Table of contents Before Starting Your Business, Ask Yourself
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Business Plans Are Not Difficult
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Do You Have the Right Insurance Coverage?
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Business Planning – It’s the Process Not the Product
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3 Steps to Finding a Free Business Mentor to Help Start or Grow Your Business
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Meet Your Orange County SCORE Volunteers
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What is Crowd Funding and How Can it Help You?
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Promoting Your Business On the Internet
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Local Chambers of Commerce
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County Clerk Offices
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Local SCORE Chapters Business Resources
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SCORE Business Advice www.ScoreBusinessAdvice.com Published 1 time per year. Advertising inquires: A&E Advertising and Web Design Edison Guzman: (845) 940-5369 Subscription inquires: www.ScoreBusinessAdvice.com Publisher: A&E Advertising and Web Design Editor: Edison R. Guzman Advertising: Edison R. Guzman Published: September 2013
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Copyright© 2013 A&E Advertising and Web Design All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated or converted into machine-readable form or language without the written consent of the publisher. Articles express the opinions of the authors and are not necessarily those of the publisher. Please note: The information contained within this magazine is for educational purposes only. Every attempt has been made to provide accurate, up to date and reliable complete information. No warranties of any kind are expressed or implied. Readers acknowledge that the author is not engaging in rendering legal, financial or professional advice. By reading this magazine, the reader agrees that under no circumstances we are responsible for any losses, direct or indirect, that are incurred as a result of use of the information contained within this publication, including - but not limited to errors, omissions, or inaccuracies.
SCORE Business Advice 1
Before Starting Your Business, Ask Yourself:
Hello. My name is Edison Guzman, and I am the current Chapter Chair of Orange County SCORE Chapter #465. This publication was created to help you either start your own business, or help grow your existing business. Our Chapter and others nation-wide are here to help you realize your dream of starting and growing your business. You are welcomed to call and schedule a one-on-one confidential, no-cost counseling session, so that we can answer any questions and guide you on your road to business success.
1) What are you best at? What is your past experience? Do you have natural talents? What do you like to do? Are you a fast learner? 2) Is your idea a good idea? Check the trends. Google.com/trends, Google.com/think 3) Is there a big enough market? Infousa.com, google.com/publicdata, City-Data.com 4) Is there a need? Does your idea get rid of pain, gives pleasure or none? 5) Who else is doing it? Google.com, Bing.com, YellowPages.com 6) What is the profit potential? How many products must you sell or service hours must you deliver in order to meet monthly expenses and thrive? 7) How do I fund it? Savings, friends, family, banks, investors, credit cards. 8) Do I need to protect my idea? USPTO.gov 9) Build or buy? Do I build a business from scratch, buy an existing business, or invest in a franchise? 10) Partnership or alone? Do you thrive with others, need their expertise, or their money? Answering these questions is just the start. In order to really see if your business is truly a good idea, you will need to create a business plan. You can do it yourself, with the help of SCORE counselors, or hire someone to create the plan for you. Once you’ve gone through the business plan process, there are 7 steps to starting your own business:
Our SCORE Chapter is conveniently located in Montgomery, NY within the Orange County Chamber of Commerce Business Resource Center.
1) Choose your company name.
You can reach us at (845) 457-9700 between the hours of 9am to 5pm Monday through Friday.
3) Choose company legal entity (Sole Proprietor, Partnership, C Corp, S Corp, LLC, LLP, PLLP) and file. dos.state.ny.us/corps/bus_entity_search.html
We also host workshops throughout the year, so ensure to visit our web site, www.OrangeNYScore.com for the most up-to-date schedule.
4) Apply for EIN (TIN) number . IRS.gov
Take Care,
6) Acquire required permits, licenses, and file retail tax collection forms if necessary. nys-opal.com
Edison R. Guzman Chapter Chair SCORE #465 2 SCORE Business Advice
2) Research and register the domain name for your company . aeDomain.com, GoDaddy.com, NameCheap.com
5) Open company bank account.
