Are you thinking of starting your business in the US? We know it can be a daunting task that involves full planning of what to do, business funding, managing paperwork, and other important tasks to set up your startup.
To ensure you do not miss anything when you set up your business in the US, you can make a checklist. To make your task easy, we have curated a business startup checklist for you to guide you in launching your business.
Business Startup Checklist
Starting a business, small or big, needs strategic planning, which involves financial decisions, legal compliance, and others. The first step to opening a business is to do market research and find out the problem that your business can solve.
Once you have the solution, and see what the customers or businesses need, you need to find out what your rivals are and see what they are doing to offer what they are not offering to the customers. You can find out about the specific sectors or industries on the website to help you in your research.
This is the basis of the business to find the sector and your target audience. Once you understand the core principle of your start-up and find the funds for your business, you are ready to launch your business.
Launching a business may sound easy, but it involves a lot of tasks, so to ensure things go smoothly, we have curated a business start-up checklist to take one step at a time and form a business:
Build a Business structure
Once you are sure in what sector or area you have to do business and what problem or issue you will address, you should see what type of business entity you should build, like a partnership, corporation, Limited Liability Company, etc.
Your business structure should align with your goals and ensure it helps in growing your business. The right business structure will influence how your business is taxed, help you secure funding, and affect other business operations.
See where you can establish your business and which US state rules and regulations will align with your business goals and the sector you wish to enter.
Decide on your Business name
Once you have decided on your business structure, you should work on naming your business. When you name your business, you should ensure it is catchy or unique and does not match with any of your rival companies, or you can have copyright issues.
Also, when you name your business, you should ensure the name follows the federal or state rules for business names, so that you don’t have any problem while registering it with the authorities.
Register with the US state
Once you have named your business, you can move to register your business with the respective state authority. You can find your government website to find the information relating to the rules and regulations of the US state you are planning to open your business in.
From the US state authority links, you will know which authority you should register with for your business to establish itself as a legal entity, and what the specific state rules are for starting a business.
Remember, to move forward with any paperwork or legal work, you would need the state authorization, so do it carefully with all the valid documents.
Obtain a Tax ID (EIN) for business
Once you have registered your business with the US state where the business is located, you need to obtain the tax ID (EIN). EIN is not mandatory for businesses when they do not have any tax responsibilities; however, obtaining it will help with other operations as well.
The IRS issues the Employer Identification Number (EIN), and it is necessary if you are planning to hire staff and have to file federal and state taxes. If your business is primarily in the US, you can easily apply for the EIN through EIN Assistant and get your tax ID in 24 hours.
However, if you have time and can’t apply online, you can fax or mail the completed form SS-4 and get your EIN in a few days or weeks.
Obtain a Business Licence and Permits
If your business requires it, you must obtain the business license or the permit needed for your business’s credibility and build trust among your customers. The business licence and permit depend on the industry, US state, business models, and other factors.
You can find more about the business licence and permits here, and learn which permits you would need and where to apply when you set-up your business.
Hire employees and open a bank account
Once you are done with establishing your business and legal models, you can start hiring employees to start your business workflow. To separate your individual account and manage your business operations smoothly, you should open a bank account.
These are just the basic things you should include in your business checklist when you launch your business in the US. After this, you should move to business insurance, check what your tax responsibilities will be, and marketize your business.
