Wealthifier – Internet, Affiliate, Email and Information Marketing…Teaching You How to Make Money Online

I have a good friend who just recently introduced me to the world of making money online.  This place is completely different than what I had believed it to be.  Wealth is made much more quickly and much more easily than I would have thought possible before.

…But this post is not about that.  You can read the details of that in my ebook: The Guru Dialogs

This post is about how to open a new business.

If you expect to make serious money and build wealth online (I hope you do if you’re reading this), then you need to do one simple thing to get started.

You need to set up a business.

Luckily, this is surprisingly easy.

I visited a few sites to get some background on how to start a business.  There is some fantastic information out there, but there is so much, it ends up being overwhelming.  The good news is that an online-only business requires very few of the steps.

Business.gov is a good site that explains things in simple terms, but includes information for everyone from the construction contractors to businesses that expect to have thousands of employees.

Here are the high-level steps Business.gov lists:

1. Research and Plan your Business (This is what you’re doing right now.)
2. Get Business Assistance and Training (This is also what you’re doing right now.  Isn’t this easy so far?)
3. Choose a Business Location (For advanced people, you can be picky about what state to incorporate in to maximize tax benefits.  Most just choose their own state.  I did.)
4. Finance Your Business (You’ll barely need any money to get started, depending on how you start.  That’s why internet businesses are so profitable)
5. Determine the Legal Structure of Your Business (This is choosing the type of business.  There is a LOT of information freely available on the internet about this.  The most simple is “Sole Proprietorship”, but it gives you no protection against people who sue your business.  They can also take your personal assets as well.  The corporation types, “LLC”, “S-Corp”, and “C-Corp” protect your personal assets.  The business is then considered a separate entity, like a person.  Out of these, “LLC” is the easiest choice for small businesses, like basic online businesses.  This is what I chose.)
6. Register a Business Name (Pick a catchy name.  You’ll probably spend more time on this than anything else.)
7. Get a Tax Identification Number (Business.gov points you  directly to the form you need to fill out.)
8. Register for State and Local Taxes (Each state has it’s own requirements.  Business.gov points you directly to each state’s forms and information.)
9. Obtain Business Licenses and Permits (Unless you have some weird regulations in your state for operating an online business, you don’t need this.  Clicking the link on Business.gov will give you information directly for your state/county.)
10. Employer Responsibilities (You don’t need this because you’re not hiring employees)

After looking at this, I was a little overwhelmed (not having my green hints, of course), but other people I had talked to said it was extremely easy if I went through a site like LegalZoom.com.

I took that advice.  This site is incredibly easy to use and makes starting a business as easy as answering a few basic questions that it helps you through.  I think it took me about 15 minutes.

Online businesses have almost none of the complexity of other businesses…

After the site walks you through the process, you just have to literally wait for the mail to come.  They do all the government paperwork for you, and send you a nice package after everything is complete.  Passive income and wealth creation is much easier.

Keeping Business Life Separate from Personal Life…

After setting up the business, the other most important part is to keep the business finances separate from your personal finances.  This requires opening a bank account for the business.  Most banks make it extremely easy to open a business account, especially if you already have a personal account with them.  Most even offer the capability to open a business account from their websites.

Once you have this account opened, make sure that everything related to the business goes through this account.  If you mix your personal and business finances, there will be a complete mess if the government decides to audit your taxes.

Once you have the basics above set up, something magical happens:

You have an investment in making money.  You’re motivated because you’ve just made the plunge, and because of this, you will succeed.  The biggest obstacles to success are mental ones.  Once you’ve pushed yourself down a path, keep going.  There are magical treasures on the other side…

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