7) Implement marketing plan. ScoreBusinessAdvice.com
Business Plans Are Not Difficult Charlene Maurer Finerty
Would you believe business plans need not be difficult nor confusing? But they take time. Plans are a step-by-step process to organize, refine and develop dozens or hundreds of scattered thoughts. Not having one is an invitation to consume more time and money later, money you may not have then. Planning discovers mistakes and omissions. To make a business plan less scary, think of it as an overgrown term paper with a cover page, table of contents, body and appendix. Sound familiar? It is a story in words and numbers. The Narrative holds primarily words and some numbers. The Appendix may contain more numbers than words. Various options may be considered and decisions made. The longer it takes the more arduous the changes become. I think 6 to 8 weeks is a good time frame.
7.1% were under 5 years old. Projections for 2012 indicate 6.8% to be under 5. We learn 1,726 males and 3,862 females were over 85. If we want to sell a product or service for young or older individuals these are clues to judge demographics. It tells us there were 137,025 households in 2011 and 91.5% were occupied. You may not find the exact information you want, but may glean enough detail to work the numbers to fit your need. Local Librarians are your best friends to recommend and use databases.
The Year One Cash Flow is probably the most important page in the plan. It is called Cash Flow for a reason – cash on hand balance must flow from month to month for twelve months. Amazingly many published cash flow examples do not do this. So be careful. The One of the main concerns is to Cash Flow is a prediction of the keep the Narrative and Appendix in company checkbook in a perfect agreement. I’ve seen statements world but the world is not perfect. under management that the owner Thus, don’t spend all the money you will be the only worker yet under have or have access to borrow. business description it said open Keep an untouched pot of gold at from 5:00 am til 9:00 pm seven days the end of your dream because a week. running a business is reality.
Advertising comments may say the business will use business cards, The process of writing a plan fliers, Little League shirts and records what you know and alerts billboards yet have only $25 twice a you to what you need to find out. It year in advertising expense. This helps you work through facts like happens as we get tired and/or www.Census.gov indicates the rushed and review the same population for Orange County NY composition so many times we do in 2010 was 372,813, and 26,488 or not recognize variances.
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Ask detail-oriented people you know and trust who have not worked on the plan to see if facts match and it makes sense to them. Or, have a professional critique your plan before relying on it for management or a loan request.
Charlene owner of Plans and Profits, LLC teaches, edits and writes custom business plans. She also markets a 6 ½-hr class on DVD. See PlansAndProfits.com, and BusinessPlanWritingClass.com. Contact at 845.343.1515 or finerty@aol.com
SCORE Business Advice 3
Do You Have the Right Insurance Coverage? Gregory M. Hogan, CIC, CLU, RHU During client interviews, my goal is noncompliance letter with a fine to understand clients’ risks and needs so attached. If you need WC, you most likely also need NY Disability. Did I can best help them. you remember to get it? By asking questions and listening, areas that cry out for coverage are Property - Do you have a building discovered. Many times the business or business contents that you’d lose, owner never knew coverage was say, in a fire? Does your lender require available for a need she didn’t know it to cover their interest in a loan to she had. “I’ve never heard about that you? Think about it, you may have before”, they’ll say. “Do I really need thousands of dollars in equipment and that coverage?” The answer is usually, inventory that could be gone in a flash. A few premium dollars today, could ‘it depends’. prevent thousands lost tomorrow. It depends on the business type, the business owner’s landlord or lender, Liability - Do you have customers even the business owner’s willingness come see you? Do you go see (and ability) to take risks. Some customers? Does your landlord require coverages are mandated by law, such as it? As a business owner, you have a Workers Comp and NY Disability. target on your back and people will sue Some are required by lenders and you. Are you prepared? If you are an landlords (property/liability), and all are LLC or corporation you may think you designed to provide payment should are protected from personal lawsuits. you suffer a covered loss. The Think again. There are plenty of cases paragraphs below highlight some of where a business owner was held these coverage types and identifies why personally responsible, despite being a they may be necessary. corporation or LLC.
during business use of a vehicle. Depending on the vehicle, a business auto policy may provide more coverage at a lower premium. Errors & Omissions - Do you give advice to clients for a fee? Could someone sue you for breach of contract? Lawsuits for bad advice or improper dealings are not covered in standard liability policies. Business Income - Will your revenue stop if your business is shut down due to a covered loss? Will your employees suffer with no income while the business is not operating? Sure, you may have property coverage to rebuild your building and buy new stock, but will the business survive this downtime? Business income coverage can provide the capital needed to keep a business afloat.
