How to Start a Business: Complete Step-by-Step Guide for 2026

Starting a business is simpler than most people think. Not easy — simple. There are about a dozen concrete steps between “I have an idea” and “I have a real, operating business.” The problem is that most guides either oversimplify it (“just file an LLC!”) or bury you in theory.

This guide walks through every step in order, with the actual tools, services, and costs involved. Whether you're starting a consulting firm, a healthcare practice, a tech company, or a local service business, the foundational steps are the same.

Step 1: Register Your Domain Name

Your domain name is your business address on the internet. Before you register your LLC, before you print business cards, before anything — secure your domain. If the .com is taken, your business name might need to change.

Where to Register

• Namecheap — Affordable, straightforward pricing, free WHOIS privacy. Great for most businesses.
• Cloudflare Registrar — At-cost pricing (no markup). Best if you also want CDN and DNS management.
• GoDaddy — Largest registrar, wide TLD selection. Watch for upsells and renewal price increases.
• Google Domains — Clean interface, integrates well with Google Workspace. Now operated by Squarespace.

Tips for Choosing a Domain

• Get the .com if at all possible — it's still the default people type
• Keep it short, easy to spell, and easy to say out loud
• Avoid hyphens, numbers, and unusual TLDs for a primary business
• Check social media handles for the same name while you're at it
• Enable WHOIS privacy (usually free) to keep your personal address off public records

Cost: $10–$20/year for a .com domain. Premium or short domains can cost significantly more.

Step 2: Choose Your Business Structure

Your business structure determines how you pay taxes, your personal liability, and how the business is legally organized. The most common options:

Sole Proprietorship

• Simplest option — no formal registration required in most states
• You and the business are the same legal entity
• Full personal liability for business debts and lawsuits
• Report income on your personal tax return (Schedule C)
• Best for: Freelancers, side projects, testing an idea before committing

LLC (Limited Liability Company)

• Separates personal assets from business liabilities
• Flexible taxation — can be taxed as sole prop, partnership, or S-Corp
• Less paperwork than a corporation
• Credibility with clients, banks, and vendors
• Best for: Most small businesses, consultants, agencies, professional services

S-Corporation

• Tax advantage: pay yourself a “reasonable salary” and take remaining profits as distributions (avoiding some self-employment tax)
• More paperwork — payroll, separate tax return, corporate formalities
• Makes sense once you're consistently earning $60K+ in profit
• Best for: Profitable businesses looking to optimize taxes

C-Corporation

• Separate tax entity — the corporation pays its own taxes
• Required if you want to raise venture capital or issue stock
• Double taxation (corporate tax + personal tax on dividends)
• Best for: Startups raising investment, companies planning to go public

Most people should start with an LLC. It gives you liability protection, tax flexibility, and credibility without the overhead of a corporation. You can always convert to an S-Corp or C-Corp later.

Step 3: Register Your Business

Once you've chosen your structure, you need to formally register. You can do this yourself directly with your state, or use a service to handle the filing.

Option A: File Directly with Your State

• Go to your state's Secretary of State website
• File Articles of Organization (LLC) or Articles of Incorporation (Corp)
• Pay the state filing fee (typically $50–$300 depending on state)
• Cheapest option, but you handle everything yourself

Option B: Use a Formation Service

Formation services handle the paperwork, provide a registered agent, and often include extras like an operating agreement template or EIN filing.

Registered agent: Every LLC and corporation needs a registered agent — a person or service that receives legal documents on behalf of your business. Most formation services include this for the first year, then charge $100–$300/year after that.

Step 4: Get Your EIN (Employer Identification Number)

An EIN is your business's tax ID number — like a Social Security Number for your company. You need it to open a business bank account, hire employees, and file taxes.

• Where: IRS.gov — apply online, free, takes about 5 minutes
• Cost: Free (never pay a third party for this)
• When: After your LLC or corporation is officially registered with the state
• Sole props: You can use your SSN, but an EIN is better for separating business and personal

Warning: Some services charge $50–$100 to “file your EIN.” Don't pay for it. The IRS provides this for free and the online application is straightforward.

Step 5: Open a Business Bank Account

Never mix personal and business finances. It makes taxes harder, weakens your liability protection, and looks unprofessional. Open a dedicated business checking account as soon as you have your EIN.

Online-First Banks

• Mercury — Free business checking, great for startups and tech companies. Clean dashboard, integrations with accounting software, FDIC insured.
• Relay — Free business checking with multiple account support. Good for separating operating expenses, taxes, and payroll into different accounts.
• Bluevine — Free checking with interest on balances. Good for businesses that keep larger cash reserves.

