Massachusetts Business Startup Guides
Starting a Business in Holyoke, Massachusetts
Thinking about starting a business in Holyoke, Massachusetts? This step-by-step guide walks you through the major decisions you should consider before opening a new business in Holyoke.
Will You Be a Good Entrepreneur?
An entrepreneurial life is hard work, much harder than working as an employee. Are you positive you have the stamina and skills to succeed on your own?
Here are three things we recommend you do before you fully commit to starting a new business of your own.
- Talk to other entrepreneurs in Holyoke. They are usually very willing to share their insights on the ups and downs of being an entrepreneur.
- 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. Others sometimes know you better than you know yourself.
Choosing the Right Company to Start
Choosing a business that is right for you is very important. To help you decide on a business type, we encourage you to read Good Business Ideas.
To view an extensive list of business types, complete with startup instructions, spend some time in the Good Businesses to Start section of our site. For example, you might be interested in our Starting a Stocks & Bonds Business guide or our Opening a Water Supply Engineers Business guide.
Remember that your new startup will be located in Holyoke. Think about what needs are currently being underserved in Holyoke. Don't forget to review Holyoke demographics to see if there's a market for what you want to sell.
Holyoke, Massachusetts Demographic Information
Holyoke has an active business community that includes small businesses, mid-sized businesses and large businesses.
To give you a better feel for Holyoke demographics for small businesses, we have tabulated the small business sizes, based on number of employees, for business in Holyoke.
Businesses
As a new Holyoke entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Holyoke 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
Naming the Business
A good company name can give a big boost to a new startup. It might seem like an easy thing to do, but there are many things to consider when naming a business.
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 Company.
As a final piece of advice, remember that because you are starting a business in Holyoke, it's critical that you ensure that your company name has not already been claimed by another Massachusetts business.
The Art of Selling
Do you know how to sell? In order to attract customers to your new Holyoke business, you need to focus on sales.
So what does it take to bring in more prospects and close more business? Fortunately, we've got plenty of good advice to help you improve your selling skills.
Compensating Sales People offers some helpful tips on how to sell. It's one of several good articles on our site regarding Entrepreneurial Selling.
How to Improve Your Entrepreneurial Abilities
The best business owners recognize that they don't know everything.
As an entrepreneur who lives in Holyoke, Massachusetts, you should check out some of the many programs available at nearby Massachusetts universities, colleges and community colleges. You should also check if there are any networking groups or organizations in which Holyoke entrepreneurs get together to network and trade their business experiences.
What's Next?
As an entrepreneur in Holyoke, you won't be working for the boss anymore. You are the boss.
From this point on, you control your own destiny.
We are here to help Holyoke businesses to be successful. We want to be there for you to answer your business questions, whether you are a new Holyoke 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 Holyoke, Massachusetts
Here are more links that we believe will help you be successful in starting a business in Holyoke.
- Resources for Holyoke, Massachusetts Entrepreneurs - Browse a variety of resources we've collected to assist Holyoke 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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