Starting a Business in Concord, Massachusetts

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

Will You Be a Successful Entrepreneur?

Before quitting your day job, consider your entrepreneurial instincts and capabilities.

Here are three things we recommend you do before you fully commit to starting a new business of your own.

• Talk to other entrepreneurs in Concord. They are usually very willing to share their insights on the ups and downs of being an entrepreneur.
• 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. Others sometimes know you better than you know yourself.

What Business Are You Starting?

An important decision is what kind of business you want to start. 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 Starting a Dance Club guide or our Starting a Tatoo Parlor guide.

Remember that your new startup will be located in Concord. Some businesses will do better in Concord than others. Make sure you fully understand Concord demographics before you lock in on your business idea.

Concord, Massachusetts Demographic Information

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

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

As a new Concord entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Concord 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.

Have You Considered Franchising?

As you drive around Concord, you'll notice that many local entrepreneurs have gone the franchising route. But is franchising the right option for you?

We highly recommend you consider franchising as an option. We have many articles on franchises, such as Questions to Ask Franchisors. Get a thorough education on franchising by browsing all of our Articles on Franchising.

To learn about specific franchise opportunities, check out our Franchise Directory.

Sample franchise opportunities include Subway Franchises and Starbucks Franchises. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Accounting Franchises and Moving Franchises.

Note on Concord Franchise Opportunities: You will need to contact franchisors directly to see if their franchises are available in Concord.

Have You Considered Buying an Existing Concord Business?

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

For anybody who wants to buy a business, we recommend reading this useful article: Buying a Business.

Naming the Company

Making the right decision when choosing a company name is very important. There are many decisions you'll make now that you can change later, but changing a company name years down the road is not very easy. So, choose a good company name at the outset.

Company names need to be easy to spell, easy to pronounce, and easy to remember.

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

As a final piece of advice, remember that because you are starting a business in Concord, it's very important that you make sure no other Massachusetts company is using the business name you want to use.

Forming a Company in Concord, Massachusetts

It's very important that your business is formed as a legal entity that is separate from its owners. Without a legal structure for the business, you can be held personally liable for the actions, debts and obligations of your company.

The entity you form can be a traditional C-corporation, a Limited Liability Company (LLC), or an S-corporation.

Incorporating is a very popular way to form a business. A key decision is whether to form and S-Corp or a C-Corp, and you also must decide in which state you will incorporate. If you are starting a business in Massachusetts, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Massachusetts. In fact, you can incorporate in any state you would like to. However, if you do incorporate in another state, you'll have to register as a foreign corporation in your home state.

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 Corporate Formalities. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. Finally, if you are starting a business in Concord, Massachusetts, our information on Incorporating in Massachusetts may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Massachusetts.

Don't Skip the Business Plan

A business plan is vital in maximizing the prospects of your new company. Indeed, a business plan is a written description of the future you envision for your business. Not having a business plan is a recipe for disaster.

To learn more about business plans, read Business Presentations. You can also get free counseling sessions provided by your local SCORE chapter in Massachusetts.

Raising Money for Your New Venture

Getting your Concord business the capital it needs to succeed is not an easy task. Bootstrapping, which means growing the business without outside funding, is the best alternative, but that's not a viable option for many startup plans.

Take advantage of our many articles on securing funding, such as Bank Credit Lines.

For Concord entrepreneurs who want to raise money for a new venture, check out our List of Massachusetts Angel Investors and our List of Massachusetts Venture Capital Firms.

Promoting Your New Company

Whether your goal is to attract Concord customers or you plan on selling elsewhere, you need a solid marketing plan.

You can learn plenty about marketing on our site. Advertising on Google is a good read to get your marketing creativity flowing. That's just a taste of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.

The Art of Selling

Being able to sell is critical to your business success. Whether you are focused on selling local customers in Concord or are selling to customers throughout Massachusetts, the United States or even the world, you have to be able to sell.

Why should customers buy from you instead of buying from competitors? The good news is we can help you to make selling a big competitve advantage for your new firm.

Closing Sales Techniques is a good article to read, one of dozens in the Selling for Entrepreneurs section of our site.

Improving Your Entrepreneurial Skillset

Good entrepreneurs recognize that they don't know everything.

Given that you are starting a business in Concord, Massachusetts, you will want to take advantage of the many programs available at nearby Massachusetts universities, colleges and community colleges. It's also worthwhile to see if there are any Concord networking organizations.

What's Next?

You have a dream -- starting a business in Concord. To achieve your dream, you have to persevere, even when the odds are against you.

If you choose the right business and love what you do, you will greatly increase your odds of success.

We are here to help Concord businesses to be successful. We want to be there for you to answer your business questions, whether you are a new Concord 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 Concord, Massachusetts

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

• Resources for Concord, Massachusetts Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Concord entrepreneurs.
• Massachusetts Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Massachusetts.
• Massachusetts Small Business Development Center - The Massachusetts Small Business Development Center (MSBDC) Network provides one-to-one free comprehensive and confidential services focusing on, business growth and strategies, financing and loan assistance as well as strategic, marketing and operational analysis.
• Concord, Massachusetts Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Concord, Massachusetts newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Concord area.