A lot of really successful startups have been based in NYC, including BuzzFeed, Etsy, and others. So if you’re a hardworking and ambitious New Yorker, you will have no issue starting up your small business and taking the steps to make it flourish. Starting a small business in Manhattan doesn’t have to be a scary thing. New Yorkers are always on the run, going somewhere, visiting new places. They are highly informed about small businesses, as well as new businesses. You couldn’t have picked a better place to launch your business. We and our moving and storage NYC specialists are here to go over some of the steps to starting up a small business in Manhattan.
Write down a business plan
The first step to crafting a successful business is having a good business plan. This step might even take a bit more time than expected, but it’s okay, this is the most important step after all. You will have to arm yourself with patience and diligence. Don’t be surprised if you have to search for various business solutions before you even open your business. But once the opening day comes around the corner, your commercial movers Manhattan will be more than happy to help you out with anything you need.
You should create a preliminary business plan and that business plan should cover some of the following:
- A detailed description of your product, or service.
- Pricing of your product or service.
- How is your product different from all the rest? Why should people buy yours and not competitors’?
- Overview of your target market
- Hiring plan
- How will you attract and keep customers?
- How much money do you currently have?
- And how much money do you need to start up your business?
- A realistic timeline of how long it will take to break even, and how long to make a profit
Your business plan is never set in stone, keep that in mind. During the launch and all that comes after, you can change the details of your business plan as much as you’d like. And it will have to be changed once you get some experience, more funds, or more workers. You will see, starting off is complicated, but when things start moving along steadily, most of the work becomes intuitive.
Choose a memorable business name
Choosing a business name is such a logical next step in the launching of your own business. But, you should still try to stay careful and think of something really unique, yet memorable. Businesses, of course, become famous for their product or service, but a good, interesting name will garner more traction. The name reflects your values, your product, you as a business owner, so choose carefully. Also, picking out the name for the business is a creative endeavor that you might enjoy more than you would think.
The biggest issue you will come across is that a lot of the names you think up are already in use. So, never be too happy with a name you’ve chosen until you check it out online. The New York Business Entity Database will prove to be a huge help when combing through the possible names of your business. Don’t get discouraged as you’re picking and choosing and just stay on track.
Registering your business is among the first steps when starting a small business in Manhattan
Before the registration, you will need to settle on a business entity. The business entity you end up choosing will determine your taxes, your management and ownership structure, and how much legal protection you’re under. When you are planning to start a small business in Manhattan, you might notice that the most popular business entities are sole proprietorships, partnerships, LLCs, and corporations. LLCs are popular, especially in small business circles, because they are easy to form, maintain and they provide good legal protection. Still, we urge you to look further into this before making any decisions.
We would recommend that you consult a legal or financial advisor to help you choose which type of business structure is the right one for your business and to help you get registered. They will be able to give you the most information on this matter, and they will also explain the difference much better than our commercial movers NYC ever could. But, our commercial movers will be there for you once the business starts growing.
Get permits, employer information, insurance, licenses
The best way to go about taking care of all of the paperwork needed for your business is to have a legal advisor with you every step of the way. If you’re hiring employees, you will need to set up some employer obligations. This includes unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation insurance, disability benefits insurance, and many others. On the flip side, if you won’t be hiring employees, you will need a Certificate of Attestation of Exemption. So there is a lot of work to get done.
But no matter if you have employees or not, you will need to buy some kind of coverage. Maybe commercial property insurance to protect against damage, professional liability insurance to cover negligence or malpractice, or just general liability insurance to protect your business from a multitude of potential legal claims.
Secure funding
Trying to get a loan from a bank might prove impossible. Banks don’t usually lend to startups because they don’t have the right documentation to prove that they will be able to return the loan. Most people opt for taking money out of their savings, or borrowing from friends and family who believe in their business. If none of these are options for you, you can try crowdfunding, or search for some potential investors. That would be the harder route, but you can make it work. Now that you know all about starting a small business in Manhattan, go and give it a shot! Consider hiring packing service NYC to make the transport even easier.