Building Your Business Foundation
Start Your Business The Right Way! Put The Right Tools in Your Toolbox!
Most on-line Coursees or Programs provide you with some great training and tools to build your business, but most, well and that I’ve found lack the information to create the foundation of starting your business. You need to set up your business structure up with all your tools in your toolbox;) For the government, you’l need to register you business, you’ll need to implement the necessary accounting, legal, and put protective measures in place. Any business, whether online or not, is required to register with the Government/IRS.
Here’s a list of a few key things to get started with, however not all need to be in place before starting your business, but they will need to be put in place. Don’t let any of this stall you, one foot in front of the other….just don’t forget about it. Once this is done…it’s done and out of the way…checkmark!
- Pick out and register a business name (this can be done at your state or provincial websites).
- Pick out your domain name for your website (you’re in business for yourself, you’ll need a website).
- Now that you have a name for your business and website, it’s time to build your website. Bluehost is a fantastic company providing hosting for WordPress websites and domain hosting. They’re the only company that I’m aware of that provides a service to help you build your own site from scratch through screen share and phone calls. I built this site on my own with the help of this service, I loved it! If you are in a position to hire someone to build your website, Bluehost can certainly help to get it built for you. I had a template site for a few years, but WordPress is a better option for SEO, creating links required for Affiliate Marketing, and it’s way more customizable. If you learn to do it all yourself, you can make changes anytime without hiring someone, which I personally prefer…and I enjoyed the challenge!!
- Important: be sure to have the right terms and conditions and privacy policies on your site to be compliant with TermsFeed
- Register with the IRS to obtain your EIN number/Business number (or get help with this)
- Get a business account and credit card for your business exclusively. Don’t mix personal and business. Get points for your credit card as this can add up!!
- Set-up a system to track your expenses – mileage, lunch, meals, phones, travel expenses, clothes, videos, equipment, etc.
- Set-up a business only e-mail (Bluehost offers 5 e-mails with their sites)
- Set-up a content/marketing plan – get a strategy in place.
- Get your accounting in order.
- Protect yourself, your data, and your business!!
- Have your business name trademarked – then nobody can steal your name. This can get costly with lawyers so if you can’t at the beginning, keep this in your back pocket for when you can.