothing Stores
1
Claims Adjusting
3
Community Food Services
1
Computer and Software Stores
1
Computer Systems Design Services
1
Consumer Lending
3
Convenience Stores
2
Credit Unions
5
Diagnostic Imaging Centers
1
Directory and Mailing List Publishers
1
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)
6
Drywall and Insulation Contractors
1
Electric Power Distribution
1
Electrical Contractors
6
Electronic Shopping
1
Engineering Services
4
Family Clothing Stores
2
Fine Arts Schools
2
Finish Carpentry Contractors
4
Floor Covering Stores
1
Flooring Contractors
1
Florists
5
Framing Contractors
1
Freight Transportation Arrangement
1
Fruit and Vegetable Markets
1
Full-Service Restaurants
19
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services
2
Furniture Stores
2
General Automotive Repair
10
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals
1
General Rental Centers
1
General Warehousing and Storage
1
Golf Courses and Country Clubs
1
Hardware Merchant Wholesalers
1
Hardware Stores
1
Hazardous Waste Treatment and Disposal
1
Household Appliance Stores
1
Industrial Building Construction
1
Industrial Launderers
1
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages
11
Investigation Services
1
Janitorial Services
3
Jewelry Stores
1
Land Subdivision
1
Landscaping Services
4
Lessors of Other Real Estate Property
4
Limited-Service Restaurants
27
Local Messengers and Local Delivery
1
Machine Shops
3
Marketing Consulting Services
1
Men's Clothing Stores
1
Metal Heat Treating
1
Mortgage and Nonmortgage Loan Brokers
1
Motion Picture and Video Production
1
Motor Vehicle Towing
5
Museums
1
Natural Gas Liquid Extraction
1
Newspaper Publishers
1
Nursing Care Facilities
2
Office Administrative Services
1
Office Supplies and Stationery Stores
1
Offices of Certified Public Accountants
7
Offices of Chiropractors
2
Offices of Dentists
14
Offices of Optometrists
1
Offices of Podiatrists
1
Optical Goods Stores
1
Outdoor Power Equipment Stores
1
Paint and Wallpaper Stores
1
Painting and Wall Covering Contractors
2
Payroll Services
1
Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services
1
Petrochemical Manufacturing
3
Petroleum Bulk Stations and Terminals
1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores
5
Photography Studios, Portrait
3
Pipeline Transportation of Crude Oil
1
Portfolio Management
1
Professional Organizations
1
Public Relations Agencies
1
Quick Printing
1
Radio Stations
1
Real Estate Credit
1
Recreational Goods Rental
1
Recreational Vehicle Dealers
1
Residential Remodelers
2
Roofing Contractors
2
Savings Institutions
1
Securities Brokerage
4
Ship Building and Repairing
1
Shoe Stores
2
Siding Contractors
1
Site Preparation Contractors
3
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars
1
Solid Waste Collection
2
Solid Waste Landfill
1
Sporting Goods Stores
2
Sports and Recreation Instruction
1
Tax Preparation Services
5
Tile and Terrazzo Contractors
4
Tire and Tube Merchant Wholesalers
1
Tire Dealers
3
Tire Retreading
1
Tobacco Stores
2
Used Car Dealers
3
Veterinary Services
5
Vocational Rehabilitation Services
1
Warehouse Clubs and Supercenters
1
Wired Telecommunications Carriers
5
Women's Clothing Stores
1

Have You Considered Buying an Existing Sulphur Business?

We've created a useful website page for those who want to Buy a Business in Louisiana. Follow that link and you may find several good businesses for sale in Sulphur.

If you are serious about buying a business, you may want to read this article: Buying a Business.

Selecting a Name For Your Venture

A big decision when starting a company is choosing a company name. Believe it or not, choosing a good company name can be a big contributor to your business success.

Company names should be fun to say, and they should help people to understand what you do and how you differentiate yourself in the market.

For other considerations regarding naming a company, we recommend this article: Naming a Business.

On a final note, given that you are planning on starting a business in Sulphur, it's critical that you ensure that no other Louisiana company is using the business name you want to use.

Getting Money to Start a Business

Getting your Sulphur business the capital it needs to succeed will be harder than you might expect. If you don't have a rich uncle to fund you, you'll need to be creative in how you approach your fundraising efforts.

Fortunately, this site contains dozens of articles on raising money, including one we recommend entitled Business Line of Credit.

For Sulphur entrepreneurs who need startup capital, you'll want to take a look at our List of Louisiana Angel Investors and our List of Louisiana Venture Capital Firms.

Getting the Word Out About Your New Startup

To grow your Sulphur business, having an excellent marketing plan is fundamental to your business achieving its goals.

You can learn quite a bit about marketing on our site. Media Kits is an article that will stimulate a few thoughts on your marketing plan. That's just a taste of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.

Now It's Up To You

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

Owning your own business will be a daunting task, but you can do it.

This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Sulphur and elsewhere to achieve real success. We want to be there for you to answer your business questions, whether you are a new Sulphur 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 Sulphur, Louisiana

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

More Business Startup Guides for Louisiana

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Starting a Business in Tallulah

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