Starting Out
Choosing a structure is mostly a decision about who is liable
Two quite different questions hide inside the choice of legal form, and only one of them is about tax.
· 3 min read
Starting Out
Going from an idea to something that can take money, and what has to exist first.
20 articles · page 1 of 2
Starting Out
What has to exist before you can legally take money
The list of things that must be in place before a first payment is shorter than the folklore suggests, but the three items on it are not optional.
By Nikhil Bose · · 4 min read
Starting Out
A business name does two different jobs and they can conflict
The name that sells the work and the name that identifies the legal seller are separate things, and…
· 3 min read
Starting Out
The first sale tells you more than the first plan does
A plan is a set of assumptions nobody has tested, and the cheapest available test is asking one person to…
· 4 min read
Starting Out
Capacity is the ceiling on a one-person business
A business that sells hours has a maximum income that can be worked out in advance, and most people work it…
· 3 min read
Starting Out
Buying equipment before there is revenue is a bet on a customer who has not appeared
Startup spending feels like preparation and is usually a wager, and the way to tell which is which is to…
· 4 min read
Starting Out
Starting alongside another income, and the four constraints that decide whether it works
Building a business while money is still arriving from elsewhere removes the worst risk and adds four…
· 3 min read
Starting Out
What you sell is not the same as what you do
Small businesses describe themselves by activity and are bought for outcomes, and the gap between the two…
· 3 min read
Starting Out
Your first clients come from people who already know you
Early work almost always arrives through existing connections, which is a real advantage carrying two costs…
· 3 min read
Starting Out
The first year is not a smaller version of the second
Early figures are distorted by one-off costs, unrepeatable work and a schedule with holes in it, which…
· 3 min read
Starting Out
Where you work from is a cost, a constraint and sometimes a permission
The decision about where the work physically happens sets part of the cost base, quietly decides how much…
· 4 min read
Starting Out
Selling a thing and selling your time are two different businesses
Products and services tie up money at different moments, fail in different places and meet their limits for…
· 3 min read