Traditional Banks

• Chase Business Complete — Widely accepted, extensive branch network, $15/mo (waivable with $2,000 balance). Good if you need in-person banking or handle cash.
• Bank of America — Similar to Chase, large network. $16/mo (waivable).
• Local credit unions — Often lower fees, more personal service. Check if they offer business accounts.

What you'll need to open: EIN letter from the IRS, Articles of Organization (or Certificate of Formation), operating agreement, and a government-issued photo ID.

Step 6: Set Up Business Email

Using yourname@gmail.com for business is a red flag. A professional email address (you@yourbusiness.com) costs a few dollars a month and instantly signals legitimacy. It also gives you control over employee accounts if you hire later.

Google Workspace vs Microsoft 365

This is the most common decision new businesses face. Here's the honest breakdown:

• Choose Google Workspace if your team collaborates in browsers, uses Google Drive for file sharing, and doesn't need desktop Office apps
• Choose Microsoft 365 if you need Outlook (many professional services firms prefer it), desktop Word/Excel, or your industry standard tools integrate with Microsoft
• Healthcare and legal firms often lean Microsoft for compliance features and industry familiarity
• Startups and tech companies tend to prefer Google for simplicity and real-time collaboration

Either way, you get professional email, calendar, video conferencing, file storage, and collaboration tools. Both are solid choices.

Step 7: Build Your Website

You don't need to spend $10,000 on a custom website to launch. You do need something live that tells people what you do, how to contact you, and why they should care.

Website Platforms

• Squarespace ($16–$33/mo) — Best templates out of the box. Drag-and-drop editor. Good for service businesses, portfolios, and small businesses that want to look polished fast.
• WordPress.org (free software + $5–$30/mo hosting) — Most flexible. Thousands of plugins. Requires more setup and maintenance. Best for businesses that will blog heavily or need custom functionality.
• Wix ($17–$32/mo) — Easy drag-and-drop builder. Good for simple sites. Less flexible than WordPress for complex needs.
• Webflow ($14–$39/mo) — Design-forward, no-code builder. Best for businesses that want custom design without hiring a developer.
• Carrd ($19/yr) — Single-page sites. Extremely affordable. Good for consultants or freelancers who just need a landing page.

What Your Launch Site Needs

• Clear headline explaining what you do
• Contact information or a contact form
• Brief description of your services or products
• SSL certificate (HTTPS) — included with all platforms listed above
• Mobile-responsive design (all modern platforms handle this)

Don't spend weeks perfecting your website before launch. Get something live, then improve it based on real customer feedback.

Step 8: Set Up Accounting and Invoicing

Track your income and expenses from day one. This isn't just about taxes — it's about knowing whether your business is actually making money.

Tip: Connect your business bank account to your accounting software from the start. Automatic transaction imports save hours of manual data entry every month.

Hire a CPA early. Even if you handle day-to-day bookkeeping yourself, a good accountant will save you money on taxes and keep you compliant. Budget $500–$2,000/year for a small business CPA.

Step 9: Get Business Insurance

Insurance requirements vary by industry and state, but at minimum most businesses need:

• General liability insurance — Covers third-party claims of bodily injury or property damage. Required by many client contracts and office leases.
• Professional liability (E&O) insurance — Protects against claims of negligence or mistakes in your professional services. Essential for consultants, agencies, healthcare providers, and financial advisors.
• Workers' compensation — Required in most states once you have employees. Covers workplace injuries.
• Cyber liability insurance — Covers data breaches and cyber incidents. Increasingly important for any business handling customer data.

Where to Get Insurance

• Next Insurance — Online-first, fast quotes, good for small businesses and contractors
• Hiscox — Strong for professional services (consultants, tech, creative)
• State Farm / local agent — Good if you want a personal relationship and bundled coverage
• Hartford — Established carrier, broad coverage options for small businesses

Step 10: Set Up Your Physical Location

If your business has a physical space — an office, clinic, law firm, retail storefront, or warehouse — you need internet, networking, and physical security set up before you open the doors. Most people call their ISP, buy a cheap router, and figure out the rest later. That works until your Wi-Fi drops during a client meeting, your security cameras aren't recording, or an employee props the back door open and nobody knows.

Internet Service

Your internet connection is the backbone of everything — email, VoIP phones, cloud apps, payment processing, security cameras. Don't skimp here.

