How to Start a Business: 23 Steps to Becoming Operational

Starting a business is daunting.

There is so much to think about and so much to do.

It’s hard enough trying to figure out how to build and grow a business. The last thing you want to think about is figuring out how to put together an operating agreement or pick the right accounting system.

The good news is that all of the things that need to get done in order to start your business have been done a million times before. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel or waste brain power on figuring out what to do.

There are at least 23 things that you should do when starting a new business and I will walk you through each one of them step-by-step. These are the exact steps I take and the tools I use to start my businesses.

I cannot stress enough the value of building like you are going to grow from day one. I get that you are probably the only person in your business right now. You should operate as if you are an organization of people, not just yourself. This will save you an incredible amount of headache down the road, and also leave you room to try and fail in areas that you won’t want to fail when you do have a sizable organization.

I’m going to assume you already have a business idea, and I’m not going to show you how to build or grow your business in this article. These are the practical steps necessary to begin operations.

First, define your business

1. Put together a very high level and basic business plan

Don’t overthink this. You just need to be able to answer two big questions:

1. What do you need to do in order to get to profitability?
2. How are you going to pay for the things that you need to do in order to get to profitability?

If you think long and hard about these questions, you’ll end up with a good starting plan. Be realistic about what it’s going to take. Do your research, and know your numbers. Put it all to paper, and the business plan will evolve into a useful tool and true north for at least the first 6–12 months.

2. Come up with a name

Coming up with a name can be harder than doing the business plan! Your name is…well…your name. It has to be good. It does not have to be perfect and it does not have to be a fancy, made up word like Google or Yahoo. But, you will be saying this name a lot and it will be your url, too, most likely.

I wrote an entire guide to How to Buy the RIGHT Domain Name, which you might want to check out. Generally speaking, here is what matters:

• You have to be confident in the name. Honestly, this is probably all that really matters. It’s definitely the most important aspect of coming up with a name. If you don’t love it, then you can’t sell it. You’re going to be selling it 24/7/365 for a long time. At least that is the plan!
• You need to pick something unique. The general rule of thumb is that when you search Google for the name there isn’t an established business or product that already has the same name.
• Your name must be memorable, brandable and simple. You don’t want to make it harder than it already is to be found and known.
• You need to have the .com of your name. This is critical! It’s unbelievable how many people take this for granted and just completely disregard their domain name. If you want people to take your business seriously, make sure you have the .com.

A good process for coming up with a business name

1. Brainstorm words, concepts, ideas, beliefs, descriptors, etc.
2. Brainstorm names based off your initial brainstorm in step 1.
3. Check the names in Google. Delete any options that are already a known business — especially not one in your space.
4. Make sure the domain name can be acquired. Check out our guide on how to buy a domain name for help here. Do not expect to register a domain name for $7/yr and call it a day. You really need to invest in a domain name for your business name. If you have a tight budget, get creative! You can get a great name that checks off all the boxes for under $1,500 if you put in the effort.

More tips for coming up with a name

• Imagine your name with a logo on a big sign in your future office space.
• Imagine your name on a T-shirt.
• Say your name out loud. “Hi, I’m Name from Business Name.” How does it feel? Do you like how it sounds?
• Bounce your options around and talk to people about it.
• Spend some time thinking about it and let it sit for a while. Do you continue to come back to the same name?

Next, create your business and marketing collateral (V1)

3. Buy your domain name

Again, do not take this lightly!

Your domain name is not an area it makes sense to be cheap. I use Domain.com or Namecheap to buy my domains — you can read more about why in our review of the best domain registrars.

Depending on your business, you might say the url as much or as often as you say the actual name of your business. The more budget you have for your domain name, the more you’ll be able to do.

4. Secure social media accounts

It’s tough enough to find a good name where buying the .com is possible. Chances are, you won’t get exact match social media handles as well. Do everything you can to get them, but if that fails — get creative. Your social media handles / urls are much less important than your website, but they’re still worth putting effort into.

You can choose how much effort to put into your social media right off the bat — you can simply get the name and hold them, you can populate them with a few images and pieces of information, or you can go all out. That’s up to you. For now, I just want you to make sure you have the handles.

