Massachusetts Business Startup Guides
Open a Business in Harvard, Massachusetts
Need help starting a business in Harvard, Massachusetts? We've got the information you need to open a business in Harvard.
Do You Have What It Takes?
Most startup ventures do not succeed, in part because the founder did not have the perseverance and abilities that are necessary to succeed. So, before you start your business, consider all of the implications of being an entrepreneur.
Because entrepreneurship is not for everyone, we recommend you do the following to help you assess whether you should move forward with starting a business:
- Talk to other entrepreneurs in Harvard. 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.
Harvard, Massachusetts Demographic Information
Harvard has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Harvard demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Harvard.
Businesses
As a new Harvard entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Harvard 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
Selecting a Name For Your Startup
A big decision when starting a company is choosing a company name. Believe it or not, choosing a good company name can be a big contributor to your business success.
We strongly advocate that you make sure the ".com" domain name is available for your company name. Every business needs a strong Web presence these days, and having a non ".com" domain means somebody else may outrank you in the search results for your own company name.
To get up to speed on what makes for a good company name, we encourage you to read this useful article: Branding Advice.
There's one other important factor when naming a business. Since you are starting a business in Harvard, it's imperative that you check now that no other Massachusetts company is using the business name you want to use.
Company Formation in Harvard, Massachusetts
It's essential that you are forming a legal entity that operates independently from you. The principal advantage of forming your new business as a legal entity is that it separates your business liabilities from your personal liabilities.
The entity you form can be a traditional C-corporation, a Limited Liability Company (LLC), or an S-corporation.
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. Just because you are starting a business in Massachusetts, you don't necessarily have to incorporate in Massachusetts. As it turns out, you can incorporate wherever you want. However, if you do incorporate in another state, you'll have to register as a foreign corporation in your home state.
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 Registered Agents. You should also consider getting professional assistance from your business lawyer. Finally, if you are starting a business in Harvard, Massachusetts, our information on Incorporating in Massachusetts may be a useful resource if you decide to incorporate in Massachusetts.
Make Sure You Have a Business Plan
A business plan is critical to the health of your new business. In effect, a business plan is a written description of the future you envision for your business. Starting a business without a business plan is a recipe for disaster.
To learn more about business plans, read Business Presentations. A great resource for business planning assistance is the face-to-face free consulting available from your local SCORE chapter in Massachusetts.
The Art of Selling
Mastering the art of selling is a must if you want your new Harvard business to do well.
The key to selling is to set sales goals goals and monitor your progress towards those goals. Fortunately, we've got plenty of good advice to help you improve your selling skills.
Selling Products on eBay 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.
Now It's Up To You
Most new Harvard businesses underestimate the number of challenges they will face.
If you choose the right business and love what you do, you will greatly increase your odds of success.
Our goal here is to promote the vitality and growth of small businesses in Harvard and throughout the United States . We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Harvard, neighborhood development and overall economic health.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Harvard, Massachusetts
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Harvard.
- Resources for Harvard, Massachusetts Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Harvard 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.
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