Recap:

It's been about 7 months that I've been assisting as the intern for the back-office operations.  Overall, once the initial craze was over, the back office work has settled down and, for the most part, turned routine: involving weekly bills to be paid, payroll cards to be added, following up with vendors and lots and lots of filing away of invoices. When people see stores and businesses, I don't think they realize exactly how much back office work is involved!

As the final step of my blog, I wanted to summarize the initial start-up steps that I've learned during my internship with Honeyfish Poke Ventures, LLC.  Hopefully, my list below can serve as a helpful "back-office handy dandy tool" for young entrepreneurs starting business for the first time.

Step 1:  Initial decisions related to business:
              a. Type of business to begin
              b. Partners to work with
              c. Decide on a business name: Doing Business Name ("DBA")

Step 2:  I learned that everything about business is location, location and location.  We need to look for a good solid location to open a business.  Many things to consider, including foot traffic, car traffic, and weekday vs. weekend environment.

Step 3:  Step up business entity by filing form LLC-1, Article of Organization with the CA Secretary of State. There are many different type of business entities to set up.  Depending on the type of business and number of business partners, the correct type of business entity can be decided.  Some of the options are C-corporation, S-corporation, Limited Liability Company, Limited Partnership and General Partnerships.

Step 4:  File for federal identification number ("FEIN") with the Internal Revenue Service by applying online with www.IRS.gov.  Every business entity must file a tax return using the assigned FEIN.

Step 5:  File State Employment ID # with Employment Development Dept ("EDD").

Step 6:  File Fictitious Business Name statement with the county recorder's office.  Prior to opening a business for profit, a business name must be chosen that is not already in use ("DBA"), and registered with the county.

Step 7:  Apply for business license at local city hall.

Step 8:  Open a bank account in the name of the business. Need to provide proof of Article of Organization, Fictitious Business Name and FEIN filings.

Step 9:  Open accounts with vendors and distributors.

Step 10: Set up Point of Service ("POS") system, which includes credit card system and cash registers.

Step 11:  File reseller's certificate with the CA State Board of Equalization.

Step 12: Set up job postings to hire employees.  A very common, popular place is the Craigslist and also on the business' website (if there is one already set up).  Once the interviews have been completed and employees hired, coordinate schedule for the initial training sessions.

Step 13: Set-up payroll service with payroll companies. This step must be done immediately shortly after hiring new employees since they will need to be paid as soon as they begin training.

Step 14: Create advertisements, such as Yelp accounts and the business's own website.

Step 15: Within the first 90 days of opening business, file State of Information form LLC12 with the Secretary of State.

Now, you are ready to open for business!  This process has been very exciting for me.  Even if I couldn't be hands-on with some of the steps, this experience gave me a solid beginner's experience of what setting up a business really entails. I never would have guessed at all the behind the scene steps required to set up a single business.  Looking forward to opening a business of my own one of these days and I am ready!