Employment Practices Liability Do you have employees or customers? If so, then this coverage is almost mandatory in today’s climate. It will Workers Compensation (WC) Auto - Do you have a vehicle(s) for cover employee or customer lawsuits Do you have employees, on payroll or use in your business? Do your for discrimination, among other things. not, and do you want to cover yourself? employees use their cars for your Gregory M. Hogan, CIC, CLU, RHU is Even if you pay your workers on a 1099 business? Just because the car is basis, you may have to cover them for insured through a personal policy does a broker at Hutchings Insurance WC, but too often employers learn this not mean you are covered. Some of the Agency in Middletown NY. Visit his web when it’s too late...after someone is largest writers of personal auto site at HutchingsInsurance.com or call injured or the state sends a insurance will deny claims that occur him at (845) 343-2148.
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SCORE Business Advice 5
Business Planning – It’s the Process Not the Product Eric Egeland, CPCU, AU As a consultant I am constantly trying to explain to people the value of research and planning.
I guess maybe that’s part of the fun of being an entrepreneur... doing what you want. But if you look at successful large companies with long term profitable A child who wants to be a CEO doesn’t success; they are able to sustain because want to have to learn how to be a CEO… they don’t skip the process. The CEO of they just want to be one. As adults, we learn Honda doesn’t pick the shape and color of that’s not how it works. Even if we get that his personal dream car. He engages the degree, people still want experience. They company in the process of determining want to know you have gone through some what the customer wants. Then they processes, growth, pain, and failure so you determine the best way to effectively know what to do next time. The degree gets market the new car using that information. you a $50,000 salary but the experience is This process allows them to put out a car what gets you the $500,000 salary. that has the best chance of selling. And they are pretty darn good at it based on historical So why it is that some entrepreneurs results. Now just imagine what kind of and managers constantly want to skip the company they would be if the CEO just value that lies in the process? When they are contemplating starting a new company, churned out whatever fit his fancy over the buying an existing one, or marketing a new years. product they want to just get to it. Is it I think entrepreneurs and managers because they think they are too smart? blow off analysis and planning because they Maybe they feel they have already paid don’t understand the tremendous value in their dues and have enough experience? Is doing them. it because they are lazy? Or is it because it is just no fun to learn when you can just get The process is nothing more than collecting information and answering to the end product?
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thought provoking questions. For instance, who is your ideal customer? I often get, “anybody who purchases the product I sell.” Yes, the world is your oyster but we are looking to grow your company. We need to determine who your IDEAL customer is so we can more effectively find them and appeal to them. Six hours later the value of this not so simple, but crucial question starts to emerge. Those stumper questions (whatever they may be for your particular situation) are the ones that will make your business successful because they force you to figure out the answer BEFORE lunging forward. This process has saved many an entrepreneur and manager from financial failure just like it saves Honda from putting out ugly cars. By Eric Egeland, CPCU, AU – President of Capacity Business Consulting, Inc. – CapacityConsultingInc.com
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SCORE Business Advice 7
3 Steps to Finding a Free Business Mentor to Help Start or Grow Your Business In just 3 steps, we’ll show you how to find, develop and nurture a business mentor that will help you through the booms and busts of small business ownership. Whether you’re just getting started, or are a business veteran and looking for answers, the following will help you find the right help for you. Step 1 - Figure Out What You Need Help With — and Yes, Everyone Needs Help from Time to Time Pick out the top three challenges you or your business faces—and prioritize them in order of having the biggest impact on your business success. Step 2 - Carve Out Time in Your Busy Schedule to
Devote to Meeting with a Business Mentor It’s not easy for entrepreneurs to find time to meet with a mentor when so much is happening with the business that appears to be and maybe is, more pressing. But, in order to get help, you have to commit some of your time and energy to meeting with your mentor. It’s just like exercise—you’ll be glad that you did it and will feel energized when you finished. Step 3 - Find a Mentor you Click With There are several local SCORE chapters nationwide. Choose the most convenient for you for a face-to-face confidential meeting. If you can’t get to a local chapter, visit www.Score.org for an online, or “virtual,” mentor.
