Starting a Business in Southbury, Connecticut

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

Are You Sure You Want to Do This?

Most new companies don't make it, in part because the entrepreneur did not have the tenacity and/or the skills to succeed. So, before jumping into the world of entrepreneurship, consider all of the implications of being an entrepreneur.

To determine whether you have what it takes to run a business, we recommend these three steps to help you decide:

• Talk to other entrepreneurs in Southbury. Ask them candidly what it's like to run a business.
• We recommend reading Should You Become an Entrepreneur?. For aspiring new entrepreneurs, it's a must read article.
• Have a candid conversation with friends and family. The people who know you best are often in the best position to tell you bluntly whether you will be a good entrepreneur.

What Type of Business Should You Start?

There are many businesses that you can start. How do you know which type of business is right for you? To help you decide on a business type, we encourage you to read 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 Dance Club guide or our Starting a Tatoo Parlor guide.

Always keep in mind that starting a business in Southbury has some implications. If Southbury already has plenty of the kind of business you want to start, you might want to change your plans. Don't forget to review Southbury demographics to see if there's a market for what you want to sell.

Southbury, Connecticut Demographic Information

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

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

As a new Southbury entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Southbury 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 a Franchise Opportunity Right For You?

Examine a list of Southbury 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. This site has dozens of articles on franchising, such as Franchise Law. 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.

Representative franchise opportunities include Subway Franchises and Starbucks Franchises. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Accounting Franchises and Moving Franchises.

Note on Southbury Franchise Opportunities: To find out if a franchise you are interested in is available in Southbury, you will need to get in direct contact with the franchisor.

Have You Considered Buying an Existing Southbury Business?

If you have some capital to play with, you may want to Buy a Business in Connecticut. Follow that link and you may find several good businesses for sale in Southbury.

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

Choosing a Company Name

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.

Before you decide on a company name, run it by some prospective customers and see what they think. If they don't like it, it's probably a good idea to go back to the drawing board.

Numerous company naming issues are discussed in more detail in this article: Naming a Business.

On a final note, given that you are starting a business in Southbury, it's imperative that you check now that no other Connecticut company is using the business name you want to use.

Company Formation in Southbury, Connecticut

It's very important that you form your business as a legal structure. Doing so will protect you from personal liability for business debts and obligations.

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

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. Just because 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. 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's a lot to know about forming a company. We recommend you read some of the educational articles about company formation that are availabe on our site, such as Why Incorporate in Delaware. You may also want to seek the advice of an lawyer. Finally, if you are starting a business in Southbury, Connecticut, our information on Incorporating in Connecticut may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Connecticut.

Make Sure You Have a Business Plan

Creating a business plan is vital in laying a solid foundation for your business success. In effect, a business plan describes what you plan to do with the business and how you plan to do it. Not having a business plan

To learn more about business plans, read Business Plan Contests. A great resource for business planning assistance is the free business counselors available to you through your local SCORE chapter in Connecticut.

Where to Get Money to Start a Company

Getting your Southbury business the capital it needs to succeed is not an easy task. Bootstrapping, which means growing the business without outside funding, is the best alternative, but that's not a viable option for many startup plans.

Recognizing this challenge, this site contains dozens of articles on raising money, including one we recommend entitled Bank Credit Lines.

For Southbury entrepreneurs on the hunt for startup funding, check out our List of Connecticut Angel Investors and our List of Connecticut Venture Capital Firms.

Marketing Your New Venture

To grow your Southbury business, you need a excellent marketing plan.

There are myriad resources on this site to help you with your marketing plan. Internet Advertising discusses marketing strategy and tactical marketing in a way that should get you thinking about how to creatively promote your business. That's just a sampling of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.

Bring in Revenues

Mastering the art of selling is priority one if you want your new Southbury business to do well.

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.

Writing Great Proposals is a good article to read, one of dozens in the Selling for Entrepreneurs section of our site.

Advancing Your Entrepreneurial Skills

Successful entrepreneurs know that what they know now may not be enough to ensure their future success.

Given that you are starting a business in Southbury, Connecticut, you will want to take advantage of the many programs available at nearby Connecticut universities, colleges and community colleges. It's also worthwhile to see if there are any networking organizations for Southbury entrepreneurs.

Next Steps

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

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

Our goal here is to promote the vitality and growth of small businesses in Southbury and throughout the United States . We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Southbury, neighborhood development and overall economic health.

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Southbury, Connecticut

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

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