• Business-class internet — Get a business plan, not residential. Business plans offer static IPs, better uptime SLAs, and priority support. Providers: Comcast Business, AT&T Business, Spectrum Business, or local fiber providers.
• Speed — Minimum 100 Mbps down for a small office (5–15 people). 500 Mbps+ if you're running security cameras, VoIP, and cloud-heavy workflows.
• Redundancy — If your business can't function without internet (most can't), consider a secondary connection — even a 5G cellular failover. A few hundred dollars a year to avoid a full day of downtime is worth it.

Networking: Wired Ethernet vs Wi-Fi

The best setup uses both. Wired ethernet for stationary devices that need reliable connections, Wi-Fi access points for everything else.

• Wired ethernet — Run Cat6 cable to desks, printers, security cameras, point-of-sale systems, and VoIP phones. Wired connections are faster, more reliable, and more secure than Wi-Fi. If you're building out or renovating a space, run ethernet drops now — it's 10x harder and more expensive to add later.
• Wi-Fi access points — Don't rely on your ISP's router for Wi-Fi. Consumer routers have limited range, weak security, and no management features. Use commercial-grade access points mounted on ceilings or walls for consistent coverage across your entire space.
• Network segmentation — Separate your business network from guest Wi-Fi. If you have IoT devices (cameras, smart locks, thermostats), put them on their own VLAN so a compromised camera can't access your business data.

Physical Security: Alarms, Cameras, and Access Control

Physical security is often an afterthought, but it's a requirement for insurance, compliance (HIPAA requires physical safeguards), and basic peace of mind.

• Security cameras — Cover all entry points, parking areas, and common spaces. Cloud-recorded footage with at least 30 days retention. Motion-activated alerts to your phone.
• Alarm system — Intrusion detection on doors and windows with professional monitoring. Modern systems integrate with your phone for instant alerts.
• Smart access control — Replace traditional keys with electronic locks or badge readers. This gives you a log of who entered and when, remote lock/unlock capability, and the ability to instantly revoke access when someone leaves the company — no rekeying needed.

Our Recommendation: UniFi by Ubiquiti

If you want networking, Wi-Fi, cameras, and access control to work together as one system — managed from a single dashboard — UniFi is the fastest way to get a secure, professional-grade setup.

Why UniFi over piecing together separate vendors:

• One dashboard — Network, Wi-Fi, cameras, and door access all managed from a single app. No juggling five different vendor logins.
• No monthly fees — Camera recording is stored locally on UniFi hardware. No cloud subscription for footage storage. No per-camera licensing fees.
• Minutes to deploy — UniFi devices auto-discover each other. Plug in a switch, mount an access point, adopt it in the app. A basic office network with cameras can be set up in an afternoon.
• VLAN segmentation built in — Isolate guest Wi-Fi, IoT devices, and business traffic with a few clicks. Critical for compliance.
• Scales with you — Start with one access point and a camera. Add more as you grow. Same management interface whether you have one location or ten.
• Access control logs — Know exactly who entered the building and when. Revoke access instantly from your phone. Set auto-lock schedules so doors lock after hours automatically.

Typical small office setup cost: $500–$1,500 for equipment (gateway + switch + 1-2 access points + 1-2 cameras). No ongoing subscription fees beyond your internet service. Add UniFi Access for door control at $300–$600 per door.

For businesses in regulated industries, this kind of setup isn't optional — HIPAA requires physical access controls, and SOC 2 auditors want to see entry logs. UniFi gives you both out of the box. And once your network and physical security are in place, TechManager AI can manage the ongoing IT operations — monitoring devices, enforcing policies, and keeping your access controls audit-ready.

Step 11: Secure Every Device Your Business Touches

Here's what most new business owners don't think about until it's too late: every device connected to your business is a door into your data. Your laptop. Your employee's personal phone checking work email. The tablet at the front desk. The receptionist's computer. The partner's MacBook at home.

One weak password, one outdated phone, one unmanaged laptop — and you're looking at a data breach, a compliance violation, or ransomware locking every file your business has. It's not a hypothetical. 43% of cyberattacks target small businesses, and the average cost of a breach for a small company is over $150,000. Most don't recover.

The Problem: Every Device Is an Attack Surface

Think about all the devices touching your business right now:

• Work laptops and desktops — Are they encrypted? Is the OS up to date? Who has admin access? What happens if one gets stolen?
• Personal phones (BYOD) — Your employees check work email, Slack, and shared docs from their personal phones. If that phone gets lost or compromised, your business data goes with it.
• Tablets and shared devices — Check-in kiosks, point-of-sale systems, shared office tablets. Who's managing the updates? Who's enforcing the lock screen?
• Home computers — Remote employees accessing your systems from personal machines you don't control. No antivirus, shared with family, connected to unsecured home networks.
• Smart devices — Printers, VoIP phones, smart TVs in the conference room. Each one is a network-connected device that rarely gets security updates.

