Opening a Business in Madison, New Jersey

Are you starting a business in Madison, New Jersey? This article discusses the most important things to consider when opening a business in Madison.

Are You Sure You Want to Do This?

Before you get too far along in the process, assess your entrepreneurial instincts and capabilities.

Before you move forward with starting a business, be sure to do these three things:

• Talk to other entrepreneurs in Madison. Ask them candidly what it's like to run a 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. The people who know you best are often in the best position to tell you bluntly whether you will be a good entrepreneur.

Madison, New Jersey Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size	# of Businesses
1-4 Employees	18165
5-9 Employees	6111
10-19 Employees	3402
20-49 Employees	2583
50-99 Employees	567
100-249 Employees	378
250-499 Employees	252
500-999 Employees	252
1000+ Employees	0
All Madison Businesses	31710

As a new Madison entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Madison 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
Advertising Agencies	3
Appliance Repair and Maintenance	1
Architectural Services	2
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores	1
Automotive Transmission Repair	2
Beauty Salons	10
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores	3
Book Stores	2
Bowling Centers	1
Business Associations	1
Cable and Other Program Distribution	1
Camera and Photographic Supplies Stores	1
Car Washes	1
Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning Services	1
Child Day Care Services	6
Children's and Infants' Clothing Stores	2
Civic and Social Organizations	2
Claims Adjusting	2
Coin-Operated Laundries and Drycleaners	3
Collection Agencies	1
Computer Systems Design Services	9
Computer Training	1
Confectionery Merchant Wholesalers	1
Convenience Stores	1
Couriers	1
Credit Unions	1
Custom Computer Programming Services	4
Deep Sea Freight Transportation	1
Educational Support Services	1
Electrical Contractors	5
Electronic Capacitor Manufacturing	1
Elementary and Secondary Schools	3
Engineering Services	1
Environmental Consulting Services	1
Exam Preparation and Tutoring	3
Fine Arts Schools	1
Finish Carpentry Contractors	1
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers	5
Floor Covering Stores	2
Flooring Contractors	2
Florists	1
Food Service Contractors	10
Footwear and Leather Goods Repair	1
Freight Transportation Arrangement	4
Full-Service Restaurants	19
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services	2
Furniture Stores	1
General Automotive Repair	6
General Freight Trucking, Local	3
General Warehousing and Storage	1
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores	3
Golf Courses and Country Clubs	1
Grantmaking Foundations	1
Hobby, Toy, and Game Stores	1
Homes for the Elderly	2
Household Appliance Stores	1
Industrial Launderers	2
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages	9
Interior Design Services	3
Investment Advice	2
Janitorial Services	6
Jewelry Stores	3
Landscape Architectural Services	1
Landscaping Services	14
Libraries and Archives	1
Limited-Service Restaurants	12
Limousine Service	4
Mail-Order Houses	2
Marketing Consulting Services	3
Masonry Contractors	1
Medical Laboratories	1
Men's Clothing Stores	1
Motion Picture and Video Production	1
Museums	1
Musical Groups and Artists	1
Nail Salons	2
New Car Dealers	2
Nonresidential Property Managers	1
Nursing Care Facilities	1
Office Administrative Services	1
Office Supplies and Stationery Stores	3
Offices of Certified Public Accountants	5
Offices of Chiropractors	2
Offices of Dentists	16
Offices of Lawyers	9
Offices of Optometrists	1
Offices of Podiatrists	1
Offices of Real Estate Appraisers	1
One-Hour Photofinishing	1
Optical Goods Stores	1
Packaging and Labeling Services	1
Paint and Wallpaper Stores	1
Painting and Wall Covering Contractors	3
Parking Lots and Garages	1
Pet and Pet Supplies Stores	3
Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services	3
Pharmacies and Drug Stores	3
Photography Studios, Portrait	2
Portfolio Management	2
Professional Organizations	2
Real Estate Credit	1
Residential Remodelers	7
Reupholstery and Furniture Repair	1
Roofing Contractors	2
Savings Institutions	2
Securities Brokerage	4
Shoe Stores	2
Site Preparation Contractors	1
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars	3
Solid Waste Collection	1
Special Needs Transportation	1
Sporting Goods Stores	2
Sports and Recreation Instruction	3
Tax Preparation Services	1
Temporary Help Services	2
Testing Laboratories	1
Theater Companies and Dinner Theaters	3
Tile and Terrazzo Contractors	1
Tire Dealers	2
Tobacco Stores	1
Tradebinding and Related Work	1
Travel Agencies	2
Used Merchandise Stores	4
Vending Machine Operators	1
Veterinary Services	1
Video Tape and Disc Rental	1
Vocational Rehabilitation Services	1
Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers	2
Wired Telecommunications Carriers	10
Women's Clothing Stores	1

Forming a Company in Madison, New Jersey

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

The entity you form can be a corporation, LLC, sole proprietorship, partnership or other structure.

Incorporation 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 New Jersey, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in New Jersey. As it turns out, you can incorporate in any state you would like to. For example, it's very popular to incorporate in Delaware, and incorporating in Nevada has become very trendy as well. Don't forget, though, that you will have to register as a foreign entity in all states that you do business in.

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 C Corp Versus S Corp. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. Finally, if you are starting a business in Madison, New Jersey, our information on Incorporating in New Jersey may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in New Jersey.

Raising Funding for Your Startup

Getting your Madison business the capital it needs to succeed is very difficult due to the ongoing business credit crunch. 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 money, such as Bank Credit Lines.

For Madison entrepreneurs who want to raise money for a new venture, you'll want to take a look at our List of New Jersey Angel Investors and our List of New Jersey Venture Capital Firms.

Marketing Your New Startup

To grow your Madison business, you'll need to have a good marketing plan.

We have some helpful resources on this site for entrepreneurs who are working on marketing plans. Advertising in the Yellow Pages is a good read to get your marketing juices flowing. That's just a taste of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.

How to Sell

Being able to sell is a key enabler to your business success. Whether you are focused on selling local customers in Madison or are selling to customers throughout New Jersey, the United States or even the world, you have to be able to sell.

So what does it take to bring in more prospects and close more business? Let us help you refine your selling techniques through our many useful sales advice tips.

Compensating Sales People offers some helpful tips on how to sell. It's one of several good articles on our site regarding Entrepreneurial Selling.

Next Steps

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

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

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

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

• Resources for Madison, New Jersey Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Madison entrepreneurs.
• New Jersey Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in New Jersey.
• New Jersey Small Business Development Center - The New Jersey Small Business Development Centers (NJSBDC) network helps New Jersey small businesses expand operations, manage growth or launch new ventures. With offices in every county of the state, NJSBDC consultants help small business owners finance, market and manage their ventures.
• Madison, New Jersey Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for Madison, New Jersey newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the Madison area.

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