5. Develop a brand identity

It’s nice to have a logo, colors, fonts and a general look and feel to go along with your name. You can always update your brand identity down the road, so the initial run just needs to be good enough. 99 Designs is a great option for a full brand identity package. You can run a design contest that allows you to pick from hundreds of options.

Unlike your business name, your brand identity isn’t locked in stone. It’s more than OK to go with a “starter approach” here — it doesn’t need to be perfect (or expensive); it just needs to get done. You can always come back around and do another design round — most businesses do.

6. Set up a G Suite account

G suite is the most important tool for our business. I do almost everything using G Suite. My team’s emails and calendars are all on G suite, too. We also rely heavily on Google Drive / Docs.

You’ll need to get this set up as soon as you have your domain name. Then you can easily get your business accounts set up. As of April 1, 2019, a Basic account is $6 per user.

7. Create a basic, foundational website

Your website can be a very big project depending on your business. In some cases your website could be the business. That’s why the focus here is simply on a basic, foundational website.

It’s good to have a one-page site live with information about your company. Then you can build further from there.

You can be up and running in the matter of minutes with Squarespace. Once you’re ready to do a full feature website, it’s easy to switch over to WordPress, using our guide on how to create a website with WordPress.

8. Get some business cards

Your brand identity package from 99 Designs will come with business card designs. You can use them to get business cards printed online by Vista Print.

This might seem like an antiquated idea to you, but believe me. Once you start your business, you’ll be talking about it and every person you talk to should be handed a card with your information on it. I like to keep my phone number off the card, and hand-write it on there for people who I would actually want to call me. It makes it easier to hand the cards out freely — and it lets the people who I do give my number to know that I really mean it.

Now, get your business legally squared away

9. Find an accountant and an attorney

This one is easy to put on the back burner. You’ll save yourself a lot of hassle and potentially save your business altogether by getting ahead here. Line up the legal and tax pros ahead of time. There are lots of great options and your accountant and attorney can both be remote.

I haven’t personally used it, but I’ve heard a lot of good things about Upcounsel.

10. Set up an LLC

You can use your attorney for this, or you can use a service like LegalNature. Setting up an LLC is simple, so it’s a good spot to save some money by using a service like LegalNature or Legal Zoom.

11. Get an EIN

Getting your Employer Identification Number is something you can take care of along with the LLC. They typically go hand-in-hand. You’ll need that to do just about everything, including business banking.

12. Create an operating agreement

Even if it’s just you, an operating agreement is needed. Unless you have other people involved with your business, you can definitely get away with LegalNature here. Chances are, things will evolve and you will update your operating agreement down the road anyway. If you do have other people involved, have your attorney help out here.

13. File necessary paperwork with your state

If you’re using a lawyer, they can do all of this for you. Otherwise you’ll need to do some research into the requirements in your state, which also vary depending on the type of business you’re starting.

14. Open a business bank account

Pretty straightforward. You’ll need that EIN. It’s typically most convenient to go with the same bank you’re already using for your personal accounts.

One thing to watch out for is a the upselling that many of the bigger banks do. For example, with Bank of America, I went ahead and took them up on an offer for Intuit Payroll. It ended up being a terrible user experience. The people at Intuit recommended that I sign up for a new account directly with Intuit because they couldn’t figure out how to solve some of the problems we were having. They put the blame on Bank of America. This ended up working out because instead of signing up for Intuit Payroll, I researched other options and found Gusto, which is much better.

The point here is to use your bank account for a bank account and be wary of using them for other offers or services.

Sign up for your key operating tools

15. Set up a payroll service for employees and contractors

As I said, I really like Gusto. They are very good. I use them and find the service to be superior to Intuit Payroll.

You won’t need to worry about this until you start paying employees or contractors. It’s good to have it ready and on deck though. Not only will the service automate your payroll, but it will also take care of taxes and forms that need to be filed.

16. Set up QuickBooks

A QuickBooks account is essential from day one. This is how you’ll manage your books and ensure you always have good records. Going back and importing historical data isn’t fun. The sooner you get it set up the better.

17. Put a basic accounting system in place

The best bet here is to work closely with your accountant. A good approach is to ask your accountant what you need to be doing throughout the year to make things easier when tax season comes and to make sure all quarterly obligations are met.

QuickBooks does all of the heavy lifting, but there are still things you’ll need to stay on top of. There is some crossover with what’s already been outlined here, but Shopify put together a good guide on small business accounting.

