When I left my job in May, I was divided on what I wanted to do with my life, occupation-wise. Part of me wanted to jump into another full-time job (something that would look good on paper!), and part of me just wanted to do nothing. The part that wanted to do nothing but couldn’t really fully accept that reality decided to start a consulting firm.

I’ve never started a business before, but here’s what it entailed.

1. Using LegalZoom to set up my entity. I decided on an LLC structure to protect myself from liabilities. This seemed like the simplest option given that I planned to do some light freelancing, and I just wanted to file my business taxes along with my personal taxes. Where possible, I opted to have LegalZoom handle all the compliance. I was in a rush, so I decided to have the business address be my NYC apartment. I should probably change that at some point.
2. Setting up both the entity name and the “Doing Business As” DBA name. In retrospect, I wish I had just picked one name, as it is significantly more expensive to have that DBA name.
3. Deciding on the tax structure. I plan to be unprofitable for the remainder of the year, so I am a sole proprietor vs. an S-CORP or C-CORP.
4. Sign the operating agreement and membership certificates sent to me by LegalZoom. Now this is added to the nomadic piles of stuff I’m lugging around with me.
5. Mail out a bunch of paperwork LegalZoom sent me.
6. Attend a tax webinar and talk to an accountant.
7. Set up business checking and savings accounts and a credit card. LegalZoom and Bank of America have a partnership that offers a $300 credit. I was too lazy to do more research. My experience with the bank has been quite amazing actually. (In the past, I had sworn that I would never bank with Bank of America again due to them making it so difficult for me to separate my finances from my ex-boyfriend.)
8. Pay to have your LLC advertised 6 times in the newspaper. This is ridiculously expensive in NYC, so I have some sort of shady company changing my entity location to Albany and publishing on my behalf and then changing it back to NYC. This will take 12-14 weeks, which will temporarily invalidate my LLC… My cursory research tells me this is OK.
9. Start my website. I chose SquareSpace. Honestly, their templates are really not the best for a consulting business. They seem better for design-oriented businesses or showcasing art portfolios.
10. I am considering creating a separate business address through UPS, one that looks like a street address. The cost is between $250-500/year. I can’t decide if it’s worth it. Right now, I’m jumping through hoops to have stuff sent to friends’ places who have doormen. This is not sustainable.
11. I am also considering a virtual mailbox service where they scan all my mail and have it available for me to view online from anywhere in the world.
12. I need to decide on accounting/bookkeeping software. I’ll probably go with QuickBooks. OMG, I HATE ADMIN STUFF! TRAUMA.

I did most of the above yesterday. Yes, I am stressed.

But…I have some great prospective clients!