New York Business Startup Guides
Opening a Business in Watertown, New York
Contemplating starting a business in Watertown, New York? We walk you through the process of opening a business in Watertown.
What Business to Start
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 Evaluating Your Idea.
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 Opening an Italian Restaurant guide or our Starting a Lighthouses Business guide.
Always keep in mind that starting a business in Watertown has some implications. Think about what needs are currently being underserved in Watertown. Make sure you fully understand Watertown demographics before you lock in on your business idea.
Watertown, New York Demographic Information
Watertown has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Watertown demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Watertown.
Businesses
As a new Watertown entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Watertown 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
What About Franchising Opportunities?
Visit the business district of Watertown and you may be surprised to see how many franchises there are in the area. 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 Franchise Tradeshows. Gain a solid understanding of franchising by scanning all of our Articles on Franchising.
You can find franchise opportunities by browsing our Franchise Opportunities Directory.
Sample franchise opportunities include P.J.'s Coffee and Decor & You, Inc.. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Gift Items Franchises and Auto Sales Franchises.
Note on Watertown Franchise Opportunities: To find out if a franchise you are interested in is available in Watertown, you will need to get in direct contact with the franchisor.
Should You Buy an Existing Watertown Business?
We've created a helpful website page for those who want to Buy a Business in New York. Follow that link and you may find several good businesses for sale in Watertown.
Before buying a business, be sure to read this article: Hold Harmless Agreements When Buying Businesses.
Company Formation in Watertown, New York
It's essential that your business is formed as a legal entity that is separate from its owners. Doing so will shield you from personal liability for business debts and obligations.
When forming a company, you will pick from many company types, such as a corporation, LLC, sole proprietorship, partnership or other structure.
Incorporating is a very common way to legally create a business entity. A key decision is whether to form and S-Corp or a C-Corp, and you also must decide in which state you will incorporate. Just because you are starting a business in New York, it doesn't mean you are required to incorporate in New York. As it turns out, 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 Pre-Incorporation Agreements. You may also want to seek the advice of an lawyer. On a final note, since you will be starting a business in Watertown, New York, our web page covering Incorporating in New York may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in New York.
Promoting Your New Venture
To rise above the crowd in Watertown and accelerate your business, you need a excellent marketing plan.
We have some excellent resources on this site for entrepreneurs who are working on marketing plans. Advertising in Magazines 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 taste of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.
Moving Forward
Most new Watertown businesses underestimate the number of challenges they will face.
Owning your own business will be a daunting task, but you can do it.
This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Watertown and elsewhere to achieve real success. We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Watertown, neighborhood development and overall economic health.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Watertown, New York
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Watertown.
- Resources for Watertown, New York Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Watertown 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.
More Startup Articles for New York Cities
Starting a Business in Washingtonville
Starting a Business in Waterville
Browse All Business Startup Guides for New York
Starting a Business Guides for Other States
Share this article
Additional Resources for Entrepreneurs