Starting a Business in North Andover, Massachusetts

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

Do You Have What It Takes?

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

With so much at stake when you start a business, we strongly recommend you do the following before you proceed:

• Talk to other entrepreneurs in North Andover. Get their candid feedback on what it takes to start a successful business.
• We recommend reading Why Small Businesses Fail. For aspiring new entrepreneurs, it's a must read article.
• Get feedback from somebody whom you trust. 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 Business to 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 Free Business Ideas.

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 starting a business in North Andover has some implications. Some businesses will do better in North Andover than others. Only by spending some time analyzing North Andover demographics can you decide if there will be strong demand for your business idea.

North Andover, Massachusetts Demographic Information

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

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

As a new North Andover entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in North Andover 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 North Andover, you'll notice that many local entrepreneurs have gone the franchising route. Would going with a franchise be a good idea for you?

Our advice is to consider franchising as an option. This site has dozens of articles on franchising, such as Franchising My Business. Get a thorough education on franchising by browsing 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 North Andover Franchise Opportunities: You will need to contact franchisors directly to see if their franchises are available in North Andover.

Have You Considered Buying an Existing North Andover Business?

We've created a useful website page for those who want to Buy a Business in Massachusetts. Follow that link and you might discover several good businesses for sale in North Andover.

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

Naming the Business

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.

Even if the name doesn't do it by itself, many naming experts believe there should be a story behind the name that ties into your company mission.

For other considerations regarding naming a company, we recommend this article: Naming a Company.

On a final note, given that you are opening a business in North Andover, it's very important that you make sure no other Massachusetts company is using the business name you want to use.

Forming a Company in North Andover, Massachusetts

It's essential that your business is formed as a legal entity that is separate from its owners. 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 corporation, LLC, sole proprietorship, partnership or other structure.

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 can incorporate in the state of your choosing. 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 Avoiding Personal Liability in Business. You may also want to seek the advice of an attorney. Finally, if you are starting a business in North Andover, Massachusetts, our information on Incorporating in Massachusetts may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Massachusetts.

Don't Skip the Business Plan

A business plan is vital in laying a solid foundation for your business success. Indeed, a business plan describes what you plan to do with the business and how you plan to do it. Not having a business plan is a recipe for disaster.

To learn more about business plans, read Business Plan Contests. You can also get free counseling sessions provided by your local SCORE chapter in Massachusetts.

Raising Money for Your New Venture

Getting your North Andover business the capital it needs to succeed is very difficult due to the ongoing business credit crunch. 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 North Andover entrepreneurs who want to raise money for a new venture, check out our List of Massachusetts Angel Investors and our List of Massachusetts Venture Capital Firms.

Marketing Your New Business

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

You can learn plenty about marketing on our site. Conducting Sweepstakes and Contests is a good read to get your marketing ideas flowing. That's just one of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.

The Art of Selling

Being able to sell is essential to your business success. Whether you are focused on selling local customers in North Andover or are selling to customers throughout Massachusetts, the United States or even the world, you have to be able to sell.

Not knowing how to sell can result in lost customers and minimal market share. Fortunately, we've got plenty of good advice to help you improve your selling skills.

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

Learning More About Entrepreneurship

Good entrepreneurs recognize that they don't know everything.

As an entrepreneur who lives in North Andover, 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 North Andover entrepreneurs.

Now It's Up To You

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

If you choose the right business and love what you do, you will greatly increase your odds of success.

We are here to help North Andover businesses to be successful. We want to be there for you to answer your business questions, whether you are a new North Andover 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 North Andover, Massachusetts

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

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