You have gone through the emotions and even made pro’s and con’s lists about your dream business. Now you are ready to launch your business but you are lost on how to actually do that. In Kick Start Your e-commerce Consultation I walk clients through a 5 week course on how to launch their business, including: site design, branding, payment gateways and much more.
Today however, I wanted to go over some things it seems people skip in the excitement of starting their business. Things like the daunting task of setting up legal paperwork and much more. To be really honest, when I launched my business it wasn’t daunting or mundane. It was really fun and a learning experience on how to navigate the world of business.
Acquire your “Doing Business As”
Register your business name with your local government. You will go down to local comptrollers office to fill out the paper. When I registered my business it was $14 in the City of Dallas.
File Tax Identification Paper
Determine which tax identification number you’ll need to obtain for your small business to compile with the IRS and your state offices. You can go to SBA website to find this information out.
Register your legal entity
Determine which of these legal entities works best for your small business: sole proprietorship, partnership, Limited Liability Company (LLC), corporation, S corporation, nonprofit or cooperative. The most common one for small business owners is LLC. However you can read more on the subject matter and determine which is best for you. In addition I suggest consulting an attorney that solely works with small business.
Set up business bank accounts
Remember, it is important to separate your business and personal finances. Take your tax identification and Legal Entity paperwork to your local bank or credit union to set up an account. Use this is account to make all your business purchases.
Obtain Your Domain Name + Set up Email
A domain name is something we have discussed before. It is your URL for your company. If you own an online boutique or store, this does not have to be in your domain name. Also, you receive one free email address from companies such as Go Daddy when purchasing. Make sure you create info@yourdomainname.com or yourname@yourdomainname.com to keep it professional. You want customers to reach you on this email instead of you using yourdomainname@gmail.com. Google are the owners of gmail, not your company. Keep it professional.
There you have it! Five easy steps to launch your business in less than 5 hours. Hackathons happen all over the country that bring people in rooms for 24-72 hours and they launch their website and business in that weekend. It has even been said people find new CTO (chief of technology) or funding for their business.
Find out exactly what your state requires you to do when launching your business. Every business is different and you want to make sure you do what is right for yours.
Photo by BeKonstructive Marketing on Unsplash
