Why New York Business Incentive Program Fails To Entice Entrepreneurs

Within the past year or so, New York State has been running television campaigns to spread awareness about the StartUp NY program. The program is meant for New York business and entrepreneurs to grow companies, creating job growth as well as overall economic prosperity. The NY business program boasts free taxes, incentives and interesting statistics (which you will want to look closely at below). Is it really working?

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Of course, with any government business programs, there are criteria to meet. Actually, in the case of New York State, companies have to be a very specific type of business. Most specifically, it needs to be a high tech New York business. That means, if you have small business technology running your business, that is not enough. If you check out the official website, it will list all the industries that are NOT ELIGIBLE.

New York Business Location

So, now that New York State has ruled out a large percentage of companies from the start, they also require the New York business to locate itself inside a certain New York county or district areas. Okay, that is not too bad since there are serious tax incentives that make the deadline for 1099 forms more tolerable. However, certain counties only offer certain types of space, such as laboratories for research or high technology workshops. Need a simple company warehouse? You are out of luck if it is not available. And, in most New York counties, it is not.

StartUp NY Business Ads Are Not Helpful

Even worse, StartUp NY business ads actually come off as if everyone could take advantage. That is just not the case. They are not helpful to New York business or entrepreneurs. Even if they do help a few businesses, these ads come off as wasteful because of the narrow eligibility. In the ad, one of the key statistics is the 2300 jobs created. But, that statistic came after saying that over 3.6 million square feet is available. Yes, 3.6 million! Sounds like New York business has a lot of space to fill.

Well, clearly StartUp NY is using expensive advertising strategies to reach the limited group of businesses. They are trying hard, right? But, if the company pool is too small, no New York business will actually be able to take advantage of the benefits. It makes me question the program and promotion of it. Hopefully, you will question it too.

New York Business Should Be Fair

If New York wants to attract businesses with tax breaks and incentives, then do it for all startup businesses in New York! This way, businessman and entrepreneurs can focus on lowering their start up costs and hiring more people in the state. Let the innovation and success do the talking, not a government official who decides eligibility. New York business is meant to be fair for all companies who wish to operate in the state.

NYC Online Portal

However, if you are lucky enough to meet these strict requirements for StartUp NY, there is a useful tool that you should definitely take advantage of. The NYC Department of Small Business Services offers many free services to entrepreneurs who need a helping hand. The NYC DSBS offers services for legal and financial counseling, recruiting advice and information regarding applying for and obtaining the proper permits for your business. All of these programs are offered at absolutely zero cost to the entrepreneur or their funding partner. If you are a small business owner in NYC, you would be a fool to not take advantage of these services. Use the NYC DSBS portal to take advantage of these, and many other, great features for successful business.

Operating A New York Small Business

Operating a small business in New York affords a lot of convenience not experienced by business owners in other states, despite the unfortunate tax filing statistics mentioned above. The NYC Business portal makes it easy to manage license renewals each year. You can easily apply for licenses or renew existing business licenses on the website. All you have to do is create a login for your business. You can also pay for violations on the same platform. This digital tech has made business ownership in NYC much less cumbersome and time-consuming. This is certainly something to consider if you are planning on opening a business in NYC.

Hopefully, some NY business owners will question their elected officials on this. Because if they don’t, New York State will continue to lose way more than 2,300 jobs while many millions of square feet will be left empty, and companies move to states with better business opportunities. Or, if New York businesses do not move, they will definitely struggle to compete against those with lower taxes, labor costs and overhead. Here is to hoping for better New York business, so you never have to worry about what expenses are tax deductible ever again.

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