Your Marketing Plan In a Nutshell What Products/ Services Price
Place
Why
What products do What need does it you need? fill?
What price will you sell it for?
Why is that the right price?
How will products Why choose be distributed? these channels?
When
How
How Much
Who
When do you need it?
How will the product fill the need?
Product cost, volume to be sold, etc.
Who is your target market?
How long will that How will the price How much sales price be valid? develop over and margin will be time? created?
Different prices for different segments?
When do customers choose different channels?
How will we create or enter these channels?
What are the cost/benefits of these channels?
How do different segments use different channels?
Promotion
What types of promotion to be used?
Why choose these activities?
Timing: Launch, lifecycle, etc.?
How will the promotions be executed?
Costs/benefits of the promotions.
Target groups for various promotions?
Other
What is the market size of your market?
Why should someone buy from you?
When do you test different strategies?
S.W.O.T. analysis?
How much can you scale/grow your business?
Who is your competition?
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Meet Your Orange County SCORE Volunteers The volunteers of Orange County SCORE, Chapter #465, have rich and varied business backgrounds. Counselors share their business expertise and knowledge in all aspects of small business. In addition, all counselors have specific areas of expertise, which are listed below. To learn more about each counselor, please visit our local web site, www.OrangeNYScore.com. Volunteer: Paul Campanella Company: Action Plus Project Management Expertise: Medical Device, Pharmaceutical, Food and Cosmetic Manufacturing and FDA Compliance. Project Management, ISO9000, HACCP, Global Food Safety
Volunteer: Kristian Diaz Company: Mid-Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union Expertise: Banking, financial services and Insurance
Volunteer: Harvey Horn (Former Chapter Chair) Company: Retired Expertise: Management, Product Development, Plastic Manufacturing and production Volunteer: Lewis Kornish Company: Retired Expertise: Business Operations, Sales, Marketing & Public Relations, Supply Chain Management, Business Strategy & Planning
Volunteer: Eric Egeland, CPCU, AU Company: Capacity Business Consulting, Inc. Expertise: Feasibility Studies, Funding, Analysis, Business Improvement
Volunteer: Cynthia Marsh-Croll Company: Orange County Chamber of Commerce Expertise: Business Operations, Public and Professional Organizations, MWBE Certifications
Volunteer: William Fioravanti Company: Orange County Chamber of Commerce Expertise: Sales, Marketing & Public Relations, Non-Profit, Business Operations, Retail and Wholesale Trade
Volunteer: Michael Mazzuca Company: Riverside Bank Expertise: Business Banking, Commercial Lending and General Banking
Volunteer: Charlene Finerty, Chapter Co-Chair Company: Plans and Profits, LLC Expertise: Business Plan Service, Business Operations, Business Strategy & Planning
Volunteer: Rolland Peacock III Company: TD Bank, N.A. Expertise: Banking, Financial Services and Insurance, Business Finance & Accounting, Business Strategy & Planning
Volunteer: Valerie Gross Company: Orange County Chamber of Commerce Expertise: Chapter Support, Workshop Registrations, Appointment Schedule
Volunteer: Kim Petro-McCrum Company: Petro McCrum Consulting, LLC Expertise: Small Business Accounting, Budgeting, and Process Improvement, QuickBooks
Volunteer: Edison Guzman, Chapter Chair Company: A&E Advertising and Web Design Expertise: Advertising, Marketing, Web Design, Internet Marketing, Graphic Arts
Volunteer: John Rosenberger Company: Goldstein Karlewicz & Goldstein LLC Expertise: CPA, Tax Manager
Volunteer: William Herring Company: Retired Expertise: Sales and Marketing, Manufacturer Representative, Mergers & Acquisitions, Wholesale Operations, Business Services Consulting
Volunteer: Carol Smith, Chapter Co-Chair Company: Orange County Chamber of Commerce Expertise: Government Initiatives and Special Projects
Volunteer: Gregory M. Hogan, CIC, CLU, RHU Company: Hutchings Insurance, Inc. Expertise: Property, Casualty, Life, Health and Disability Insurance Broker ScoreBusinessAdvice.com
Call (845) 457-9700 to schedule a free face-to-face counseling session. We will evaluate your needs and match you with the perfect counselor that will help you start or grow your business. SCORE Business Advice 9
