Starting a Business in Dartmouth, Massachusetts

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

Do You Have What It Takes?

Running your own business is difficult, and can be orders of magnitude more strenuous than working as an employee. Are you sure you have the stamina and skills to succeed on your own?

Because entrepreneurship is not for everyone, we recommend you do the following to help you assess whether you should move forward with starting a business:

• Reach out to other entrepreneurs in Dartmouth. Get their candid feedback on what it takes to start a successful business.
• Peruse Why Small Businesses Fail. This is one of our more popular articles for folks who want to go into business for themselves.
• Get feedback from somebody whom you trust. 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?

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 Business Ideas That Don't Make Sense.

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 starting a business in Dartmouth has some implications. Think about what needs are currently being underserved in Dartmouth. Don't forget to review Dartmouth demographics to see if there's a market for what you want to sell.

Dartmouth, Massachusetts Demographic Information

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

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

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

Should You Franchise?

As you drive around Dartmouth, it's apparent that franchising has become a very popular way to start a business. Is franchising maybe a better way for you to start your business?

Our recommendation is that you consider franchising as an option. We have many articles on franchises, such as How to Get More Franchisees. Gain a solid understanding of franchising by scanning 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 Dartmouth Franchise Opportunities: You will need to contact franchisors directly to see if their franchises are available in Dartmouth.

Have You Considered Buying an Existing Dartmouth Business?

If you have some capital to play with, you may want to Buy a Business in Massachusetts. Follow that link and you can assess several good businesses for sale in Dartmouth.

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

Naming the Business

A good company name can give a big boost to a new startup. It might seem like an easy thing to do, but there are many things to consider when naming a business.

Companies like Starbucks, Apple, Target, Microsoft and Intuit all have strong company names that are easy to remember and have become well-loved brands. Wouldn't it be nice if your new company name got on a similar track?

Numerous company naming issues are discussed in more detail in this article: Branding Advice.

On a final note, given that you are starting a business in Dartmouth, it's critical that you ensure that your company name has not already been claimed by another Massachusetts business.

Forming a Company in Dartmouth, Massachusetts

It's essential that your business is formed as a legal entity that is separate from its owners. Doing so will protect you from personal liability for business debts and obligations.

When forming a company, you will select one of many company types, such as a traditional C-corporation, a Limited Liability Company (LLC), or an S-corporation.

Incorporating is a very popular way to form a business. Of course, you have to decide which type of corporation to form and where to 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 Why Incorporate in Delaware. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. On a final note, since you will be starting a business in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, our web page covering Incorporating in Massachusetts may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Massachusetts.

The Role of the Business Plan

A business plan is essential in laying a solid foundation for your business success. Simply put, a business plan describes what you plan to do with the business and how you plan to do it. Failure to write a business plan is a recipe for disaster.

To learn more about business plans, read The Art of the Executive Summary. You should also take advantage of free business counselors available to you through your local SCORE chapter in Massachusetts.

Getting Money to Start a Business

Raising money to fund your new Dartmouth business requires strong organization skills and perseverance. The reality is that there is very little funding available for new small businesses, and you have to explore every possible alternative.

Take advantage of our many articles on raising capital, such as 504 Loans.

For Dartmouth entrepreneurs on the hunt for startup funding, we have assembled a List of Massachusetts Angel Investors and our List of Massachusetts Venture Capital Firms.

Marketing Your New Startup

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

There are myriad resources on this site to help you with your marketing plan. Local Search is an article that will stimulate a few thoughts on your marketing plan. That's just a sampling of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.

Bring in Revenues

Do you know how to sell? In order to attract customers to your new Dartmouth business, you need to focus on sales.

So what does it take to bring in more prospects and close more business? Fortunately, we've got plenty of good advice to help you improve your selling skills.

Hiring Telemarketing Firms to Generate Sales Leads offers some helpful tips on how to sell. It's one of several good articles on our site regarding Entrepreneurial Selling.

Advancing Your Entrepreneurial Skills

Good business owners recognize that what they know now may not be enough to ensure their future success.

Given that you are starting a business in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, you should investigate some of the many programs available at nearby Massachusetts universities, colleges and community colleges. You should also check if there are any networking organizations for Dartmouth entrepreneurs.

Now It's Up To You

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

From this point on, you control your own destiny.

We are here to help Dartmouth businesses to be successful. We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Dartmouth, neighborhood development and overall economic health.

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Dartmouth, Massachusetts

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

• Resources for Dartmouth, Massachusetts Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Dartmouth 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.
• Dartmouth, Massachusetts Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Dartmouth, Massachusetts newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Dartmouth area.