Starting a Business in Wilton, Connecticut

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

Is Becoming a Business Owner Right for You?

Being an entrepreneur is difficult, much more arduous than working as an employee. Are you positive you want to start a business?

While entrepreneurship has become a popular career choice, we recommend you do the following before you take the plunge:

• Talk to other entrepreneurs in Wilton. Get their take on what it's really like to be an entrepreneur.
• 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. That's the best way to get a truly objective assessment as to whether others think you have what it takes.

What Business Are You Starting?

There are many businesses that you can start. How do you know which type of business is right for you? If you are struggling with what type of business to start, read Finding Your Niche in Life.

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.

Remember that you are starting a business in Wilton. Some businesses will do better in Wilton than others. Only by spending some time analyzing Wilton demographics can you decide if there will be strong demand for your business idea.

Wilton, Connecticut Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size	# of Businesses
1-4 Employees	11736
5-9 Employees	3915
10-19 Employees	1998
20-49 Employees	1566
50-99 Employees	783
100-249 Employees	513
250-499 Employees	108
500-999 Employees	27
1000+ Employees	0
All Wilton Businesses	20646

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

Business Type	# of Businesses
Advertising Agencies	9
Architectural Services	5
Art Dealers	1
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores	2
Beauty Salons	13
Beer and Ale Merchant Wholesalers	1
Book Stores	2
Building Inspection Services	1
Business Associations	1
Business to Business Electronic Markets	1
Car Washes	1
Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning Services	1
Caterers	1
Child and Youth Services	1
Child Day Care Services	12
Children's and Infants' Clothing Stores	1
Civic and Social Organizations	4
Claims Adjusting	1
Clothing Accessories Stores	1
Commercial Lithographic Printing	2
Commercial Photography	1
Commodity Contracts Brokerage	2
Community Food Services	1
Computer Systems Design Services	8
Construction Sand and Gravel Mining	1
Convention and Trade Show Organizers	3
Copper Ore and Nickel Ore Mining	1
Couriers	1
Credit Unions	1
Custom Computer Programming Services	10
Deep Sea Freight Transportation	1
Direct Mail Advertising	2
Display Advertising	1
Document Preparation Services	1
Electrical Contractors	8
Elementary and Secondary Schools	3
Employment Placement Agencies	5
Engineering Services	5
Environmental Consulting Services	1
Family Clothing Stores	2
Farm Supplies Merchant Wholesalers	1
Fine Arts Schools	3
Finish Carpentry Contractors	3
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers	4
Floor Covering Stores	4
Flooring Contractors	3
Florists	2
Food (Health) Supplement Stores	2
Food Service Contractors	7
Freight Transportation Arrangement	2
Full-Service Restaurants	19
Furniture Stores	2
General Automotive Repair	3
General Rental Centers	1
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores	5
Glass and Glazing Contractors	1
Golf Courses and Country Clubs	1
Grantmaking Foundations	4
Graphic Design Services	8
Greeting Card Publishers	1
Hardware Stores	3
Heating Oil Dealers	1
Home Health Care Services	2
Homes for the Elderly	1
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages	4
Interior Design Services	4
Internet Publishing and Broadcasting	1
Internet Service Providers	3
Investigation Services	1
Investment Advice	8
Janitorial Services	1
Landscape Architectural Services	4
Landscaping Services	26
Libraries and Archives	1
Limited-Service Restaurants	12
Limousine Service	3
Local Messengers and Local Delivery	1
Mail-Order Houses	1
Marketing Consulting Services	21
Masonry Contractors	1
Media Buying Agencies	1
Media Representatives	1
Museums	1
Musical Groups and Artists	1
Nail Salons	5
New Car Dealers	4
New Housing Operative Builders	2
News Dealers and Newsstands	1
Newspaper Publishers	1
Nursing Care Facilities	2
Office Administrative Services	3
Office Supplies and Stationery Stores	2
Offices of Certified Public Accountants	6
Offices of Chiropractors	5
Offices of Dentists	13
Offices of Lawyers	9
Offices of Optometrists	2
Offices of Other Holding Companies	10
Offices of Podiatrists	1
Offices of Real Estate Appraisers	2
Ophthalmic Goods Merchant Wholesalers	1
Optical Goods Stores	2
Outdoor Power Equipment Stores	1
Painting and Wall Covering Contractors	5
Parking Lots and Garages	1
Periodical Publishers	6
Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services	1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores	1
Portfolio Management	10
Prepress Services	1
Professional Organizations	1
Public Relations Agencies	1
Quick Printing	1
Radio Stations	1
Real Estate Credit	2
Residential Remodelers	12
Roofing Contractors	5
Satellite Telecommunications	1
Savings Institutions	5
School and Employee Bus Transportation	1
Securities Brokerage	3
Semiconductor Machinery Manufacturing	1
Septic Tank and Related Services	1
Shoe Stores	4
Site Preparation Contractors	6
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars	4
Solid Waste Collection	3
Sporting Goods Stores	2
Tax Preparation Services	1
Telephone Answering Services	1
Temporary Help Services	1
Temporary Shelters	1
Theater Companies and Dinner Theaters	1
Tile and Terrazzo Contractors	1
Travel Agencies	4
Used Household and Office Goods Moving	1
Used Merchandise Stores	3
Veterinary Services	5
Video Tape and Disc Rental	1
Vocational Rehabilitation Services	1
Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers	8
Wired Telecommunications Carriers	1
Wood Office Furniture Manufacturing	1