What is Crowd Funding and How Can it Help You? You have a business idea and need financing? What if you could connect with a group of like-minded people with funds to spare? You will have a good chance of getting investors, right? That’s exactly what crowd funding is. In simple terms, crowd funding means raising capital for any business venture through a ‘crowd’ of small investors. Is it Legal? Yes, crowdfunding is legal, Congress passed H.R.3606 on 3/23/2012. How does it work? Crowdfunding uses the reach of the social media and the Internet to make it easy for entrepreneurs to connect with potential investors. Add to that, the power of microfinance, and you have a capital raising technique with a huge potential. In simple words, you post a pitch online, use tools like social media, blogs, and word of mouth of publicity to spread the word and catch the attention of potential investors. Crowdfunding sites offer a powerful platform where entrepreneurs can pitch their business ideas, spread the word about their pitch, and connect with interested investors registered on the site.
technique to raise funds for your project. You get feedback on your idea, even before you launch your business and get a feel of what the market response is likely to be.
specific needs in the marketplace or community. Crowdfunding Websites (SCORE does not recommend or endorse any crowdfunding sites)
33needs. 33needs enables everyone to invest, make a social impact, and earn Crowd Funding can also double-up as a financial rewards. Promoting businessmarketing tool! You can create a buzz led solutions to our world’s biggest about your business even before it’s needs, it provides crowdfunding for social entrepreneurs, social enterprises launched. and companies with a social mission. Crowdfunding websites can help you Ventures are organized under these find a community of small investors to categories: the planet, education, The Crowd Funding Advantage: community, health, opportunity, and fund your business, without the risks of The hardest part of starting a business is sustainable food. Investment dollars are traditional financing. raising capital. Crowd Funding can exchanged for rewards offered by make the road smoother. Here are the Some sites focus on funding creative crowdfunded companies, as well as top advantages: points to redeem for special offers. projects. Other sites focus on meeting It’s the most cost effective 10 SCORE Business Advice
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AppBackr. Appbackr is a wholesale marketplace for mobile phone apps. The developer posts an app or app-indevelopment to the appbackr marketplace. Backers can purchase a bulk of apps wholesale, and the developer receives immediate payment. Backers can view monthly sales reports and the daily run rate of purchased apps on the appbackr dashboard. The developer must be a registered Apple or Android developer. Cofundos. Cofundos crowdfunds opensource software projects. Open source software ideas are submitted and discussed. Requirements are defined. Specialists offer estimates on completing the project. Bidders select the specialists and donate bid amounts. FansNextdoor. FansNextdoor is a platform for all creative professionals to promote and fund their projects together with their fans. Create your project, its financing goal and deadline. If the financing goal is met or exceeded by deadline, all contributions are transferred to your PayPal account. If the financing goal is not met, all funds are returned. FansNextdoor is currently free, but lists a fee target of 3 percent. Transactions are subject to PayPal fees. Kickstarter. Kickstarter claims to be the largest funding platform for creative projects in the world. Kickstarter grabbed the crowdfunding spotlight after the open source Facebook alternative Diaspora raised more than $200,000 on the site. Kickstarter projects must be fully funded before funding time expires or no money changes hands. Project creators are required to offer rewards — products, benefits, and experiences — to project backers. Integrates with Facebook, Twitter, and offers a widget for your website. Kickstarter charges a 5 percent fee, in addition to third party processing fees.
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MicroVentures. MicroVentures targets companies that are creating technologies, products and services in core areas, such as business products, consumer products, electronics, online technology, and more. Submit your business plan and $100. If you are approved, your business will be listed on the website for investors to fund. MicroVentures charges 10 percent of the offering amount, if the offering is completed.
selected and brought to market, you’ll earn a share of the revenues. Influence the communal product development process and you’ll also earn a share of the revenue.
