Neil Serafin ⋅ Easthampton, MA Telecommunications ⋅ 40 years experience

Risa- yup start a LLC...start a paper trail accounting for everything you spend...only take advice from someone who has done a startup, not some "advisor" who spent their life since college on a salary....keep your expenses down...beware of long leases...your a vet...use the set asides for vets large buyers must use for vets....if you have employees always pay your employers payroll taxes...my wife and I started a LLC by borrowing against the equity in our house...scary stuff...we were lucky, we paid off the loan and made a profit....do not expect to draw a salary for the first six months.

James Bishop ⋅ Columbus, OH Morgan Stanley ⋅ 8 years experience

I think Johns answer has the cart before (or above the horse). Start with SCORE or ACP and go from there. Just because you have an idea of something, doesn't make it a good business idea and lots more money is lost in business start up then made.

Joshuah Chrisman ⋅ New York, NY NYC Department of Parks and Recreation ⋅ 1 years experience

Hi Risa,

There are resources available to help you with starting a small business on acp-usa.org. On the left side of the home page, click on resources and then click on Small Business resources. You may find the information there to be helpful.

Best Regards,
Josh

Justin Kulhawick ⋅ Akron, OH HeavenHost ⋅ 20 years experience

Lots of great answers here Risa. One thing I'd like to add is that you don't want to start a business without a solid business plan. It will add clarity and targets (milestones).

Anyone can start a business anywhere but most business ventures that fail to plan, end up failing all together. Start with a plan. Start with who's going to be your target audience and how you're going to create value for them. Once you know your avatar, you can craft a business plan.

There's plenty of software out there such as LivePlan.com that will guide you through it. The SBA (Small Business Association) also has some valuable resources on planning your business.

All the best to you and thank you for your service.

Atul yaduvanshi ⋅ Schenectady, NY no ⋅ 1 years experience

I am indian I want open any us company of open a. Branch an small business start about processor

Atul yaduvanshi ⋅ Schenectady, NY no ⋅ 1 years experience

Hey I want do a small business so please told me about which type of a open business

Richard Ashe ⋅ Houston, TX Veteran Franchise Advisers ⋅ 30 years experience

Score.org; SBA.gov, Your local SBDC (Small Business Development Centers) are all good resources to help you plan out your business. Before you LLC I recommend you discuss your idea with a mentor do some viability studies - understanding your target market, competition, etc. It would not make sense to set up your corporate structure until you know our market. Should you decide to discuss with a mentor or an advisor have them sign an NDA (Non- Disclosure Agreement) to protect your concept. Best wishes!!!

Jon Stoddard ⋅ Tucson, AZ Century Hearing Aids ⋅ 10 years experience

Risa, find a mentor or coach, successful, done it before, wealthy, successful, model them. Do not stop progress if you do find that person yet. They will reveal themselves to you while you are building.

John Green ⋅ Cary, NC Information Technology ⋅ 40 years experience

Hi Risa -

The first thing you should do is draft a document called "Articles of Incorporation".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Articles_of_Incorporation

https://georgia.gov/popular-topic/starting-dissolving-corporations-llcs-limited-partnerships

http://sos.ga.gov/corporations/acrobat/applications/Filing%20Procedure%20-%20Corporation.pdf

The "Articles of Incorporation" (sometimes also referred to as the Certificate of Incorporation or the Corporate Charter) are the primary rules governing the management of a corporation in the United States and Canada, and are filed with a state or other regulatory agency.

Next, you should obtain a business address, not your home address. Using your home address is not a good idea. If you will not have a store front, you can rent a PMB from UPS store near you.

Third, you should use the services of a "registered agent" and his/her street address. This is the person that will receive court summons or other legal summons on behalf of your corporation.

You might like to enroll in the mentorship program from SCORE https://www.score.org/ . They will help you through this process and also preparing a business plan. Business plan is an essential tool to have before you file your documents with the State of Georgia.

https://www.score.org/content/search/all/655,633/all/73/10650

HTH - Good luck.
JG