New York Business Startup Guides
Opening a Business in Ridgewood, New York
Contemplating starting a business in Ridgewood, New York? We walk you through the process of opening a business in Ridgewood.
Are You Ready for Entrepreneurship?
Before you get too far along in the process, assess your entrepreneurial instincts and capabilities.
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:
- Speak with other entrepreneurs in Ridgewood. Listen closely to their experiences and see if you think you too can be successful.
- You should read Business Failure. It's a good read for those who are thinking about becoming an entrepreneur.
- Involve a spouse, family member or trusted friend in the decision. Ask them directly: Do I have what it takes to be an entrepreneur? Listen carefully to their answer, as they presumably know your strengths and weaknesses.
Ridgewood, New York Demographic Information
Ridgewood has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Ridgewood demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Ridgewood.
Businesses
As a new Ridgewood entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Ridgewood 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?
Browse the Yellow Pages for Ridgewood and you'll notice that many local entrepreneurs have gone the franchising route. Is there a franchise opportunity out there that makes sense for you?
We advise the entrepreneurs we work with to consider franchising as an option. We have many articles on franchises, such as Common Franchisee Mistakes. Get a thorough education on franchising by browsing 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 Ridgewood Franchise Opportunities: To find out if a franchise you are interested in is available in Ridgewood, you will need to get in direct contact with the franchisor.
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.
Numerous company naming issues are discussed in more detail in this article: Naming a Business.
There's one other important factor when naming a business. Since you are starting a business in Ridgewood, it's very important that you make sure your company name has not already been claimed by another New York business.
Raising Capital for Your Venture
Raising money to fund your new Ridgewood business is very difficult due to the ongoing business credit crunch. In fact, financing your new business may be the hardest challenge you ever face.
To learn about raising money, we recommend you read the fundraising articles on our site, such as 504 Loans.
For Ridgewood entrepreneurs with great ambition but a shortage of investment capital, check out our List of New York Angel Investors and our List of New York Venture Capital Firms.
Letting the World Know You Exist
To rise above the crowd in Ridgewood and advance 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. Making the Most of Trade Shows is a good read to get your marketing creativity flowing. There are many more articles on marketing on our site. Visit our Small Business Marketing resource section to see them all.
Never Give Up
You have a dream -- starting a business in Ridgewood. To achieve your dream, you have to persevere, even when the odds are against you.
If you choose the right business and love what you do, you will greatly increase your odds of success.
This site is all about helping entrepreneurs in Ridgewood and elsewhere to achieve real success. We want to be there for you to answer your business questions, whether you are a new Ridgewood entrepreneur who is just getting started or you are already up and running with your new venture.
More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Ridgewood, New York
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Ridgewood.
- Resources for Ridgewood, New York Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Ridgewood 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.
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