You can now make your checks payable to: 0484CREATIVE
After holding out for about 6 solid years, I finally filed the paperwork with the County to register our little design business. And along with that, we also got ourselves a fancy grown-up business bank account (instead of that old shoebox stuffed with loose change and Golden Spoon coupons)
Now we can pay our vendors with these snazzy, slightly larger business checks rather than the dinky personal ones I have with Amazon tree frogs on them. Or those cheesy Harry Potter checks that Matt has.
Anyway, the point is, up until now, we've been doing just fine without any official documentation 'legitimizing' our company. In addition to our own little gig, we have some insight from working with a bunch of small business and start-ups, as clients of ours, over the years. A few random thoughts on starting a small business:
Do not file your DBA statement, or apply for a business license unless you really have to. Do not incorporate; that costs money. Don't waste money.
Do not put "C.E.O." on your business card. It's tacky.
Do not trademark or copyright anything. Do not worry about anyone stealing your business name or concept. Don't waste time.
If you are just starting a small business and you waste the least amount of time, energy and money on all the distractions, 1 of 2 things will happen. You will either manage to survive and your company will slowly grow and thrive, at which point you can file all the fancy paperwork that you skipped. Or, your business will dissolve, for whatever reason, and then you can send me a 'Thank You' card for saving you a lot of time and money and unnecessary headaches.
Build your brand. Find clients. Foster relationships. Do the work. Forget the paperwork. Getting all of the paperwork in order does not mean you have a business.
If you're sort of a nerd and want more info on this type of thing, check out this book written by the guys over at 37signals. (you can read it online for free)
