How to start a business
The steps to set a business up, each with the government page to do it on.
Starting a business is a short list of steps, and most of them are done once. The list below follows the Small Business Administration's own guide. Many of the rules are set by your state and your city or county, so the pages linked here send you on to yours.
Decide what you will sell, and to whom
Begin with the customer. Market research is how you find out who would buy from you and what they pay now.
Write a short plan, and add up what it costs to open before you spend anything: the things you must buy once, and what you will pay every month.
If the government is the customer you have in mind, look first at what agencies near you already buy.
Choose how the business is set up
The structure you choose affects how much you pay in taxes, the paperwork you file, your ability to raise money, and how much of what you own yourself is at risk if the business is sued or cannot pay.
The ones the guide describes are a sole proprietorship, a partnership, a limited liability company (LLC), a corporation and a cooperative.
This is a choice worth an hour with an accountant or one of the free counselors named at the end of this guide.
Choose a name and register the business
Once you settle on a name, protect it. The name of the business is registered with your state. A name you trade under that is not your own name or the registered one, often called a DBA, is filed with the state, the county or the city, depending on where you are.
Registering makes the business a legal entity of its own. Most states have you register with the Secretary of State's office or a business agency. Forming the business does not usually need a registration with the county or the city, though you may need their license to operate.
Get the tax numbers
An Employer Identification Number (EIN) is the business's federal tax number.
It is free. The Internal Revenue Service issues it online, and gives you the number at once when the application is approved. The form cannot be saved, so finish it in one sitting.
Never pay for one. The IRS itself warns about websites that charge a fee for an EIN.
Whether you also need a state tax number depends on your state's rules for income and employment taxes. Your state's tax agency says which you need.
Get the licenses and permits you need
Which ones you need depends on what the business does and where it is. A business in a field a federal agency regulates needs a federal license or permit. Everything else comes from the state, the county or the city.
Where the business is also sets the taxes, the zoning rules and the regulations it comes under. Zoning is usually decided by the city or the county, so check before you sign a lease or work from home.
Open a business bank account, and insure the business
Keep the business's money apart from your own from the first day. A business bank account helps the business stay within the law and protected.
A business with employees must carry workers' compensation, unemployment and disability insurance, and some states require more. Beyond that, the general rule is to insure against what you could not pay for yourself.
Register to sell to the government
Once the business exists, you can register at SAM.gov, the federal government's own site. Registering gives the business its Unique Entity ID, and the registration is renewed every 365 days.
The state, and the cities, counties and districts near you, each keep their own list of vendors. Where to register has them in the order most businesses work through them.
Free help, near you
The Small Business Administration and its partners offer free or low-cost counseling and training near you: Small Business Development Centers, SCORE business mentors, Women's Business Centers and Veterans Business Outreach Centers.
A counselor will go through the choices on this page with you. The page linked here finds the ones in your area.
Next: see which certifications there are and who qualifies.
How to get certifiedEvery outside page was opened and read on November 14, 2026. This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules differ by state and change, so read the page a step links to before you rely on it. The linked pages are government sites and are not part of this product.