Want to Start a Business in New York?
Last Updated: By TRUiC Team
This page is dedicated to the best resources for starting a business in New York.
Learn more about how to start a business in New York.
Or simply use a professional service and start your business today:
Business Resources in New York
Find the best resources to help create your informal business structure (sole proprietorship or partnership), corporation (S corp or C corp), limited liability company (single-member LLC or multi-member LLC), or how to file a DBA in New York.
Use the following business resources in New York to learn how to choose the best LLC services, file the Certificate of Incorporation, obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN), and decide whether you should be your own registered agent or if you should hire a third-party registered agent service.
Becoming an Entrepreneur in New York
Just Starting Out
Every New York business starts out with a great idea. To get inspiration, you can try our business idea generator that can suggest businesses for you based on your interests and lifestyle.
Once you've found the perfect idea, it's time to create a game plan for your business. This step helps lay a solid foundation for the future of your company. You can move on to planning out your business with our business plan generator or simply browse our selection of startup ideas. We also have several helpful guides for planning out your business:
Coming Up With a Name
One of the most important decisions you will make for your business is coming up with a name and then seeing if it is available in New York. We have several naming tools and guides to help you get started with finding the perfect name for your New York startup, small business, nonprofit or corporation.
Different Types of Business Formation
A business structure refers to how a business is legally organized. The type of business structure you choose to form your business with can affect how your company is regulated, taxed, and more. Because of this, choosing the best structure for your business is an important decision to make. Below are guides on the different business structures you can choose to form your company so you can learn how to form a business that works best for you.
Forming Your New York Business
Now that you’ve created a business plan, found a name and chose your New York business structure, it's time to form your business. This process might seem complicated, but it doesn't have to be. And if you want to save time and have someone else handle the paperwork, you can use one of our recommended services, like ZenBusiness, which will help to form your company for you or you can form it yourself using our helpful guides and tools.
LLC Checklist
This New York Checklist for Starting an LLC covers the necessary steps you need to take when you create your LLC.
Formation Necessities
Here are the required documents and forms you may need to help you get your business up and running in New York.
Highly Recommended Services for Your Business
Depending on the type of business structure your choose and how large your business is, you may also want to consider using the following services for your New York startup:
Registered Agent
A New York registered agent is a person or business that sends and receives legal papers on behalf of your company. These documents include official correspondence like legal summons and state filing notices.
New York requires every business to nominate a registered agent when forming a small business. Your registered agent must be a New York resident or a corporation authorized to conduct business in that New York.
We also recommend hiring a professional registered agent service to provide you with peace of mind and help you stay compliant with the law.
DBA
Filing a “doing business as” (DBA) name, also known as an assumed name, is an easy process that is achieved by registering a DBA with the State of New York.
Branding
You can probably think of a dozen different companies in New York whose brands play an important role in your daily or professional life. Maybe you only buy certain brands or prefer to buy your groceries at one supermarket chain over another. Your dedication to these companies is primarily a result of one thing: their branding. Our branding guides and tools will go over the importance of branding your small business and provide some tips for getting started.
Financing Your New York Business
Small business finance is the raising and managing of funds to finance and operate a new small business. This includes banking, small business accounting, building business credit, and raising funds for your business.
When planning your New York business, you should determine what types of business funding options your company will need and when. Whether you are starting a low-cost business or starting a high-growth startup, knowing when to get funding and what kind of funding you need is important.
Setting Up a Bank Account
Opening a business checking account is one of the first things you will need to do as a new business. Business banking is a fundamental asset protection requirement for every business and, depending on your needs, may include checking accounts, savings accounts, credit cards, and merchant accounts.
Every new and small business needs a business bank account to pay their business insurance, take care of payroll, collect money, and enroll with a merchant account to accept credit card payments.
Check out our guide on the Best Banks for Small Business for help finding a banking account for your business.
Getting a Business Credit Card
Small business credit cards are designed for professional use and provide a line of credit to small businesses while helping to maintain personal asset protection. It is crucial for small businesses to have a small business credit card.
Our guides will help you understand the importance of having a small business credit card and provide the steps for finding and applying for the best credit card for your business.
