Once you’ve made the decision to start a business, there are many issues to consider during business registration including planning for success, choosing the most suitable structure, understanding tax implications and the laws of your chosen industry, protecting your business and your personal finances, and organizing your operations. This overview covers basic considerations but you should conduct your own in-depth research specific to your circumstances.

Setting Up Your Business

Your business’ structure is important as it will affect everything from your daily operations to taxes and other reporting. The main business structures include sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company (LLC), C-corporation and S-corporation. If you aren’t sure which is best for you, I recommend speaking to a business lawyer or an accountant for advice. Many can even help register your business for you. I wouldn’t recommend forming the business yourself (unless you already have experience doing so) as it can be a complicated process. LLCs are the most common business type as it protects your personal assets and is cost-effective to maintain. Once you’ve registered your business name and have your Employer Identification Number (EIN) for taxation purposes, you can then open a business bank account, apply for the necessary permits, licenses and insurance, and hire employees.

Understanding Privacy

Most US banks require a mailing address or residential address to open your business bank account. I recommend also getting a dedicated business phone number to avoid being bombarded with business enquiries when you’re using your personal phone during non-working hours. A business address and phone number are also helpful when listing your details on your website, social media, online directories and for other things like stationary for promotional purposes and events.

To further protect yourself and your business, after your website has been developed, if that is something you’ve outsourced, I recommend changing your passwords or removing users so there is no danger of anyone else accessing the backend without your permission.

And with website hosting, choosing a reputable US based company will help to ensure you have access to customer service when required. If you’d like assistance with choosing your website hosting provider, check out my resources section, I compared five of the best-rated hosts and include recommendations for different types and sizes of businesses.

Taking Care Of The Money

It’s vital to take charge of your business’ finances and effectively manage your cash flow, budgets, payments and invoices as this is a major factor in determining how successful your business will be. If the financial side of a business isn’t your strong suit, I suggest finding a CPA to help you with the required tax forms and for guidance and advice as your business grows and changes.

A CPA in your local area would be best if possible, that way you can visit them so they can explain their strategies to you in person.

If you are good with numbers and would like to do most of the bookkeeping yourself or have the role within your business rather than outsourcing, online accounting software has become extremely user-friendly and intuitive. If you aren’t sure which best suits your needs and price range, I compared a few of the top options in my resources section.

Business Automation

Once you have established your business, have initial clients and are building a team, it’s important to implement and streamline your processes to make onboarding clients and employees and your daily operations as smooth as possible. By creating standard operating procedures (SOPs) for all of your activities, the tasks in your business will be completed to your desired standard and in the same manner, no matter who is in charge. Your SOPs could be in the form of written manuals or documents, or to simplify the process, you could even film your processes. Just make sure to update them when your these change, as it will prevent you from accruing an overwhelming amount of work when a new employee is hired. With the online nature of most businesses now, implementing online CRM platforms and Project Management Tools will ensure everyone on your team has access to everything they need, no matter where they are working from. My resources section compares the best CRM and Project Management Tools available to assist you in choosing which best suit your business’ needs.

I hope this overview has provided some guidance for your research when it comes to your business registration. For more in-depth guidance on starting your new venture, I have created a Business Starter Blueprint eBook that I will send as a thank you for subscribing to my blog. As always, feel free to leave a comment below with any questions or comments about business registration or starting your new venture, and good luck!