What’s the first thing you did when you decided to start your business? 🧠

[isabelle]

Hi Seller Community! 🎃 Today we're wondering...

What’s the first thing you did when you decided to start your business? 

Can't wait to read your replies 🤓

[VanKalkerFarms]

Meetings with our Lawyer and accountant.  Figure out what is the best way for your business to be setup and getting the correct S corp or whatever paperwork filed with the state, and all the paperwork tied to that status.  Starting out wrong can end up biting you back in taxes if you aren't filed and setup correctly.

[norabirt]

I decided on what legal type of business it would be and my business name. With that I could register my business with the state and get an EIN number. This enables me to get a bank or credit union account set up and start tracking expenses since these are often larger amounts that you want to track well before you make your first sale.

All the rest - business plan, logo, site, web domain, etc can follow.

[Snowcones]

I started buying things and then I started learning how to write a business plan...lol.   I'm kinda backwards

[BirchGroveDesig]

We need to be friends!  I am the same way, now I am asking what the heck was I doing!?

[Salmonde_Says]

Same!  Then when all my stuff started arriving my husband said "What's all this?"  Oops.  LOL  He is extremely supportive though.

[ThanatosX33]

Yay congrats I really mean it I wish I deserved a wife but apparently I can’t endure this worthless pointless filthy world one more second 

[mythicrunning]

Borrowed the capital to buy an existing business.  From there, I knew the tech and POS had to be updated from an outdated software based POS to an online/mobile app that could handle sales, inventory management, payroll, and work offline when the internet goes out.  After that decision (Easy! Thanks, Square!), it was a re-branding and marketing, marketing, marketing.  

[JK_Fiber_Art]

Here's what we did:

* First decided on our Business Name.

* Then searched our State's info to see if the name was available.

* Next we registered our business name with the State.

* We decided on going with an LLC - this keeps your personal life separate from your business life.

* Contacted an attorney for assistance with setting up the LLC - safer than doing this on your own, but can be expensive.

* Picked a Domain Name for our website.

* Found a location for our physical location and applied for all the necessary town related permits as we had to do some remodeling.

* Applied for a State Tax license and local Business license.

* Met with a sign company who created our physical signage and business logo.

* Contacted our local paper to make some opening ads.

* Setup our website and setup several social media accounts.

* Opened a Square Account to process credit card sales.

* Purchased all the necessary Square Hardware - iPad, Stand, Printer, etc.

* Setup a Square Online Shop and linked that to our website.

It took some time but, hey we're now a physical and online business - now almost 9 years old and still in business - not bad for being a small business in a Mountain Resort Town.

JK

[aarontw]

I love this story @JK_Fiber_Art ! A set of steps from 0-9 years 😮

@isabelle  recently posted a seller spotlight about another seller that is Fiber Art Focused, I think it was about a member of our TogetHER: Women in Business Group. 

Maybe she can share the link here so you can check it out.

[isabelle]

@JK_Fiber_Art 👏 

Take a look here! 

[InnOnTurner]

Great reply JK...This is prescisely what we did as well and a fabulous overview....we opened our Inn and unfortunately used another credit card processing site until we found Square (Square is soooo much easier to use and has great reports if you are a numbers nerd like my partner for following data year over year or breaking down sales)  Good luck and Congrats Isabelle !!

[generalfork]

THAT IS AWESOME INFORMATION JK.

THANKS FOR SHARING THAT. YOU ARE SPOT ON. 

[BricheleCandles]

Very similar to what we did, but the LLC part came a little later in our process. We were just focused on seeing if we had a business that would eventually scale. Once we saw it was growing, we began the process of becoming an LLC.

[CRICEBOOKS]

Pick out a business name was the first thing I did when I decided to go full in.

[Gammarauder13]

shed a tear for a moment when I realized that "yes, this is really happening".  $#!+-eating grin from ear to ear.

[Shaquasia]

Watched a couple Youtube videos to figure out what was needed and expected from me so that my business could be successful.

[SHazlehurst]

- Check on Business Name.

- Get insurance

- Sent a proposal 

- Get 50% Deposit.

- Do a GREAT job.

- Referrals have been coming for over 30 years.

- Square came many years later and has been a great tool to handle my customers.

Love to have my own business!

[CobbStreet]

Panicked! Then got to work 🙂

[cherrycreeklure]

Made sure i filed the company correctly called and got forms and payments arranged. Ein filed that's employee identification  number made sure i picked the rite type of business LLC and its domain. fed  tax identification #

[jacjig]

1 Domain Name Search 

2 Incorporate 

3 Open Biz banking Account