Now multiply that by every employee. Then add a second location. Then a third. The number of devices you need to track, update, secure, and monitor grows fast — and most businesses have zero visibility into any of it.

What You Actually Need

• Password manager — 1Password Business or Bitwarden. Every account, every employee, unique passwords. Enforce this from day one — not as a suggestion, as a requirement.
• Two-factor authentication (2FA) — On every single account: email, banking, accounting, cloud storage, admin panels. Use an authenticator app, never SMS (SIM swaps are trivial).
• Endpoint protection — Antivirus isn't enough. You need device management that can enforce encryption, push updates, remotely wipe a lost device, and flag machines that haven't been patched.
• Mobile device management (MDM) — If employees access work data from personal phones — and they will — you need the ability to separate business data from personal data and wipe the business side if that phone is lost or the employee leaves.
• Cloud backup — Email and docs in Google/Microsoft are backed up, but only to a point. What about local files, configurations, and databases? Test your restore process before you need it.
• VPN — Anyone accessing business systems from outside the office — home, coffee shop, client site — needs to tunnel through a VPN. Non-negotiable.

If You're in a Regulated Industry, It's Even Worse

Healthcare, legal, and financial services don't just need security — they need documented, auditable, policy-enforced security. An auditor won't accept "we told everyone to use strong passwords." They want proof.

• HIPAA — Every device that touches patient data needs encryption, access controls, automatic logoff, and an audit trail. Every single one. See our HIPAA IT checklist.
• Client privilege — Law firms need ethical walls and document access controls that hold up in court. A stolen laptop with client files is a bar complaint waiting to happen. See why law firms need governed IT.
• SOX and PCI — Financial services need audit trails for every access event, mandatory access reviews, and documented change management. See our SOX compliance guide.

The Reality: You Can't Do This Manually

Be honest with yourself. You started this business to do what you're good at — practicing medicine, serving clients, building a product. Not managing device encryption policies, chasing employees about software updates, or figuring out how to remotely wipe a lost iPhone at 11 PM on a Saturday.

You could hire an IT person. That's $70,000–$120,000 per year for one employee who takes vacations, calls in sick, and can only be in one place at a time. You could hire an MSP. That's $100–$300 per device per month, long contracts, and slow response times because you're one of 200 clients.

Or you could solve it the way modern businesses do.

Step 12: If You're in a Regulated Industry — Read This Carefully

Everything above applies to every business. But if you're opening a healthcare practice, law firm, or financial advisory, you have an entirely different level of IT requirements — and they start on day one, not when you "get around to it."

Regulators don't care that you're a small business. HIPAA, SOX, PCI, and state bar rules apply the same whether you have 5 employees or 500. The fines don't scale down either.

VPN — Not Optional, Required

If anyone on your team accesses patient records, client files, or financial data from outside the office — home, a courthouse, a client site, a coffee shop — that traffic must be encrypted through a VPN. This isn't a best practice. For HIPAA-covered entities, it's a technical safeguard requirement. For law firms, it's a duty of competence under ABA Model Rule 1.6.

• Site-to-site VPN — Connects branch offices to your main network securely. If you have multiple clinics, offices, or locations, this is how they talk to each other without exposing data to the open internet.
• Remote access VPN — Individual employees connecting from home or on the road. Every remote worker needs this before they touch a single file.
• Always-on enforcement — Don't rely on employees remembering to turn on the VPN. Configure it to connect automatically when the device is outside the office network. If the VPN drops, access to business systems should stop.

Legacy Systems — You'll Have Them Sooner Than You Think

In regulated industries, "legacy" doesn't mean old and outdated. It means the systems your industry depends on that weren't designed for modern IT management:

• EHR/EMR systems — Practice management software that may require specific Windows versions, browser plugins, or local server access. You can't just "upgrade" — patient data and workflows are locked in.
• Fax and eFax — Yes, healthcare still runs on fax. HIPAA-compliant fax is still the standard for referrals, records requests, and prior authorizations. You need a solution that works, not a workaround that "usually" works.
• Legal practice management — Case management software, document management systems, and court filing platforms that require specific configurations. Some still require Internet Explorer compatibility modes.
• Financial platforms — Trading systems, portfolio management tools, and compliance reporting platforms with strict access requirements. Many require dedicated machines, specific network configurations, or hardware security tokens.
• Label printers, scanners, medical devices — Wristband printers, specimen label printers, diagnostic imaging equipment, audiometers, vitals monitors. These devices run embedded software that rarely gets updates and needs to be managed and secured.
• Phone systems and VoIP — Desk phones, on-hold systems, call routing. In healthcare, phone calls contain PHI. In legal, they contain privileged information. The phone system is an IT system, not a utility.