18. Start using a project management solution from day one

The biggest thing here is to get in the habit of tracking all of your work. Even if you are the only person in your company, you should operate like an organization because someday you will have no choice. The other benefit besides creating good habits is the historical information and data that will come from working like this starting day one.

It’s very valuable for new people to come into your organization and be able to look back at what work has been done in the past. It’s context that will help them (and your business) be successful going forward.

It doesn’t matter what tool you use. You’ll likely change it a bunch of times anyway. We use Trello. There are dozens of great tools.

19. Build an internal wiki system from day one

Just as you should use a project management tool from the very early stages, it’s extremely valuable to start documenting everything right away.

If you ever want to scale your startup, you’ll need your brain to scale too. Your internal wiki is like your brain. Giving your future team instant access to your brain is huge. If you already have a disciplined approach to documenting things in the wiki, your team will follow suit.

It’s not fun figuring out the value of a wiki system 3 years down the road, 50 people deep. You’ll think of an endless number of documents you wish you’d have written out as you went along.

We use Confluence.

20. Set up a Slack account

Everyone loves Slack. It just works. Mobile communication is key. There is a Free plan that’s a good place to start. It’s about $7 per user per month for the next plan up, which grants you controls like guest access to different channels, and more storage and app connections.

21. Set up 1Password

By now you are starting to see the theme here: Reduce future headache! Set up your systems now and you’ll be able to focus on growth moving forward.

1Password is an excellent tool for managing all of your passwords and sensitive data. It makes it easy to securely share logins with your team — which is key because Centrify estimates that lost passwords cost $416 in productivity per person.

22. Create a subscription tracker

This is easy but often overlooked. 1Password is great for keeping track of your subscription logins. You still need some way to quickly see everything you have and what you are paying for, especially as you grow and have more people using and signing up for different tools and subscriptions.

A simple spreadsheet is all you need. Track the subscription, cost per month or year, terms (if any), payment method (what account or card is it tied to?), and renewal date.

Now, plan your goals for your first year in business

23. Create a strategic plan for the next 12 months

Like your business plan, your strategic plan doesn’t need to be complicated.

Here’s how to write a simple startup business plan for year one

1. Come up with one big goal for the next 12 months.
2. Determine what you need to do in order to reach your goal. What projects or activities will you need to perform?
3. Figure out what metrics or parameters you can use to monitor progress. Put in place a system for tracking them.
4. Review and challenge monthly. Make any necessary adjustments.

Even in a one-person shop, taking the time to do this will force strategic thinking and purposeful action. It will help you avoid being reactive and randomly doing whatever comes your way.

It becomes even more important when you have a team that needs to know what direction to march. They will need that context in order to do their jobs.

Go to top

Other guides written on how to start a business are pretty general. I don’t see a lot of value in reiterating what is already out there, so here is a list of guides that I would recommend for further reading on how to start a business:

• Startup Checklist by Business Know How
• Guide for Entrepreneurs Starting a Business
• 105 Best Tools to Start Your Business

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5 Content and SEO Trends that Will Dominate in 2020

How confident are you in your brand’s SEO and content?

Technology pushes content marketing to change year after year. What was relevant for most of 2019 may only be a footnote in 2020.

Do you want your website to get buried under others that continue to keep up with new content and SEO trends?

Since never is probably your answer to that question, now is the perfect time to rethink and reevaluate the way you do content and SEO. Find out what will define your 2020 marketing strategy and learn what it takes to be ahead of the pack.

Read on to learn about the major content practices and SEO trends on the horizon.

1. Optimizing Content for Voice Search

Instead of typing keywords into a search box, it’s becoming more convenient to talk to your smart device.

When Google’s voice search feature launched in 2002, it started a whole new revolution. We feel the effects of this monumental shift in technology to this day.

The influence of voice search continues to grow. In 2017, 13% of households in the U.S. had smart speakers. According to data from OC&C Strategy Consultants, that percentage is expected to balloon to 55% by 2022.

More smart speakers in more homes naturally lead to more voice search usage. Having smart speakers also encourages people to use voice assistants on devices like smartphones. Here’s data to back this claim: Voicebot.ai states that 39.8% of smartphone voice assistant users also own smart speakers.

