New York Business Startup Guides
Starting a Business in Potsdam, New York
Thinking about starting a business in Potsdam, New York? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Potsdam.
Which Business to Choose?
An important decision is what kind of business you want to start. To stir your creative juices on what kind of business to start, take a look at Free Business Ideas.
If you still are not sure what type of business to start, peruse the Good Businesses to Start section of our site. For example, you might be interested in our How to Start a Civic Clubs & Organizations Business guide or our Opening a Fine Art Photographers Business guide.
Remember that your new startup will be located in Potsdam. Think about what needs are currently being underserved in Potsdam. Study Potsdam demographics and do a competitive analysis as part of your startup planning process.
Potsdam, New York Demographic Information
Potsdam has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Potsdam demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Potsdam.
Businesses
As a new Potsdam entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Potsdam 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.
Businesses
Is Franchising a Better Option?
Examine a list of Potsdam businesses and you'll notice that many local entrepreneurs have gone the franchising route. Should you be giving franchising serious consideration?
Our advice is to consider franchising as an option. This site has dozens of articles on franchising, such as Before Buying a Franchise. 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 Precision Tune Auto Care and Talent Tree, Inc.. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Hotel and Motel Franchises and Kitchen Design Franchises.
Note on Potsdam Franchise Opportunities: You will need to contact franchisors directly to see if their franchises are available in Potsdam.
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.
For other considerations regarding naming a company, we recommend this article: Naming a Company.
As a final piece of advice, remember that because you are planning on starting a business in Potsdam, it's very important that you make sure no other New York company is using the business name you want to use.
Startup Financing Basics
Getting your Potsdam business the capital it needs to succeed 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.
To learn about raising money, we recommend you read the fundraising articles on our site, such as 504 Loans.
For Potsdam entrepreneurs who want to raise money for a new venture, you'll want to take a look at our List of New York Angel Investors and our List of New York Venture Capital Firms.
Improving Your Entrepreneurial Skillset
Good business owners recognize that they don't know everything.
As an entrepreneur who lives in Potsdam, New York, you will want to take advantage of the many programs available at nearby New York universities, colleges and community colleges. It's also smart to see if there are any Potsdam networking organizations.
Moving Forward
You have a dream -- starting a business in Potsdam. To achieve your dream, you have to persevere, even when the odds are against you.
From this point on, you control your own destiny.
Our goal here is to promote the vitality and growth of small businesses in Potsdam and throughout the United States . 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 Potsdam, New York
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Potsdam.
- Resources for Potsdam, New York Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Potsdam entrepreneurs.
- New York Entrepreneurial Resources - We've gathered state-level entrepreneurial resources to help new entrepreneurs who are based in New York.
- New York Small Business Development Center - The New York State Small Business Development Center delivers high quality business counseling and training to New Yorkers who want to start a business or improve the performance of an existing business.
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