New York City is simultaneously the easiest and most difficult place in the world to launch a startup business. No other city has the opportunities, the networking, and the hurdles that NYC offers, but any U.S. startup with a serious shot at making it big must seriously consider The Big Apple as a launching pad.
If you’re thinking of launching your startup in New York, here are a few tips to make sure your business is successful from the get-go.

Attend a Startup Event

One of the best things about the NY startup scene is that there are dozens of annual startup events throughout the city where you can network and get great advice pertaining to your business. New York Startup Weekend is usually held each summer and is an unparalleled opportunity to survey the startup landscape, hob-nob with VC investors, and attend seminars that may provide useful information for various stages of your business. Check with the universities, too, to find out if they’re offering any upcoming startup programs.

Start Small

It’s tempting in a city the size of New York to hit the ground running at 100mph. Don’t. If your startup has a chance of succeeding it’s smart to first stay hyper-local, ideally in just one neighborhood or borough of the city. New York offers lots of microcosms in which to pitch and test your business that can mean expansion city-wide, state-wide, or even nationally. To hone in on the problems and opportunities in your business it’s a great idea to focus on just one small part of NYC initially.

Get Marketing Help

No other city in the U.S. has more professional marketing firms that New York. Not only that, but there are thousands of marketers at any given moment who would relish the opportunity to practice on your business in a consulting capacity. Even if your startup doesn’t have a huge budget, marketing is essential so spend some time researching the firms that have similar viewpoints to your own and hire out that part of your business so you’ll have more time to focus on the internal mechanisms.

Socialize Your Startup

New York is one of the most mobile-friendly cities in the world and its citizens are notoriously glued to their smartphones. If your startup has anything to do with social outreach, New York is the place to be. Figure out ways in which your business can leverage a fast-moving, densely-packed population and do what you can to reach them. Hire a developer to build an app, start a city-wide social media campaign that ties into subway ads, etc.

Poach Some Talent

Unless you live in the Bay Area, you’re unlikely to find such a rich talent pool for your startup business as in NYC. Obviously you should spend a lot of your time networking, but also consider the ways in which the people you meet could eventually help your business. Meet a great speaker at a conference on tech in NY? Maybe he’s a future salesman for your business. New York is overflowing with talented people. Use them!
New York is perhaps the best place to launch a startup in the country, full of opportunity as well as challenges. One thing is for sure: if you can launch a successful startup in New York City, your business can survive anywhere!

Ryan Currie is a product manager at BizShark.com, with 5 years experience in online marketing and product development. In addition to web related businesses, he also enjoys the latest news and information on emerging technologies and open source projects.

Author: Ryan Currie, www.bizshark.com