My Business Startup Checklist (And Why I'm Already Reordering It)

If you've made a list, or you're thinking about making one, for getting your maker business off the ground, tonight's episode is for you. I went through my own personal checklist on stream, the one I'm actually using to get things started, and I want to share it with you. Not because it's the "correct" way to do it. There isn't really a correct way. But there are some steps that have to happen before others, and figuring out that order matters more than I expected.

Step One: The Business Name

The first thing on my list is coming up with the business name. Everything downstream depends on it, your EIN, your entity type, your socials, your domain, all of it needs a name to attach to. I'm planning to spend a good week or two on this one alone, because it's not something I want to rush. This is a name I'll be living with for the next decade, so it's worth taking my time.

Once you think you've got a name, check your state's business registry before you fall in love with it. In Florida, that's sunbiz.org. Search it, make sure nobody else has it, and don't move forward until you know it's clear.

Step Two: EIN and Business Entity, But Reorder This

My original plan was name, then EIN, then business entity (sole proprietor, LLC, partnership, corporation, whatever fits). But while I was talking through it on stream, I realized I had it backwards. If you're setting up an LLC, especially here in Florida, you need a physical business address before you file. So that step actually needs to move ahead of EIN and entity setup, not after.

Step Three: Get a Business Address That Isn't Your Home

This one matters more than people think. LLC filings are public record, which means if you use your home address, anyone can look it up and find out where you live. Instead, look at a mailbox service through a UPS Store. You get a real street address (123 Main Street, Suite 43, for example) that works as your business address without putting your home on public record. Expect to pay somewhere in the $35 to $50 a month range. If you eventually get a studio or storefront, you can switch to that address instead.

Step Four: Socials and Domain

While the EIN paperwork is in with the IRS, this is a good time to lock in your social accounts across Facebook, Twitter/X, Bluesky, Threads, and Instagram, and grab your domain. I use porkbun.com for domains, and I'd recommend grabbing both the .com and .net versions of your name. It's usually cheap, somewhere around $20 a year, unless you're chasing a premium domain, in which case the price jumps fast.

Avoid hyphens in your domain name if you can help it. Match it as closely as possible to your actual business name so people can find you without guessing.

Step Five: Figure Out What You're Actually Building

This is the one that's going to take the longest for me, probably a month. I'm not trying to launch 40 products on day one. That's overwhelming, and I don't have the inventory space for it. Instead, I'm narrowing it down to three or four items to start, and doing real market research on whether people actually want them before I sink time and materials into building them.

Part of that research is scouting local craft fairs and farmers' markets as sales venues, rather than leaning on an online storefront right away. Being able to sell face-to-face, without renting a permanent space, matters a lot early on. I'm also factoring in travel distance since driving too far to a booth eats into any profit fast, and timing, since summer isn't exactly craft fair season around here.

Where That Leaves Me

Business name: a week or two. Socials: a day or two. Product research: probably a month. None of this has to look like your list. Yours might be completely different, and that's fine. This is just me thinking out loud in case it gives you a push to get started on your own.

If you want to follow along as I work through the rest of this, subscribe to the podcast and check out the full video on YouTube.