After you have your business idea, you will need a business name, because everything else depends on your name. Then decide on a location - home, leased space, purchased building - and go on to the legal and financial tasks. Selecting a name, registering that name, and possibly trademarking the name mean that you have made a commitment to that name. Read this section before you select that business name.
Start by going through this list of 12 issues to consider when selecting a business location. If you decide you want to lease, here are some leads for places to find commercial space to lease.
Depending on your business type and the location of your home, you may need to get a zoning variance to run your home business. And it’s not too soon to consider how your home business will file taxes, so you can begin collecting the records you need for your tax return.
A sole proprietorship is the simplest form of business for one person. This business type doesn’t need to be registered with your state.
Other business types you can choose will need to register with your state:
One person or several people can start a limited liability company (LLC) with just a registration and an operating agreement. Several people owning a business could also start a partnership, which is a little more complicated. The most complicated business type is a corporation
.Here is a checklist to help you decide what type of business legal entity you will start. This number acts as your unique business identifier on all types of registrations and documents, and most banks want you to have this number before you can set up a business checking account and apply for a loan. You may also need to collect, report, and pay sales tax on sales over the internet. A recent Supreme Court decision has opened up the possibility for more states to require that online sellers collect sales taxes from buyers outside that state. Yes, it’s more expensive to have a separate business bank account, but it’s a deductible expense and keeping business and personal checking accounts separate helps you avoid including personal expenses on your business tax reports (which is not allowed by the IRS). A business checking account also makes your business look more respectable and gives you an edge when you want to apply for a business loan. This includes applying for a “doing business as” (dba) or fictitious name license in your location, so everyone knows who owns your business and applying for a zoning permit if your business is in a location with different zoning. Having a marketing plan in place will help a potential lender see that you are serious about selling and it will give you a plan of attack to work from as you get started.
