Steps to Start a Business

Don't let slow payments slow you down. Make sure your customers are paying customers. Find out how to prevent payment problems before they occur-and how to deal with late payments when they do happen. Need automated invoicing solutions? You'll find them here, too.

Find out what you can accomplish with your business idea. Discover how to put a business plan together, and how to make financial projects easy and painless. Plus, you'll find sample plans, online training, and cost calculators here to make planning a cinch.

If you're a new entrepreneur getting inexpensive expert help, training and advice for starting your own business is easier than you think. Learn where to turn for details about running a business with our guide to getting advice and training. Plus, use links to online training and tests.

Sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company (LLC), or corporation—what makes sense for your business? Do you need to file a "doing business as" (DBA) statement? Find out with this step-by-step guide to business structure, and use the tools in this section to create organizational documents you need.

Does picking the right name help attract customers? You bet. Consider this section your guide to creating, registering, and reserving a business name. You'll also discover places to look so you don't accidentally use someone else's business name. And once you do get a name, try our business card creation tool.

You don't need a huge budget to snare new customers—just effective marketing. Here you'll find the essential ingredients for simple but reliable marketing for your small business. Plus, you'll find links to Web page creation, advertising resources, and what you need to get your website ranked highly on search engines so the world can beat a path to your door.