Define the customer and offer
Write down who you serve, the problem, the deliverable, the price, and why someone should trust you.
Small-business field guide
How to start a business—without skipping the important questions.
A practical overview of structure, registration, money, technology, and operating setup. Use it to prepare for informed conversations—not as a substitute for legal, tax, or accounting advice.
First: understand the structures
The name of the structure is only the beginning.
Ownership, personal liability, taxes, governance, recordkeeping, funding, and state requirements all matter. An LLC is a state-law structure; its federal tax treatment can vary.
Sole proprietorship
An unincorporated business owned by one person. It is simple to begin, but there is generally no legal separation between the owner and the business. Consider personal liability exposure, insurance, licenses, an assumed name, bookkeeping, and self-employment taxes.
Partnership
An unincorporated business owned by two or more people. Consider a written partnership agreement, authority to make decisions, contributions, profit and loss allocation, exits, disputes, liability, and tax reporting. Informal assumptions between owners create avoidable risk.
Limited liability company (LLC)
A state-created entity owned by one or more members. Michigan describes an LLC as separate from its members, with governance established through its articles or operating agreement. Consider member versus manager control, an operating agreement, banking separation, annual filings, insurance, and the fact that federal tax classification is a separate question.
C corporation
A separate legal entity owned by shareholders and governed through directors, officers, bylaws, and formal records. Consider fundraising plans, ownership complexity, payroll, corporate taxation, distributions, compliance, and administrative cost.
S corporation election
An S corporation is a federal tax election—not simply a Michigan entity type. Eligibility and payroll rules matter. A qualifying corporation or LLC may elect S-corporation tax treatment, but this decision should be reviewed with a qualified tax professional.
Nonprofit or professional entity
These have specialized purposes, governance, licensing, ownership, and tax requirements. Do not rely on a general startup checklist for a charitable, licensed-professional, regulated, or multi-state organization; involve appropriate legal and tax professionals.
A practical sequence
Twelve steps from idea to operating business.
Test demand
Talk with prospective customers, review competitors, estimate costs, and confirm that people will pay before overbuilding.
Choose a name carefully
Check state records, trademarks, domains, social handles, and confusingly similar local names. Availability is not the same as legal clearance.
Choose a structure
Compare liability, taxes, ownership, governance, paperwork, financing, and future plans with qualified advisors where needed.
Register appropriately
Complete required state, county, assumed-name, foreign-qualification, and resident-agent steps for your situation.
Obtain tax identifiers
Use official federal and state sources for an EIN, tax accounts, withholding, sales tax, and other applicable registrations.
Check licenses and permits
Review state, county, city, zoning, industry, professional, and home-occupation requirements before offering regulated work.
Separate the money
Set up banking, bookkeeping, payment processing, expense records, invoicing, tax reserves, and approval controls.
Protect the operation
Discuss insurance, contracts, privacy, security, intellectual property, safety, and record retention with appropriate professionals.
Build the digital foundation
Secure the domain, professional email, multifactor authentication, password management, website, backups, and account ownership.
Design the sales workflow
Document lead capture, response time, discovery, estimates, follow-up, onboarding, delivery, payment, reviews, and referrals.
Create a compliance calendar
Track annual reports, renewals, licenses, taxes, insurance, contracts, domain renewals, and recurring reviews.
Use official sources
Verify before you file.
Rules and fees change. Start with the agency responsible for the requirement, and save copies of confirmations and filed documents.
Michigan
LARA Corporations Division
Entity filings, official forms, business search, and resident-agent information.
Federal
IRS Business
Federal tax identifiers, structure information, recordkeeping, and employer responsibilities.
Planning
U.S. Small Business Administration
General structure comparisons and startup planning resources.
Before paying anyone
Questions worth answering.
Who owns every account and asset?
The business should control its domain, website, email tenant, payment processor, advertising accounts, files, and credentials. Vendors should receive only the access they need.
What happens if an owner leaves?
Multi-owner businesses should address decision rights, access, valuation, transfers, death, disability, disputes, and exits with qualified legal and tax guidance.
What information will you collect?
Plan privacy, consent, retention, access, security, and breach response before collecting customer or employee information.
What must happen every month and every year?
List recurring sales, service, bookkeeping, tax, payroll, licensing, filing, insurance, security, and renewal tasks—and assign an owner and due date.