Finding Small Business Loans
Getting a small business loan is done by applying with a business lender, typically your bank or another lending institution, with the right documentation and your business plan.
A business loan can help to resolve cash flow problems, leverage growth opportunities, and even increase the value of a business. Making sure to plan for a loan ahead of time is extremely important, as is knowing the documentation needed by your lender when you do apply.
Small Business Financing for Female Entrepreneurs
Grants, loans, government contracts, investors, scholarships, advisors, tutorials — there are plenty of financial resources for female entrepreneurs and women leaders, and we’ll help you discover the best ones for you and your business.
Maintaining Your Small Business
Congratulations! Fewer than 14% of Americans have realized the dream of business ownership. To keep your New York business running, make sure you keep up with required government filings and maintain a clear record of all earnings and expenses.
Make Sure Your Business is Compliant
When you start a small business, you’ll need to determine if your business needs any licenses or permits to stay compliant.
Set Up Accounting and Bookkeeping
Having a business accountant will help you take advantage of tax benefits and potentially save you and your New York business a lot of money in taxes each year.
Finding a business accountant as soon as you start your business will ensure that you have the best advice from the very beginning.
Recommended: Hiring an accountant can save your company thousands of dollars in taxes each year. Get a free tax consultation with 1-800Accountant.
Set Up a Business Phone
Getting a business phone number is important for many businesses. Having a phone number for your customers to contact you with can go a long way in ensuring that your business is viewed as professional, trustworthy, and legitimate.
There are also different business phone services and answering services that can ensure that you are able to answer more than one call simultaneously and that all of your customers feel heard. Check out our different phone tools and guides to help your New York business set up phone services.
Build a Business Website
With growing technology, more and more businesses are going online. We believe all companies need a website regardless of their industry or size to keep up with the times.
So, how do you build a website? Luckily, technology has recently caught up with the massive demand for tools to simplify website creation. It’s never been easier to build your own website without the need for any web designer experience.
Our tools and guides provide an overview of the steps to build a website for your New York business as well as suggestions for which tools to use based on your business type and knowledge level.
Business Resources for Women
Starting your own business is no small feat; thankfully, there are many valuable resources dedicated to helping women entrepreneurs start and succeed. From woman-owned business certification to grants for female entrepreneurs, we’ll help you discover the women's business resources that will help you get the most out of your entrepreneurial journey.
New York Business Resources
New York SBDC
The New York SBDC is the organization to lend you a helping hand when starting a small business in New York. The NYSBDC offers free counseling and provides various technical and management assistance services including business plan development, accounting and marketing tactics, advice on legal business structures, financing planning and cost analysis, e-commerce, employee management, loan packaging, and more.
South Side Innovation
South Side Innovation features the Entrepreneurial Assistance Program Center that is a business support and training program that helps your business grow and prosper. With this program, entrepreneurs are able to avail of a business plan development course, one-on-one business coaching and consultation, SSIC academy training course, access to microcredit loans, access to a comprehensive web-based resource library and more.
SCORE
The Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) is an organization that aims to provide business owners and entrepreneurs with guidance through one-on-one business consultations, mentoring, coaching and business assistance. The organization has many professional volunteers who are highly qualified and experienced to give you the assistance that you need. With the main goal to educate new entrepreneurs, SCORE executes these programs efficiently to aid in economic development.
The Business Council
The Business Council is the premier business organization in the Empire State, representing the interests of both small and large firms. Business Council members range from member companies, professional and trade associations, and local chapters of chamber and commerce. As a member of The Business Council, you get access to a number of products and services that are exclusive only for members.
Hiscox
Hiscox’s small business blog provides entrepreneurs with a plethora of tools and resources to help them start, run and operate their small business. At Hiscox, you can get genuine help from expert professionals who believe risks with positive power are the required weapon to do more and be more as a business. Hiscox provides small business tips in the areas of small business financing, management, marketing, social media, startup, and technology.
Pursuit Lending
Pursuit Lending is a joint effort of the New York Business Development Council (NYBDC), the 504 Company, and the Excelsior Growth Fund to provide small business lending options to owners in the New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania area. Pursuit works with its partners to offer SBA loans, refinancing, lines of credit, and microloans to companies of all sizes and growth stages.