Juniper Research, a U.K.-based firm, predicts 8 billion voice assistants will be active around the world by 2023, tripling the 2018 statistic of 2.5 billion.

How does all of this translate to an SEO trend? Put simply, optimizing for voice search is a must for content marketers in 2020. Here are some actionable insights to consider:

• Optimize content to target SERP features. Findings from a SEMrush study show that 70% of answers returned from voice searching came from a SERP feature, with 60% occupying a Featured Snippet.
• Focus on phrase keywords using natural language. This includes question-and-answer and long-tail options. Don’t use keyword combinations that sound weird when spoken out loud.
• Keep it simple. The ideal Google voice search result should be completely understood by 9th graders, says Backlinko. Verbal responses need to be easily digestible and should not need repetition. Tailor your content to reflect this.

2. Using More Long-Tail Keywords in More Targeted Content

Brands with strategic blog content churn out 67% more leads than those that don’t publish content at all, according to Hubspot. During their respective buying journeys, 71% of B2B buyers will read blog content.

Is any blog content better than no blog content? Maybe so, but there’s no reason to settle for mediocrity. As you will soon find out, lackluster content won’t be able to compete with output from smart and savvy digital marketers in 2020.

Did you know that 70% of all online searches use long-tail keywords? With long-tail keywords in your blogging strategy, you’re already looking at less competition in your playing field.

More importantly, focusing on long-tail keywords is compatible with optimizing for voice search. When you start with “Hey, Siri” or “OK, Google” the next words aren’t likely to be disjointed keywords. They’re going to be conversational phrases or questions.

In 2020, highlight long-tail keywords through intentional formatting. SEO trends may change, but some practices remain evergreen.

Careful and streamlined use of keywords tells Google that your content is important. Use the formatting tricks exemplified in this blog – bullet points, bold text, and short paragraphs – to your advantage.

Long-tail keywords speak to user intent and help reach people that are looking for content that’s relevant. When you provide great search results, you’re more likely to please conversion-ready leads.

3. Meeting Google’s E-A-T Standards with Exceptional Niche Content

We touched on strategic content through long-tail keyword use above. However, creating killer content is an evolving SEO trend in itself.

The latest evolution in content crafting due to Google’s “Medic” update, which implemented changes in the search engine’s core algorithms. What’s happened since then?

Content creators and marketers: These days, you are what you E-A-T. Google prioritizes content displaying Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.

It is imperative to bake the E-A-T perspective into your content marketing. 97% of all online searches are done using a Google property, according to Jumpshot/Sparktoro.

These days, good content is not enough. What you create needs to be amazing and competitive.

Veteran digital marketers are used to adapting to technology and platform changes. The big fish are already deep in E-A-T territory and they are raising the bar each day. You will need to play work harder and smarter to stay in the game with major players.

How do you aim for top Google SERP rankings in 2020? Make sure you do the following:

• Prove and display your expertise. Google’s Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines state that E-A-T evaluation is for content as well as creators. Context and information about digital authors are now essential. You can show these in profiles and boxes following the main content of a page.
• Run a valuable, information-rich and Google-friendly site. In their Webmaster Guidelines, Google emphasizes the idea of creating original and user-centric pages. No tricks or deceptions to climb SERP ranks quickly. The algorithm rewards truly helpful, authoritative content.
• Publish high-quality content on a stable schedule. If you don’t stick to a routine to handle site content updates, you run the risk of lowering your search visibility. Without posting new articles or modifying older pages, your content quality may also suffer.

At Express Writers, we maintain top rankings in Google because we commit to creating quality content delivered on a consistent timetable.

For 8 solid years, we published one blog per week without fail. No excuses, no exceptions. Today Express Writers ranks in Google for more than 23,000 keywords.  99% of our prospective leads find us through organic search.

In 2020, content marketing – and by extension, great content – will continue to grow and change along with the times. The real strategy is to adapt and learn as fast as possible, even if the current lesson is that slow and steady wins the race.

More than a decade ago, information age entrepreneur Seth Godin famously said that “content marketing is the only marketing left.” The quote rings true to this day.

4. Shining a Spotlight on SEO-Ready Imagery for Rich Content

Another content trend to watch out for is SEO-readiness and relevance in non-text content.

Say goodbye to vague visuals and random stock photos. If images don’t add real value or more information to a page, they’re no longer useful and shouldn’t be there.

