Start a Business in East Hampton, New York

Contemplating starting a business in East Hampton, New York? We walk you through the process of opening a business in East Hampton.

Which Business to Choose?

There are many businesses that you can start. How do you know which type of business is right for you? We recommend that you read Good Business Ideas.

To view an extensive list of business types, complete with startup instructions, spend some time in the Good Businesses to Start section of our site. For example, you might be interested in our How to Start a Ballroom Rental Business guide or our Opening a Newsletter Printing Business guide.

Don't forget that your new business will be in East Hampton. Some businesses will do better in East Hampton than others. A critical consideration is whether East Hampton demographics mesh well with your startup concept.

East Hampton, New York Demographic Information

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

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

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

Forming a Company in East Hampton, New York

It's very important that you form your business as a legal structure. Among other things, forming a legal entity for the business limits your liabilities.

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. 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 New York, it doesn't mean you are required to incorporate in New York. In fact, you are allowed to incorporate in the state of your choosing. 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 Avoiding Personal Liability in Business. You should also consider getting professional assistance from your business lawyer. On a final note, since you will be starting a business in East Hampton, New York, our web page covering Incorporating in New York may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in New York.

Don't Skip the Business Plan

A business plan is vital to the health of your new business. Indeed, your business plan is your game plan for how you hope to grow your business. Not having a business plan is a recipe for disaster.

If you want more information on writing business plans, we recommend reading Business Plan Software. A great resource for business planning assistance is the free counseling sessions provided by your local SCORE chapter in New York.

Where to Get Money to Start a Company

Obtaining startup financing for your East Hampton 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.

The good news is this site contains dozens of articles on raising money, including one we recommend entitled Microlending as a Small Business Funding Source.

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

Getting the Word Out About Your New Company

To rise above the crowd in East Hampton and grow your business, you'll need to have a good marketing plan.

You can learn quite a bit about marketing on our site. Newspaper Advertising Costs discusses marketing strategy and tactical marketing in a way that should get you thinking about how to creatively promote your business. There are many more articles on marketing on our site. Visit our Small Business Marketing resource section to see them all.

Next Steps

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

From this point on, you control your own destiny.

We are here to help East Hampton businesses to be successful. 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 East Hampton, New York

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

• Resources for East Hampton, New York Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist East Hampton entrepreneurs.
• New York Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in New York.
• New York Small Business Development Center - The New York State Small Business Development Center delivers high quality business counseling and training to New Yorkers who want to start a business or improve the performance of an existing business.
• East Hampton, New York Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for East Hampton, New York newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the East Hampton area.