1. Business Name

• The name should be easy to remember and to spell. If you pick a made-up name, keep it short, like google, yahoo. 
• If using your own name, use it either by itself or add a descriptor: Jessica's Creations or Jessica Johnson Couture.
  
• If using a descriptor, make sure that it encompasses more than your current products. You never know how your business will evolve. Once you establish a brand, it is a lot harder to make changes.

2. Business License

• Sole Proprietorship - The owner and the business are the same. Business income is treated as personal income and the owner pays individual, self-employment tax on the business income.
  
  • Pros -  Simple to run, inexpensive to start, business expenses can be deducted from taxes, there is no double taxation on profits.
  • Cons - The owner is responsible personally liable for any business liabilities, the business has unlimited liability for the owner's personal liabilities, and it is limited to only one person.
  • Best for - Small business without excessive liability exposure.
    
• Partnerships - The owners are two or more people who share the assets, profits, and losses. A general partnership can be started by a an oral agreement. As in any legal situations, it is best to put everything in writing, especially things like how much money and time each partner is contributing, the profit sharing percentage, how decisions are made, how long the partnership will last, exit strategy. A limited partnership has one or more general partners, who are liable for the business, and one or more limited partners, who have limited liability. Partnerships have pass-through taxation.
  
  • Pros - Very flexible, allows for ownership of more than one partner, avoids double taxation, has few legal formalities.
    
  • Cons - Partners have unlimited personal liability for business losses, the business cannot be sold without the consent of all partners, and it dissolves when one of the general partners dies.
  • Best for - Professional practices, such as accounting, legal, medical.
    
• Corporations -  Most complex structure. As a separate
  entity, corporations have several distinguishing characteristics
  including limited liability, easy transferability of shares, and
  perpetual existence. Corporations also have centralized management who
  may be different persons from the actual owners. The corporation must pay taxes on its profits and the shareholders must pay taxes on the dividends paid to them from the corporation. The Subchapter S Corporation was created to provide small business with some of the benefits of regular corporations, such as having shareholders (up to 35), offering stock (only one class of stock), and being protected from personal liability and the benefits of sole proprietorship (the income and losses of the company are pass through to the individual shareholders, who file for individual taxes.
  
  • Pros - Provides limited liability to the owners/shareholders, is easy to transfer ownership, it is easy to add new shareholders/investors.
    
  • Cons - It requires a lot more legal work, thus becoming more expensive to run, it requires separate tax returns, and it is subject to the double taxation.
    
  • Best for - Companies looking to raise capital from outside sources in exchange for stock in the company.
    

• Make sure it shows well in both color and black-and-white.
• Keep it simple - believe it or not, simpler designs are more memorable.
  
• Refrain yourself from using too many colors and fonts - busyness takes away from the message you are trying to convey with your logo.

• Business cards with rounded corners have more impact (it will also add about $40 to have cut).
  
• Make sure you have an uniform look across your collateral material and there is consistency in the message.  
• You can use online inexpensive printers such as VistaPrint or OvernightPrints.
  

• Computer (laptops start now at $350)
• Multifunction printer (either color or black-and-white). If you do a lot of collateral material printing  yourself, invest in a color laser version (they start at $400).
  
• Phone with an answering system or voicemail and professionally recorded message. A message with kids screaming in the back is not indicative of a serious business.
  
• Dedicated phone line. I found that VOIP are a great, inexpensive way to go. Vonage has a small business package that includes a fax line for only $29.99 a month. They also include a bunch of features. Long distance is free and the standard package includes 5 European countries. You can add multiple other countries for very little ($4.95). The downside is that you can't pick a number, only the area code; they are automatically generated. However, by calling the 800 number and asking the operator to help, I could get a number that easy to remember. (She had to manually search for it).
  
• Dedicated fax line. Believe it or not, people still use fax. It is especially helpful if you deal with oversees partners or customers. An alternative option to a real fax is an e-fax. MyFax.com and eFax.com offer service for $10 to $15/month.
  
• Website and email account with the same domain name. Yes, it is true that there are laywers who have gmail accounts, but I still believe that an email that matches your business name provides more validity and credibility to your customers and business associates. They are not expensive get.
  
• High speed internet access. Regardless of your business, I can guarantee you that you will be spending a lot of time online. Slow speeds not only account for giant headaches, but will increase your effectiveness.
• Good cell phone.  We all love the iPhones, but if that's not in your budget find a relyable one. Blackberry is always a good option.
  
• Good headset. That is if you spend a lot of time on the phone. Some cordless phones are bluetooth enable and you can use one headset for both your cell phone and the office phone.  
  

9. The 4 P's of Entrepreneurship: Persistence, Perseverance, Patience, and Passion