Start a Business in Nantucket, Massachusetts

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

What Business Are You Starting?

An important decision is what kind of business you want to start. You might get some good ideas about what kind of business to start by reading Good Business Ideas.

For step-by-step instructions on starting a variety of business types, visit the Good Businesses to Start section of our site. For example, you might be interested in our Starting a Flea Market Business guide or our Starting a Heavy Construction Equipment Rental Business guide.

Don't forget that starting a business in Nantucket has some implications. Some businesses will do better in Nantucket than others. Study Nantucket demographics and do a competitive analysis as part of your startup planning process.

Nantucket, Massachusetts Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size	# of Businesses
1-4 Employees	1776
5-9 Employees	453
10-19 Employees	168
20-49 Employees	60
50-99 Employees	9
100-249 Employees	12
250-499 Employees	0
500-999 Employees	0
1000+ Employees	0
All Nantucket Businesses	2478

As a new Nantucket entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Nantucket 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
Aluminum Die-Casting Foundries	1
Appliance Repair and Maintenance	1
Architectural Services	9
Art Dealers	6
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores	2
Beauty Salons	6
Bed-and-Breakfast Inns	15
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores	6
Boat Dealers	5
Book Publishers	1
Book Stores	2
Business Associations	1
Camera and Photographic Supplies Stores	1
Carpet and Rug Mills	1
Caterers	5
Cemeteries and Crematories	1
Child and Youth Services	1
Child Day Care Services	7
Children's and Infants' Clothing Stores	2
Civic and Social Organizations	4
Clothing Accessories Stores	2
Commercial Lithographic Printing	1
Commercial Photography	2
Computer and Software Stores	1
Convenience Stores	3
Couriers	2
Custom Computer Programming Services	1
Digital Printing	1
Direct Life Insurance Carriers	1
Distilleries	1
Document Preparation Services	1
Drilling Oil and Gas Wells	1
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)	3
Electric Power Distribution	1
Electrical Contractors	19
Electronic Shopping	1
Elementary and Secondary Schools	2
Engineering Services	2
Family Clothing Stores	11
Family Planning Centers	1
Finfish Fishing	2
Finish Carpentry Contractors	12
Fish and Seafood Markets	3
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers	5
Flooring Contractors	3
Florists	2
Food Service Contractors	1
Framing Contractors	5
Freight Transportation Arrangement	1
Full-Service Restaurants	49
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services	1
Furniture Stores	1
General Automotive Repair	5
General Freight Trucking, Local	3
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	1
General Rental Centers	1
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores	11
Glass and Glazing Contractors	1
Graphic Design Services	2
Hardware Stores	1
Home Centers	1
Home Furnishing Merchant Wholesalers	1
Home Health Care Services	1
Homes for the Elderly	1
Household Appliance Stores	1
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages	5
Interior Design Services	2
Internet Service Providers	1
Interurban and Rural Bus Transportation	1
Janitorial Services	11
Jewelry Stores	8
Landscape Architectural Services	1
Landscaping Services	63
Libraries and Archives	1
Limited-Service Restaurants	17
Limousine Service	1
Luggage and Leather Goods Stores	1
Mail-Order Houses	2
Marinas	3
Masonry Contractors	5
Men's Clothing Stores	2
Mortgage and Nonmortgage Loan Brokers	1
Museums	9
Nail Salons	1
New Car Dealers	1
New Housing Operative Builders	4
Newspaper Publishers	2
Nonresidential Property Managers	2
Office Administrative Services	2
Offices of Certified Public Accountants	1
Offices of Chiropractors	3
Offices of Dentists	3
Offices of Lawyers	15
Offices of Optometrists	1
Offices of Other Holding Companies	1
Offices of Real Estate Appraisers	1
One-Hour Photofinishing	1
Painting and Wall Covering Contractors	10
Passenger Car Rental	3
Periodical Publishers	1
Pet and Pet Supplies Stores	2
Petroleum Bulk Stations and Terminals	2
Pharmacies and Drug Stores	3
Portfolio Management	2
Private Mail Centers	1
Public Relations Agencies	1
Real Estate Credit	1
Recreational Goods Rental	5
Residential Property Managers	5
Residential Remodelers	19
Retail Bakeries	1
Roofing Contractors	4
Savings Institutions	6
Scheduled Passenger Air Transportation	3
Septic Tank and Related Services	1
Shoe Stores	1
Sign Manufacturing	1
Site Preparation Contractors	15
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars	5
Solid Waste Collection	2
Sporting Goods Stores	7
Sports and Recreation Instruction	1
Taxi Service	1
Television Broadcasting	1
Theater Companies and Dinner Theaters	3
Tile and Terrazzo Contractors	3
Tire Dealers	1
Tour Operators	1
Travel Agencies	2
Used Merchandise Stores	9
Veterinary Services	2
Video Tape and Disc Rental	1
Wired Telecommunications Carriers	2
Women's Clothing Stores	10

Have You Considered Buying an Existing Nantucket Business?

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

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

Forming a Company in Nantucket, Massachusetts

A critical step is ensuring that you choose the right legal structure for your new entity. 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. 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 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 Registered Agents. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. Finally, if you are starting a business in Nantucket, Massachusetts, our information on Incorporating in Massachusetts may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Massachusetts.

Marketing Your New Business

To grow your Nantucket business, you need a great marketing plan.

We have some helpful resources on this site for entrepreneurs who are working on marketing plans. Sponsoring Local Events is an article that will stimulate a few thoughts on your marketing plan. That's just a taste 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 Nantucket business, you need to focus on sales.

Clever sales techniques can transform any business from good to great. Fortunately, we've got plenty of good advice to help you improve your selling skills.

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

Moving Forward

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

From this point on, you control your own destiny.

This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Nantucket and elsewhere to achieve real success. 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 Nantucket, Massachusetts

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

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

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