RocketHub. RocketHub is a community for “Creative and Fuelers” — those with projects and those who contribute. Submit your project to the “Launchpad” for fueling. Users earn rewards and badges, designed to display dedication, enthusiasm, experience and PeerBackers. Peerbackers is for success. Keep any money raised. business owners to raise capital from RocketHub charges a flat 8 percent if their peers — in small increments — in your venture meets its financial goal, exchange for tangible rewards. Create a including payment-processing fees. personal and venture profile. Share your story through social media share IndieGoGo. IndieGoGo offers anyone buttons on your project page. Once with an idea — creative, cause-related, your campaign is launched, send entrepreneurial — the tools to build a updates on your progress. If you reach campaign and raise money. Project at least 80 percent of your funding goal categories include gaming, film, design, by deadline, your funding is released to education, mobile, and technology. you. Peerbackers charges a 5 percent Integrates with Facebook, Twitter, and fee, in addition to third party processing other social media platforms. Offers a fees widget to showcase your campaign on your website. Unlike many ProFounder. ProFounder is a crowdfunding sites, you keep all the crowdfunding platform for money you raise, even if you don’t entrepreneurs to raise investment meet your goal. Track contributions capital from their communities. With with the analytics tools and stay on top ProFounder tools, you plan your of fulfillment with the dashboard. There fundraising, create your pitch, and offer is a 4 percent fee on the money you terms. You choose how much revenue raise when you meet your funding goal. to share and how long (the number of Third party payment processing fees years) you’ll share it. Because this is also apply. not a loan, your payments to your investors are not fixed, and depend only Kiva Microfunds. Kiva allows people upon your success. And because this to lend money via the Internet to people isn’t equity either, you give up no in developing countries. Kiva itself control or ownership of your company. does not collect any interest on the Each quarter throughout the investment loans it facilitates. It is purely supported term, ProFounder helps you calculate by grants, loans, and donations from its payments that each investor is due and users, corporations, and national manage the distribution of funds owed. institutions. Profounder charges up to a 5 percent fee of the total funding. Do your research and due diligence to see which, if any of these services is Quirky. Quirky offers product right for you. designers and inventors the chance to bring their products to market. Submit your idea for $10. If your idea is SCORE Business Advice 11
Promoting Your Business On the Internet Edison R. Guzman The internet is no longer just about having a web site, it’s about being found online when someone needs what you have to offer. Your prospective customers may need you today, in a week, a month, or even a year. This is why when you create your online presence, you must keep this in mind and plan for it. When creating a web site, you can do it yourself, or hire an experienced company to do it for you. There are many free web site do-ityourself services available on line, and if that’s where you have to start, it’s better than not having a web site.
- HTML editor or web design software (Kompozer, CoffeeCup or Dreamweaver)
Photo editing software (Photoshop, GIMP)
Audio recording and editing software (Audacity – audacity.sourceforge.net)
Video Camera or Web Cam
Video ripping, editing and converting software (AVSMedia.com)
Screen Capturing Software (Camtasia by Techsmith.com)
These tools will allow you to create Just keep in mind that your web site an online presence, accept credit card payments, keep your web site up-torepresents you, your product and/or date, add audio, add video and make services and your overall business. If your company look as professional as you design it poorly, it will reflect possible. badly on you. These are the basic tools you need when creating your web site:
Domain name (aeDomain.com)
Hosting account (GVOToolKit.com)
Web site (HTML or CMS such as Wordpress)
Email marketing system (GVOToolKit.com)
Merchant account (Local bank, PayPal.com, AcceptCreditCardsNow.biz)
Advanced users: - FTP software (filezilla-project.org)
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You can learn to use all of these tools by watching online tutorials, educational videos or becoming a member of educational web sites such as www.BusinessU.co.
