New York Business Startup Guides

Start a Business in Stony Brook, New York

Are you starting a business in Stony Brook, New York? This article discusses the most important things to consider when opening a business in Stony Brook.

Stony Brook, New York Demographic Information

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

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

Business Size
# of
Businesses
1-4 Employees
923
5-9 Employees
252
10-19 Employees
165
20-49 Employees
105
50-99 Employees
33
100-249 Employees
15
250-499 Employees
0
500-999 Employees
3
1000+ Employees
6
All Stony Brook Businesses
1502

As a new Stony Brook entrepreneur, you may also be interested in the table below. It shows how many businesses there are in Stony Brook 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
Amusement Arcades
1
Architectural Services
2
Baked Goods Stores
1
Beauty Salons
6
Boat Dealers
1
Book Stores
4
Business Associations
2
Caterers
1
Child Day Care Services
5
Children's and Infants' Clothing Stores
1
Civic and Social Organizations
1
Community Food Services
1
Computer and Software Stores
1
Computer Systems Design Services
9
Confectionery and Nut Stores
1
Consumer Lending
1
Convenience Stores
1
Couriers
1
Custom Computer Programming Services
7
Dental Laboratories
1
Diet and Weight Reducing Centers
1
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)
1
Drywall and Insulation Contractors
1
Educational Support Services
1
Electric Power Distribution
1
Electronic Shopping
2
Elementary and Secondary Schools
1
Engineering Services
3
Family Clothing Stores
2
Fine Arts Schools
2
Finish Carpentry Contractors
1
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers
3
Food (Health) Supplement Stores
1
Food Service Contractors
14
Fossil Fuel Electric Power Generation
1
Framing Contractors
2
Full-Service Restaurants
11
General Automotive Repair
2
General Freight Trucking, Local
1
Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Stores
5
Grantmaking Foundations
1
Hardware Merchant Wholesalers
1
Historical Sites
1
Hobby, Toy, and Game Stores
1
Home Furnishing Merchant Wholesalers
2
Industrial Design Services
1
Investment Advice
1
Janitorial Services
1
Jewelry Stores
3
Land Subdivision
1
Landscaping Services
6
Libraries and Archives
1
Limited-Service Restaurants
16
Machine Shops
1
Marinas
1
Marketing Consulting Services
6
Masonry Contractors
1
Meat Markets
1
Medical Laboratories
2
Mortgage and Nonmortgage Loan Brokers
1
Natural Gas Distribution
1
New Housing Operative Builders
3
Newspaper Publishers
2
Nonresidential Property Managers
1
Office Administrative Services
4
Office Supplies and Stationery Stores
2
Offices of Certified Public Accountants
6
Offices of Dentists
23
Offices of Lawyers
6
Offices of Optometrists
1
Offices of Podiatrists
1
Optical Goods Stores
2
Painting and Wall Covering Contractors
2
Parking Lots and Garages
3
Pet and Pet Supplies Stores
2
Pharmacies and Drug Stores
2
Portfolio Management
1
Professional Organizations
1
Public Relations Agencies
1
Quick Printing
2
Residential Property Managers
1
Roofing Contractors
2
Savings Institutions
1
Sheet Metal Work Manufacturing
1
Shellfish Fishing
1
Shoe Stores
1
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars
5
Sporting Goods Stores
3
Telephone Answering Services
1
Temporary Help Services
1
Title Abstract and Settlement Offices
1
Travel Agencies
1
Used Household and Office Goods Moving
1
Used Merchandise Stores
1
Veterinary Services
2
Women's Clothing Stores
4

Should You Franchise?

Browse the Yellow Pages for Stony Brook and you'll conclude that many business owners have opted to buy a franchise, rather than starting a business on their own. Would going with a franchise be a good idea for you?

Our recommendation is that you consider franchising as an option. We have many articles on franchises, such as How to Franchise a Business. Gain a solid understanding of franchising by scanning all of our Articles on Franchising.

To learn about specific franchise opportunities, check out our Franchise Directory.

Sample franchise opportunities include Paciugo Italian Gelato and CinnaMonster. Alternatively, you can browse franchise categories, such as Embroidery Franchises and Meal Preparation Franchises.

Note on Stony Brook Franchise Opportunities: You will need to contact franchisors directly to see if their franchises are available in Stony Brook.

Naming the Company

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.

Pick a company name that isn't too generic. If you do a search engine search for your proposed name and a billion results come up, you may want to reconsider the name. It's much easier to come up in the search engines when your name is fairly unique.

For other considerations regarding naming a company, we recommend this article: Naming a Business.

There's one other important factor when naming a business. Since you are starting a business in Stony Brook, it's very important that you make sure you will be the only New York company using the business name you have chosen.

The Role of the Business Plan

Writing a business plan is vital to the health of your new business. In effect, a business plan describes what you plan to do with the business and how you plan to do it. Not having a business plan will greatly reduce your chances of business success.

To learn more about business plans, read Business Plan Outsourcing. You can also get free business counselors available to you through your local SCORE chapter in New York.

Getting Money to Start a Business

Finding the funds to fuel the growth of your Stony Brook business is not an easy task. To obtain business financing, you will need to hear a lot of rejections before you finally find a funding solution that works for you.

To learn about raising money, we recommend you read the fundraising articles on our site, such as 504 Loans.

For Stony Brook entrepreneurs who want to raise money for a new venture, check out our List of New York Angel Investors and our List of New York Venture Capital Firms.

Marketing Your New Business

Whether your goal is to attract Stony Brook customers or you plan on selling elsewhere, having an excellent marketing plan is fundamental to your succeeding.

You can learn quite a bit about marketing on our site. Television Advertising Rates is a good read to get your marketing juices flowing. There are many more articles on marketing on our site. Visit our Small Business Marketing resource section to see them all.

Now It's Up To You

You have a dream -- starting a business in Stony Brook. To achieve your dream, you have to persevere, even when the odds are against you.

From this point on, you control your own destiny.

Our goal here is to promote the vitality and growth of small businesses in Stony Brook and throughout the United States . We believe entrepreneurship is an amazing engine for job creation in Stony Brook, neighborhood development and overall economic health.

More Entrepreneurial Resources for Starting a Business in Stony Brook, New York

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

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Additional Resources for Entrepreneurs

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Franchise Opportunities

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