Business Mentor NY – a program of Empire State Development

Program Update

Mentees and Mentors,

We appreciate your interest in mentorship. Please be advised that after March 31, 2024, the Business Mentor NY Program will cease to operate. However, you can continue to access mentoring services by contacting Entrepreneurship Assistance Centers in your area at esd.ny.gov/eac-directory to obtain one-on-one counseling with your current business idea or small business.

If you would like to continue offering pro bono mentoring services to entrepreneurs or small business owners, please email us at nylovessmbiz@esd.ny.gov with your core business skills, experience or education and your preferred service area.

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would a business plan be my first step starting up a retail store if a need finance?

I'Ll be sole proprietor 

I need the money before i get a location to opetate? Then yet I can't register business, and permits. 

Please help to set my steps, thanks

Christian 

 

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2 answers

Business plan always first, always, otherwise you or anyone else you are looking for assistance from, won't knwo whether or not the project is even feasible for moving forward.  Contact your local SBEDC office, or send a draft to someone on here to review.  Search for "Business plan templates" online to get you started.

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Hi Christian,Certainly the first step in any planning process includes two things: A business plan and a financial plan.

The business plan help you (the primary consumer of the plan) sort through your ideas about the business and gets everything down on "paper". This way all of your thoughts and visions for your business are layed out in a logical way.

The financial plan help you analize if the business is financially viable. A lot of entrepreneurs who have great ideas jump head first in to the implementation phase, without any planning, and then we try to make a correction after a mistake happens - Ready, Fire, Aim!

The business and financial plans together allow you to see a clear picture of where you'd like to go with your business and if it's financially feasible.

From there you can find local banks, friends & family and/or local development corporations to help fund your venture. Keep in mind though, other than friends & family, most of the other funding sources will require the entrepreneur to also put some money into the business.

I hope your venture works out well and good luck. Don't hesitate to reach out if you need support.

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