Article marketing
Email marketing
Joint ventures
Social Media Marketing
Video marketing
Banner advertising
Solo ads
Co-op ads
Blog posting
Webinars
Teleseminars
Affiliate marketing
Forum marketing
Product reviews
Testimonials
There are dozens of ways to get traffic to your web site. You simply need to start a campaign and test your way to success.
If you don’t have the time, but you have the budget, then I suggest you hire someone that can do this for you, so Once you’ve created your web site, that you don’t waste too much time and you need to get people to see it. You do money. this by driving traffic with specific In business, you’re either investing internet marketing strategies. time in growing your business, or Here are some ways to do this: investing money. You choose which is less costly for you. Pay-Per-Click advertising
Search engine optimization
Search engine marketing
Back-linking
Press releases
Edison Guzman is owner of A&E Advertising and Web Design, and founder of hvBiz.com. He can be found at (845) 940-5369. His web site address is www.aeAdvertising.com. ScoreBusinessAdvice.com
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Local Chambers of Commerce Dutchess County Regional Chamber of Commerce One Civic Center Plaza Poughkeepsie NY 12601 DutchessCountyRegionalChamber.org (845) 454-1700 Goshen Chamber of Commerce 223 Main St. P.O. Box 506 Goshen NY 10924 GoshenNYChamber.com (845) 294-7741 Greater Monroe Chamber of Commerce PO Box 330 Monroe NY 10949-0330 gmcoc.com (845)475-8686 New Paltz Chamber of Commerce 257 Main Street New Paltz NY 12561 NewpaltzChamber.org (845) 255-0243
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Orange County Chamber of Commerce 30 Scott's Corners Drive Montgomery NY 12549 OrangeNY.com (845) 457-9700
The Business Council of Westchester 108 Corporate Park Drive, Suite 101 White Plains NY 10604 WestchesterNY.org (914) 948-2110
Putnam/Brewster Chamber of Commerce 31 Main Street Brewster NY 10509 BrewsterChamber.com (845) 279-2477
Tri-State Chamber of Commerce 5 S. Broome St. P.O. Box 121 Port Jervis NY 12771 TriStateChamber.org (845) 856-6694
Rockland Business Association P.O. Box 1567 Pearl River NY 10965 RocklandBusiness.org (845) 735-2100
Ulster County Regional Chamber of Commerce 214 Fair Street Kingston NY 12401 UlsterChamber.org (845) 338-5100
Sullivan County Chamber of Commerce P.O. Box 405 Mongaup Valley NY 12762 Catskills.com (845) 791-4200
Warwick Valley Chamber of Commerce P.O. Box 202 Warwick NY 10990 WarwickCC.org (845) 986-2720
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County Clerk Offices If you’d like to start your own business as a sole proprietor or partnership, you must file with your local county clerk’s office. Below are seven local county clerk’s office within the Hudson Valley. You must file a business certificate for each county you wish to do business within. Visit each county’s web site in order to download a copy of the business certificate. Dutchess County Dutchess County Clerk 22 Market Street Poughkeepsie, NY 12601 Phone: (845) 486-2120 Fax: (845) 486-2138 Web: www.co.dutchess.ny.us
Sullivan County Sullivan County Clerk 100 North Street Monticello, NY 12701 Phone: (845)794-3000 Web: www.co.sullivan.ny.us
Orange County Orange County Government Center 255 Main Street, Goshen, NY 10924 Phone: (845) 291-2700 Fax: (845) 291-2724 Web: www.co.orange.ny.us
Ulster County Ulster County Clerk's office. 244 Fair Street Kingston, NY 12401 Phone: (845) 340-3288 Fax: (845) 340-3299 Web: www.co.ulster.ny.us
Putnam County Putnam County Office Building 40 Gleneida Avenue, Room 100 Carmel, NY 10512 Phone: (845) 808-1142 Web: www.putnamcountyny.com
Westchester County 110 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Room 330 White Plains, NY 10601 Phone: (914) 995-3070 Web: www.westchestergov.com
Rockland County Rockland County Courthouse 1 South Main Street, Suite 100 New City, NY 10956 Telephone (845) 638-5070 FAX (845) 638-5647 Web: www.co.rockland.ny.us
