Starting a Business in New Canaan, Connecticut

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

Are You Sure You Want to Do This?

Most startup ventures fail, in part because the entrepreneur did not have the entrepreneurial skills and traits needed to succeed. So, before jumping into the world of entrepreneurship, consider all of the implications of being an entrepreneur.

Here are three things we recommend you do before you fully commit to starting a new business of your own.

• Talk to other entrepreneurs in New Canaan. 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.

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 Free 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 Dance Club guide or our Starting a Tatoo Parlor guide.

Don't forget that your new business will be in New Canaan. Think about what needs are currently being underserved in New Canaan. Study New Canaan demographics and do a competitive analysis as part of your startup planning process.

New Canaan, Connecticut Demographic Information

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

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

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

Is Franchising a Better Option?

Examine a list of New Canaan businesses and it becomes clear that purchasing a franchise is a common way to get started as an entrepreneur. But is franchising the right option for you?

We advise the entrepreneurs we work with to consider franchising as an option. We have many articles on franchises, such as Multi-Unit Franchising. 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 New Canaan Franchise Opportunities: To find out if a franchise you are interested in is available in New Canaan, you will need to get in direct contact with the franchisor.

Have You Considered Buying an Existing New Canaan Business?

An excellent way to get started in business is to Buy a Business in Connecticut. Follow that link and you might discover several good businesses for sale in New Canaan.

For anybody who wants to buy a business, we recommend reading this useful article: Buying a Business.

Naming the Company

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.

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.

To get up to speed on what makes for a good company name, we encourage you to read this useful article: Branding Advice.

As a final piece of advice, remember that because you are planning on starting a business in New Canaan, it's imperative that you check now that you will be the only Connecticut company using the business name you have chosen.

Forming a Company in New Canaan, Connecticut

A critical step is ensuring that you are forming a legal entity that operates independently from you. Among other things, forming a legal entity for the business limits your liabilities.

The entity you form can be a traditional C-corporation, a Limited Liability Company (LLC), or an S-corporation.

Incorporating is a very common way to legally create a business entity. Of course, you have to decide which type of corporation to form and where to incorporate. If you are starting a business in Connecticut, it doesn't mean you are required to incorporate in Connecticut. 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 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. Finally, if you are starting a business in New Canaan, Connecticut, our information on Incorporating in Connecticut may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Connecticut.

Don't Forget to Create a Business Plan

Creating a business plan is essential in laying a solid foundation for your business success. Simply put, your business plan is your game plan for how you hope to grow your business. Starting a business without a business plan

To learn more about business plans, read Business Plan Outsourcing. A great resource for business planning assistance is the face-to-face free consulting available from your local SCORE chapter in Connecticut.

Startup Financing Basics

Finding the funds to fuel the growth of your New Canaan business will be harder than you might expect. If you don't have a rich uncle to fund you, you'll need to be creative in how you approach your fundraising efforts.

Recognizing this challenge, this site contains dozens of articles on raising money, including one we recommend entitled Borrowing Money from Friends and Family.

For New Canaan entrepreneurs in need of startup financing, we have assembled a List of Connecticut Angel Investors and our List of Connecticut Venture Capital Firms.

Letting the World Know You Exist

Whether your goal is to attract New Canaan customers or you plan on selling elsewhere, having an excellent marketing plan is fundamental to your doing well.

There are myriad resources on this site to help you with your marketing plan. Conducting Sweepstakes and Contests 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.

Building Up Your Sales

Mastering the art of selling is essential if you want your new New Canaan business to do well.

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.

Effective Sales Presentations is worth reading, as it may give you some good ideas on how to sell your products or services. We have many more good articles on selling that you may enjoy reading.

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 New Canaan, Connecticut, you will want to take advantage of the learning programs at local Connecticut educational institutions. We also recommend you look into New Canaan networking organizations.

Next Steps

Most new New Canaan businesses underestimate the number of challenges they will face.

From this point on, you control your own destiny.

Our goal here is to promote the vitality and growth of small businesses in New Canaan and throughout the United States . We want to be there for you to answer your business questions, whether you are a new New Canaan 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 New Canaan, Connecticut

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

• Resources for New Canaan, Connecticut Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist New Canaan entrepreneurs.
• Connecticut Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in Connecticut.
• Connecticut Small Business Development Center - Central Connecticut State University's Institute of Technology and Business Development (ITBD) supports Connecticut businesses and business-related organizations with training, technology assistance, conferencing services, procurement services and business incubation.
• New Canaan, Connecticut Newspaper Ad Rates - This is a nearly comprehensive list of advertising rates for New Canaan, Connecticut newspapers, including ad costs for newspapers serving the New Canaan area.