Lesson 1
Decide what the company is for
One sentence, a revenue model and a check on licences before you file.
Filing an LLC is easy. Filing the right one for the right reason is the part that saves money.
Write one sentence
"This business does X for Y and gets paid Z." If you cannot write it, the filing can wait. A registered company with no customers still owes annual fees.
Check what you are legally allowed to do
Some trades need a licence, permit, certificate or registration before you can trade at all. A company structure organises your money; it does not grant permission to practise. Search your local government site for the specific licence tied to your trade.
Choose the revenue model before the name
Are you paid per project, per month, per product or per hour? Each implies different cash-flow habits: retainers need invoicing discipline, products need stock planning, hourly work needs a rate that covers your non-billable time.
Identify the risk you are protecting against
An LLC mostly protects personal assets from business debts and claims. If nobody could realistically sue you and you have no debt, the urgency is lower. If you are installing things in people's homes or handling client money, it is higher.
Do this now
Write the sentence, the licence check result, and the revenue model on one page. That page becomes the brief for everything that follows.