Local SCORE Chapters Dutchess - Chapter: 59 1 Civic Center Plaza Poughkeepsie, NY 10261 Phone: (845) 454-1700 x1021 Fax: (845) 454-1702 Web: www.ScoreDutchessNY.org Orange - Chapter: 465 30 Scott's Corner Drive Montgomery, NY 12549 Phone: (845) 457-9700 Fax: (845) 457-8799 Web: www.OrangeNYScore.com Putnam - Chapter: 678 34 Gleneida Avenue Carmel, NY 10512 Phone: (845) 225-6030 Fax: (845) 225-0311 Web: www.PutnamScore.org Rockland - Chapter: 677 4 North Main Street Spring Valley, NY 10977 Phone: (845) 426-1206 Web: www.RocklandScore.org Sullivan - Chapter: 697 c/o Sullivan County Partnership 198 Bridgeville Road Monticello, NY 12701 Phone: 845.343.1515 www.SullivanCounty.Score.org Ulster - Chapter: 533 1 Development Court Kingston, NY 12401 Phone: (845) 339-0468 Fax: (845) 339-0780 Web: www.ScoreUlster.org Westchester - Chapter: 306 120 Bloomingdale Road White Plains, NY 10605 Phone: (914) 948-3907 Fax: (914) 948-4645 Web: www.ScoreWestchester.com
ScoreBusinessAdvice.com
SCORE Business Advice 15
Business Resources Business Resources in NYS www.Business.gov Just about anything you want to know about running a business, including a searchable database of available grants and financial resources for your business. NY State Web Site www.dos.state.ny.us Everything you need to know about doing business in NYS can be found within this web site including taxation and finance. Corporation and Business Entity Database Search www.dos.state.ny.us/corps/ bus_entity_search.html See if your company’s name is available before you incorporate. Corporation filing information, fees, and publications www.dos.state.ny.us/corps/ dom_busfile.html NYS filing fees when incorporating your business. Domain Name Research and Registration www.aeDomain.com See if your desired domain name is available for registration. A domain name is the address your potential customer will use to find you on the Internet. Government Loan Programs www.GovLoans.gov A comprehensive list of all Government loan programs, and how they can financially help you start or grow your business. Grant Programs www.Grants.gov Free listing of all available government grant programs.
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Minority and Women Owned Business Development www.esd.ny.gov/MWBE.html You will find information related to the certification process, resources for technical assistance, access to capital, contract opportunities, MWBE Events, and a vendor registry search tool to help you find New York State certified MWBEs. Internet Tools and Resources www.GVOToolkit.com Tools needed to get your business on the Internet. Hosting, company email accounts, video conferencing, email marketing, video hosting and more. Build your own website with these tools. NYS Department of Labor www.labor.ny.gov Have employee questions? This is the place to answer anything and everything which has to do with labor laws within NYS. NYS Online Permit Assistance and Licensing www.nys-opal.com If you want to start a new business or expand your current business, this site will help you find the New York State business permits you may need. SCORE “Counselors to America’s Small Business” www.Score.org Main web site which contains many business resources, business templates, examples, and online counseling. US Patent and Trademark Web Site www.uspto.gov An agency of the department of commerce. Just about everything you need to know about protecting your invention and more, can be found on this site.
Small Business Administration – www.sba.gov The official SBA web site offering programs and services that will help you start, grow and succeed in business. IRS Web Site www.IRS.gov Find all related issues with US Federal taxes. SBA (Small Business Administration) www.sba.gov You can get information on starting, financing and expanding your business. Official U.S. Internet Gateway www.usa.gov This is the official home page to all of government. Veterans www.sba.gov/vets The Office of Veterans Business Development's mission is to maximize the availability, applicability and usability of all administration small business programs for Veterans, ServiceDisabled Veterans, Reserve Component Members, and their Dependents or Survivors. Women Business Owners www.WomenBiz.gov Federal contracting opportunities for women-owned small businesses (WOSBs) . Find Business Opportunities www.fbo.gov Federal agencies are mandated to advertise on this site. You can download the solicitations that you are interested in, and receive emails on types of work that you are interested in. ScoreBusinessAdvice.com