Home Based Business Startup Checklist

By Amy Peterson

Starting up a home business is no easy task. It involves a step-by-step process that needs to be followed to ensure that your business is started successfully and logically. Here is a check list you can use to make sure your home based business starts up the way you want and becomes profitable.

(article continued below...)

Choosing A Name

  1. Say your name out loud so you can see how it sounds and how easy it is to pronounce.
  2. Contact your local business authority to find out if your business name is available. This is often known as a trademark search.
  3. Register your business name or trademark to ensure no one else can use it for as long as you have it registered.

Getting A License

  1. Get your city or county business permit.
  2. Look into any certification or licensing you may need for your business in your state.

Legal Items

  1. Look at the zoning of your area and make sure it is zoned for home businesses. Some cities or municipalities do not allow certain types of home based businesses, so you want to make sure yours is allowed.
  2. Get an attorney who has experience with small business law.
  3. Determine if you want to have a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, limited liability partnership (LLP) or a limited liability company (LLC). Tell your new attorney what you want so they can get you the paperwork.

Business Finances

  1. Open up a business bank account, or at least a bank account under your name.
  2. Buy accounting software for your business.
  3. Get an accountant for your business since they will know a lot more about what you can write off than you will.
  4. Do a break-even analysis and other types of financial projections to determine how much money you need to bring in.
  5. Create a budget that you will stick by with your business.

Your Business Office

  1. Determine a location in your home for your business office. Don't put it in the living room and try and find a location that gives you privacy and quiet so you can do business.
  2. Do you have phone and electrical outlets that are accessible in your office location?
  3. Can you fit everything you need into the office?
  4. Is the lighting okay for you since you will spend several hours in there?
  5. Is it quiet?
  6. Do you have room to work in your office location?
  7. Set up your workspace once you have decided where it can go.
  8. Provide an area for visitors to sit and make sure your visitors can access your office without walking through your house.
  9. Contact your insurance agent to let them know you have an office in your house.
  10. Look for fire hazards and safety concerns in your office.
  11. Put in a security system to protect your office.

Marketing Your Company

  1. Create a logo for your company
  2. Create a mission statement for your company
  3. Create a brief synopsis to describe your business on marketing items.
  4. Create a website
  5. Do up a marketing plan.
  6. Join networking organizations.

This checklist can help to make putting together a home business much easier. You will be able to go through the checklist and find everything that you need to do with your company so you are not forgetting anything. Some new business owners don't think about things like zoning and insurance, but having a checklist can make sure you don't forget. Don't allow yourself to miss any steps because it could come back to haunt you down the road with your home based business.

Amy Peterson is a business consultant and contributing writer for Home-Based-Business-Opportunities.com

Back to Starting a Home Based Business