Starting a Business in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts

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

Do You Have What It Takes?

Being an entrepreneur is hard work, much harder than working as an employee. Are you positive 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:

• Talk to other entrepreneurs in Jamaica Plain. 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?

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.

Don't forget that you are starting a business in Jamaica Plain. Some businesses will do better in Jamaica Plain than others. Don't forget to review Jamaica Plain demographics to see if there's a market for what you want to sell.

Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts Demographic Information

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

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

As a new Jamaica Plain entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Jamaica Plain 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 Jamaica Plain, you'll see that franchises make up a large percentage of local businesses. But is franchising the right option for you?

Our advice is to look into purchasing a franchise. We have many articles on franchises, such as Franchise Tradeshows. 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.

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

Note on Jamaica Plain Franchise Opportunities: To find out if a franchise you are interested in is available in Jamaica Plain, you will need to get in direct contact with the franchisor.

Have You Considered Buying an Existing Jamaica Plain Business?

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

Before buying a business, be sure to read this article: How to Buy a Business.

Selecting a Name For Your Business

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.

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

There's one other important factor when naming a business. Since you are opening a business in Jamaica Plain, it's critical that you ensure that no other Massachusetts company is using the business name you want to use.

Company Formation in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts

A critical step is ensuring that you form your business as a legal structure. Doing so will protect you from personal liability for business debts and obligations.

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. Of course, you have to decide which type of corporation to form and where to incorporate. Just because you are starting a business in Massachusetts, it doesn't mean you are required to incorporate in Massachusetts. In fact, you can 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's a lot to know about forming a company. We recommend you read some of the educational articles about company formation that are availabe on our site, such as ESOP Formation. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. Finally, if you are starting a business in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, our information on Incorporating in Massachusetts may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Massachusetts.

Make Sure You Have a Business Plan

A business plan is essential to the health of your new business. Indeed, a business plan describes what you plan to do with the business and how you plan to do it. Starting a business without a business plan is a recipe for disaster.

Before you start writing a business plan, we suggest you skim Business Plan Contests. You should also take advantage of free business counselors available to you through your local SCORE chapter in Massachusetts.

Raising Money for Your New Venture

Getting your Jamaica Plain business the capital it needs to succeed is a difficult chore. To obtain business financing, you will need to hear a lot of rejections before you finally find a funding solution that works for you.

The good news is this site contains dozens of articles on raising money, including one we recommend entitled 504 Loans.

For Jamaica Plain entrepreneurs who want to raise money for a new venture, we have assembled a List of Massachusetts Angel Investors and our List of Massachusetts Venture Capital Firms.

Marketing Your New Venture

To grow your Jamaica Plain business, having an excellent marketing plan is fundamental to your beating the competition.

We have some excellent resources on this site for entrepreneurs who are working on marketing plans. Making the Most of Trade Shows is an article that will stimulate a few thoughts on your marketing plan. That's just one 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 Jamaica Plain business, you need to focus on sales.

Good selling involves demonstrating that your wares meet your customer's needs. Let us help you refine your selling techniques through our many useful sales advice tips.

How to Build and Motivate a Sales Team is a good article to read, one of dozens in the Selling for Entrepreneurs section of our site.

Learning More About Entrepreneurship

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

With your business being located in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, you will want to take advantage of the many programs available at nearby Massachusetts universities, colleges and community colleges. It's also smart to see if there are any networking organizations for Jamaica Plain entrepreneurs.

Now It's Up To You

As an entrepreneur in Jamaica Plain, 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 Jamaica Plain and elsewhere to achieve real success. We want to be there for you to answer your business questions, whether you are a new Jamaica Plain 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 Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts

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

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