Is Franchising a Better Option?

Visit the business district of Wilton and it's apparent that franchising has become a very popular way to start a business. Would going with a franchise be a good idea for you?

Our advice is to consider franchising as an option. We have many articles on franchises, such as Multi-Unit Franchising. Get a thorough education on franchising by browsing all of our Articles on Franchising.

You can review hundreds of franchise opportunities by browing 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 Wilton Franchise Opportunities: You will need to contact franchisors directly to see if their franchises are available in Wilton.

What About Buying an Existing Wilton Business?

An excellent way to get started in business is to Buy a Business in Connecticut. Follow that link and you can review several good businesses for sale in Wilton.

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

Naming the Company

Making the right decision when choosing a company name is very important. There are many decisions you'll make now that you can change later, but changing a company name years down the road is not very easy. So, choose a good company name at the outset.

Company names need to be easy to spell, easy to pronounce, and easy to remember.

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

There's one other important factor when naming a business. Since you are planning on starting a business in Wilton, it's critical that you ensure that no other Connecticut company is using the business name you want to use.

Forming a Company in Wilton, Connecticut

A critical step is ensuring 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.

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

Incorporation 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, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Connecticut. As it turns out, 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 Registered Agents. You may also want to seek the advice of an lawyer. Finally, if you are starting a business in Wilton, Connecticut, our information on Incorporating in Connecticut may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Connecticut.

Do You Need a Business Plan?

Having a business plan is critical in maximizing the prospects of your new company. Simply put, a business plan is a written description of the future you envision for your business. Failure to write a business plan makes you more prone to becoming a business failure statistic.

To learn more about business plans, read Business Plan Contests. You should also take advantage of free business counselors available to you through your local SCORE chapter in Connecticut.

Startup Financing Basics

Getting your Wilton 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.

Take advantage of our many articles on raising capital, such as Angel Investors.

For Wilton entrepreneurs who want to raise money for a new venture, browse our List of Connecticut Angel Investors and our List of Connecticut Venture Capital Firms.

Marketing Your New Company

To grow your Wilton business, having an excellent marketing plan is fundamental to your doing well.

You can learn quite a bit about marketing on our site. Branding Advice is an article that will generate a few thoughts on your marketing plan. That's just a sampling of the many useful articles we have on Marketing a Small Business.

Selling Tips

Do you know how to sell? In order to attract customers to your new Wilton business, you need to focus on sales.

So what does it take to bring in more prospects and close more business? Let us help you refine your selling techniques through our many useful sales advice tips.

Closing Sales 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

Successful entrepreneurs recognize that they don't know everything.

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

Moving Forward

As an entrepreneur in Wilton, you won't be working for the boss anymore. You are the boss.

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 Wilton and throughout the United States . We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Wilton, neighborhood development and overall economic health.

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Wilton, Connecticut

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

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

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