The challenge isn't just that these systems exist — it's that they all need to work together, securely, with access controls and audit trails. An employee needs to log into the EHR, print a patient wristband, fax a referral, and take a call — and every one of those actions needs to be traceable.

Vendor Access — The Security Gap Nobody Talks About

Your EHR vendor needs remote access for support. Your copier company needs network access for maintenance. Your phone system vendor needs access to configure call routing. Every one of them is a potential security hole.

• Who has access right now? Can you produce a list?
• When was the last time you reviewed and revoked stale vendor credentials?
• Are vendors accessing your network through the same credentials every time, or do they get temporary, scoped access?
• If a vendor is breached, do you know which of your systems they could access?

For most small practices and firms, the honest answer to all of these is "I don't know." That's a compliance failure and a security risk simultaneously.

The Compliance Audit Is Coming

Whether it's a HIPAA audit, a SOC 2 review, a bar association inquiry, or an insurance carrier questionnaire — someone is going to ask you to prove your IT controls are real. They'll want:

• An inventory of every device that accesses business data
• Proof that those devices are encrypted and managed
• Access control logs — who accessed what, when, and why
• Evidence of regular access reviews (stale accounts, over-provisioned users)
• VPN usage logs for remote access
• Vendor access documentation
• Incident response procedures and evidence that they've been tested

You cannot produce this documentation from a spreadsheet and good intentions. You need systems that generate it automatically, in real time, as part of normal operations. That's not a nice-to-have — it's the difference between passing an audit and explaining to patients, clients, or regulators why you failed one.

Step 13: Additional Tools to Consider

Depending on your business type, you may also need:

• Payment processing — Stripe (online), Square (in-person), or both. Set up before your first sale.
• CRM — HubSpot (free tier), Pipedrive, or Salesforce. Track leads and customers.
• Project management — Notion, Asana, Monday.com, or Trello. Essential once you have a team.
• Communication — Slack or Microsoft Teams. Built into Google Workspace (Chat) and Microsoft 365 (Teams).
• Phone system — Google Voice (free for basic), OpenPhone ($15/mo), or RingCentral. Get a business phone number separate from your personal cell.
• Contract and e-signature — DocuSign, PandaDoc, or HelloSign. Send professional contracts and get them signed electronically.

Putting It All Together: Your Launch Checklist

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Waiting for perfection — Your website, logo, and brand don't need to be perfect on day one. Launch, learn, and improve.
• Mixing personal and business finances — This creates headaches at tax time and weakens your LLC protection.
• Skipping insurance — One lawsuit or data breach can end a business that isn't insured.
• Ignoring IT security — Use a password manager, enable 2FA, and back up your data. These are non-negotiable.
• Over-spending on tools — Start with free tiers and basic plans. Upgrade when you outgrow them, not before.
• Not tracking expenses from day one — Every business expense before revenue is a tax deduction. Track everything.
• Paying for things that are free — EIN filing is free. Don't pay a third party. Same for basic LLC filing in many states.

Total Cost to Launch

Here's a realistic budget for getting a real business up and running:

You can launch a legitimate, properly structured business for under $200 if you're bootstrapping and working remotely. The “comfortable” path with a physical office, proper networking, and better tools runs around $2,000 for the entire first year. Neither includes insurance or rent, which vary widely by industry and location.

The Bottom Line

Starting a business isn't about having everything figured out. It's about taking the concrete steps to make your idea real and legal. Register your domain, form your LLC, open a bank account, set up email, and start operating. You can optimize and improve everything else as you go.

The biggest risk isn't choosing the wrong email provider or website platform. It's spending months researching instead of launching. Pick good-enough tools, start serving customers, and upgrade when your business demands it.

That said, the technology side of running a business — email, devices, security, compliance, access controls — only gets more complex as you grow. Most founders either ignore it until something breaks or overpay for an MSP that treats them like a number.

The simplest way to get your IT right from the start? Book a 30-minute call with TechManager AI. We'll walk through your specific situation — what tools you need, what compliance applies to your industry, and how to set up IT operations that scale with you. No sales pitch, just a practical roadmap for your business. Most teams are live in days, not months.