The opposite extreme is unusable, as well. Anything too flashy, too weighty or too distracting should be replaced with something sleeker and more elegant.

What does it take to be ready for the image SEO trend? Get started on publishing rich content by following the tips below:

• Create original imagery. Unique images like infographics and simple explainers often have a direct connection to your text content. If they’re done right, they’re likely to be shared more, even by themselves.
• Name and tag images using relevant focus keywords. Use logic and common sense when creating filenames and alt tags. Your image descriptions must relate to the text content the imagery is supporting, without including words that aren’t pertinent.
• Reduce file sizes so pages load faster. Bounce rates increase with slower page load times, according to Think with Google. Use an image compression tool or plugin to keep your site speedy and efficient.
• Work with an appropriate file format. Not everything needs to be a JPEG. Sometimes it’s better to use a PNG, GIF or another format to optimize quality, handle transparent elements, bring down file size, or add simple animations.

This all goes back to Google’s focal point in their Webmaster Guidelines: to create helpful and original content. In 2020, images on a page should engage users and facilitate a deeper understanding of the topic at hand.

5. Including Interactive Content

Talking about better imagery leads us to the final SEO trend to integrate into your digital strategy for 2020: interactive content.

According to Ion Interactive, 88% of marketers claim that interactive content is an effective way to differentiate their brands from competitors. On the other side, 91% of B2B buyers claim a preference for visual and interactive content over static counterparts.

What can be considered interactive content?

Anything that prompts a user to take action counts: assessments, games, quizzes, calculators, and contents are prime examples. It is also possible to create interactive versions of ebooks, infographics, lookbooks and white papers.

Interactive content doesn’t need to be complicated or complex. Here’s a simple but effective example: A PBS quiz that measures how many of the 100 most-loved books of America you’ve read.

PBS provides great value to its readers in creating multiple ways to interact with essentially the same data. There is a link to the contents of the quiz in checklist form for people interested in improving their quiz scores by working their way to completing the book list.

Less conspicuous is the “Read the 100 List” link on the top menu. That leads you to a page where you can manipulate the 100 list – shown in a tiled format using the book covers – through filtering by genre or sorting alphabetically by title or author.

In contrast, check out this 2017 tax bill calculator from the New York Times. It works by having users input certain information – like gross income and household members – and animating the descriptive visual accordingly.

This interactive graphic example is colorful, easy to understand, and very timely when it was initially published.

The calculator augments an otherwise brief feature on the Republican Tax Bill passed in December 2017. It turned a short news piece into a way for people to connect with current events on a personal level.

In 2020, smart marketers will turn to fresher and more innovative ways to engage their audiences. The point here is not to make content futuristic, edgy or complex. Like all content, it should benefit the user.

Simple interactive content is often easier and more affordable to create than high-quality video or interactive video content. A step up from relevant imagery, interactive content is definitely an SEO trend to lean into moving forward.

Wrapping up: Focusing on User Benefit in All 5 Content and SEO Trends for 2020

Now for the bonus round: There’s a trend within all the upcoming trends discussed above. Did you notice it?

To recap, here are the five content and SEO trends that will shape your digital strategy in the year to come:

• Optimizing content for voice search,
• Using more long-tail keywords in more targeted content,
• Meeting Google’s E-A-T standards with exceptional niche content,
• Shining a spotlight on SEO-ready imagery for rich content, and
• Including interactive content.

Each one is a tactic that can be used to add value and relevance to your content and search results. The bottom line: They make it that much easier for you to create content that your users will love reading.

In 2020, you must think about how your carefully cultivated expertise can benefit users. Your brand and your SERP performance should be a distant second and third on your priority list.

This is a golden age for content! The best approach for 2020 and beyond is to revel in sharing the knowledge that you have. What makes your content valuable is not how it performs. Rather, the value is in how it helps the audience that you’re creating it for.

Approaching content marketing in this way can yield incredible results for small and large enterprises alike.

So, with 2020 just around the bend, it’s time to strategize and craft content in the old and reliable way – not for search engines, but actual people.

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About the Author:

Julia McCoy is an entrepreneur, author, and content marketing educator.

She leads operations at her content agency, Express Writers, and recently launched her personal brand, Content Hacker.

Find her on Twitter.

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