Do you remember the day you worked for a company — large or small, it doesn’t matter — and dreamed of owning your own business?

“I will be *the boss*”, you thought.

“I will come and go as I please and make my own hours”, you thought.

“I will take vacations whenever I want”, you thought.

“I will have plenty of money to do what I want”, you thought.

And then you started your own business.

My, my how things have changed.
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Posted in Food for Thought, Entrepreneurship, start up advice 4 Comments »

I put together a list of links to resources available to start your business listed by state / region. The link to your state’s small business office should serve as a One Stop Shop to learn the specific start-up requirements— legal and regulatory for starting a business in your state or region.

Do you know of a link to official small business startup information in your city or country? If you wish to share country-specific links to similar information that others looking for start-up help will find useful, please leave them in comments.
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A federal tax identification number (TIN), also referred to as an employer identification number (EIN) is used to identify a business entity in the United States. Numbers are assigned by the US Internal Revenue Service to sole proprietors, corporations, partnerships, estates, trusts; the primary legal residence of which is in the United States or U.S. territories for tax filing and reporting purposes.

How to Apply for an EIN

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Posted in Start-up Checklist series, start up advice 1 Comment »

Today’s guest post is from Leanna Adams. Leanna outlines 8 great tips to keep in mind when choosing your business name.

Most people don’t realize it, but one of your first and most important business decisions can be picking your business name. A great name is one that attracts customers and can really give your business legs in terms of starting a buzz. Do you think Google would have created the fanatical sensation it has with a name like Search Engine USA?

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What is a DBA Certificate?

If you are doing business using any other name besides your own legal name (sometimes referred to as using a fictitious name), you can file for a D/B/A or Doing Business As certificate in the office of the county clerk where your business is located. This effectively registers your company name in that county.

For example if Jane Smith, a sole proprietor, wants to operate as Jane’s Consulting, she would file DBA forms in her county clerk’s office, to get a DBA certificate making it known that she will be doing business as Jane’s Consulting. This is also true if a corporation or other legal entity, wants to do business under a different name —Widget Corporation, Inc doing business as The Widget People, would file a DBA indicating the use of the “The Widget People”.

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