Massachusetts Business Startup Guides

Starting a Business in North Adams, Massachusetts

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

Are You Sure You Want to Do This?

Most startup companies don't make it, in part because the business owner did not have the perseverance and abilities that are necessary to succeed. So, before jumping into the world of entrepreneurship, 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 North Adams. 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.

North Adams, Massachusetts Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size
# of
Businesses
1-4 Employees
1298
5-9 Employees
432
10-19 Employees
366
20-49 Employees
228
50-99 Employees
66
100-249 Employees
30
250-499 Employees
12
500-999 Employees
0
1000+ Employees
0
All North Adams Businesses
2432

As a new North Adams entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in North Adams 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
1
Ambulance Services
1
Automotive Parts and Accessories Stores
6
Beauty Salons
4
Bed-and-Breakfast Inns
1
Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores
4
Book Stores
1
Bowling Centers
2
Cable and Other Program Distribution
1
Car Washes
1
Caterers
3
Child and Youth Services
2
Child Day Care Services
3
Coin-Operated Laundries and Drycleaners
2
Commercial Lithographic Printing
5
Community Food Services
2
Concrete Pipe Manufacturing
1
Convenience Stores
2
Credit Unions
3
Directory and Mailing List Publishers
1
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)
8
Electric Power Distribution
1
Electrical Contractors
5
Electronic Capacitor Manufacturing
1
Electronic Shopping
1
Exam Preparation and Tutoring
1
Exterminating and Pest Control Services
1
Family Planning Centers
1
Fine Arts Schools
1
Finish Carpentry Contractors
3
Floor Covering Stores
1
Flooring Contractors
2
Florists
1
Fluid Milk Manufacturing
1
Framing Contractors
2
Full-Service Restaurants
13
Funeral Homes and Funeral Services
2
Furniture Stores
2
General Automotive Repair
8
General Freight Trucking, Local
1
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals
1
General Warehousing and Storage
1
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores
3
Golf Courses and Country Clubs
1
Graphic Design Services
1
Hardware Merchant Wholesalers
1
Hardware Stores
1
Heating Oil Dealers
4
Home Health Care Services
2
Home Health Equipment Rental
1
Insurance Agencies and Brokerages
6
Internet Publishing and Broadcasting
1
Janitorial Services
3
Jewelry Stores
2
Landscaping Services
4
Limited-Service Restaurants
13
Machine Shops
1
Marketing Consulting Services
2
Masonry Contractors
1
Metal Stamping
1
Mortgage and Nonmortgage Loan Brokers
1
Motor Vehicle Towing
1
New Car Dealers
3
New Housing Operative Builders
1
Newspaper Publishers
1
Nonresidential Property Managers
2
Nursing Care Facilities
1
Office Administrative Services
1
Offices of Certified Public Accountants
4
Offices of Dentists
7
Offices of Lawyers
5
Offices of Optometrists
1
Offices of Podiatrists
1
Offices of Real Estate Appraisers
2
Optical Goods Stores
1
Outdoor Power Equipment Stores
1
Pharmacies and Drug Stores
4
Political Organizations
1
Portfolio Management
1
Precision Turned Product Manufacturing
1
Remediation Services
2
Repossession Services
1
Residential Property Managers
2
Retail Bakeries
1
Savings Institutions
3
School and Employee Bus Transportation
3
Securities Brokerage
2
Security Guards and Patrol Services
1
Septic Tank and Related Services
2
Site Preparation Contractors
3
Solid Waste Collection
1
Sporting Goods Stores
1
Tax Preparation Services
1
Television Broadcasting
1
Temporary Shelters
1
Textile Machinery Manufacturing
1
Tire Dealers
3
Used Merchandise Stores
1
Vending Machine Operators
1
Veterinary Services
1
Video Tape and Disc Rental
1
Vocational Rehabilitation Services
1
Voluntary Health Organizations
1
Wired Telecommunications Carriers
2

Have You Considered Buying an Existing North Adams Business?

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

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

Naming the Business

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.

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.

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

As a final piece of advice, remember that because you are starting a business in North Adams, it's imperative that you check now that no Massachusetts company has already registered the company name you have selected.

Startup Financing Basics

Obtaining startup financing for your North Adams business requires strong organization skills and perseverance. If you don't have a rich uncle to fund you, you'll need to be creative in how you approach your fundraising efforts.

Take advantage of our many articles on raising capital, such as Business Incubators.

For North Adams entrepreneurs who want to raise money for a new venture, check out our List of Massachusetts Angel Investors and our List of Massachusetts Venture Capital Firms.

Promoting Your New Company

To rise above the crowd in North Adams and grow your business, you'll need to have a good marketing plan.

There are myriad resources on this site to help you with your marketing plan. Business Logo Design discusses marketing strategy and tactical marketing in a way that should get you thinking about how to creatively promote your business. There are many more articles on marketing on our site. Visit our Small Business Marketing resource section to see them all.

Next Steps

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

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

We are here to help North Adams businesses to be successful. 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 North Adams, Massachusetts

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

Starting-a-Business Guides for Other Cities in Massachusetts

Starting a Business in Norfolk
Starting a Business in North Andover

Browse All Business Startup Guides for Massachusetts
Starting a Business Guides for Other States

 

 

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