Start a Business

The full sequence

1. 1

   Pressure-test the idea

   You can state who you serve, what problem you solve, and what they pay today.

   Most business ideas fail the first question: who currently pays money to solve this, and how? If nobody pays anything today, you're not early — you're in a market that doesn't exist.

2. 2

   Choose the business model

   You know how the business makes money and what it costs to deliver.

   Service, productized service, agency, e-commerce, SaaS, or info products — each has a different cost structure, cash cycle, and ceiling. The model determines almost everything downstream.

3. 3

   Write the one-page plan

   A single page covering offer, customer, pricing, costs, and first 90 days.

   You don't need a 40-page plan unless a lender is asking for one. You need a page you'll actually re-read — and revise when reality disagrees with it.

4. 4

   Form the legal entity

   An LLC or corporation registered with your state.

   The entity creates legal separation between you and the business. Form it before you sign contracts or take money — retrofitting is more expensive than doing it first.

5. 5

   Open business banking

   A business bank account in the exact legal name of the entity.

   Commingling personal and business money undermines the liability protection you just paid to create, and makes bookkeeping and tax a nightmare. Separate on day one.

6. 6

   Set up bookkeeping

   Every transaction categorized, and a P&L you can pull at any time.

   Bookkeeping set up now takes an hour a month. Bookkeeping reconstructed in April takes a weekend and costs more in accountant time than the software would have.

7. 7

   Put up the website

   A site that states the offer, proves credibility, and captures enquiries.

   The mistake here is building before you can articulate the offer. A clear one-page site beats an elaborate one that hedges.

8. 8

   Set up a CRM

   Every lead tracked from first contact to closed.

   Leads leak. Not from bad selling — from forgetting to follow up. A CRM is a memory system before it's a sales tool.

9. 9

   Choose one marketing channel

   One channel, running consistently, producing measurable leads.

   New businesses spread across five channels and go deep on none. One channel worked properly beats five worked casually.

10. 10

    Build a repeatable sales process

    The same steps every time, with a close rate you can measure.

    If every sale happens differently, you can't tell whether the problem is your price, your pitch, or your leads.

11. 11

    Make the first hire

    One person doing work you documented before you delegated it.

    Hiring before documenting means teaching by interruption. Write the process first — then the hire has something to follow.

12. 12

    Automate the repetitive work

    The recurring admin runs without you touching it.

    Automate what you've already documented and done manually. Automating a process you haven't stabilized just makes the mistakes faster.

13. 13

    Scale what's working

    You know your unit economics well enough to spend to grow.

    Scaling is only safe once you know what a customer costs to acquire and what they're worth. Without both numbers, growth burns cash.