Guides Library
Business Guides
Everything you need to know about running a business — from formation to funding, pricing to payroll. Every guide is backed by authoritative sources.
Data Backup and Recovery: What You Lose If You Don't Plan
Ransomware, hardware failure, human error, natural disasters. Any of these can wipe out your business data overnight. Here is how to build a backup and recovery plan that actually works.
Payment Processing: Merchant Accounts, Stripe, Square, and Fees
Every transaction has a cost. This guide breaks down how payment processing actually works, what fees you are really paying, and how to choose the right processor for your business type.
Mobile Workforce Tools: Running a Field Team from Anywhere
Your crew is on job sites, not in an office. Here are the tools, systems, and strategies for managing a mobile workforce so nothing falls through the cracks.
Cloud vs. On-Premise: Where to Run Your Business Software
Should your business data live in the cloud or on a local server? This guide breaks down the real costs, risks, and trade-offs so you can make the right infrastructure decision.
Automation for Small Business: What to Automate First
Stop doing manually what software can do for you. This guide identifies the highest-impact areas to automate in your small business and shows you how to get started without breaking what already works.
Cybersecurity Basics: Protecting Your Business Data
Small businesses are the top target for cyberattacks. Here is a no-nonsense guide to the security basics every owner must implement to protect customer data, financial records, and business operations.
Website Essentials: What Your Business Website Must Do
Your website is your digital storefront. Here is exactly what it needs to include, what it needs to do, and what you can skip, with a focus on turning visitors into paying customers.
AI for Small Business: Practical Applications That Save Time
Cut through the AI hype. Here are the specific, practical ways small business owners are using artificial intelligence right now to save hours every week without hiring data scientists.
Accounting Software Comparison: QuickBooks, Xero, FreshBooks, Wave
A head-to-head comparison of the four most popular small business accounting platforms, with honest pros, cons, and pricing breakdowns so you can pick the right one.
Choosing Business Software: CRM, Accounting, and Operations
A practical framework for evaluating and selecting the right CRM, accounting, and operations software for your small business without overspending or overcomplicating things.
IRS Audit Preparation: What Triggers Audits and How to Respond
Learn what triggers IRS audits, how to prepare your records, and how to respond if your small business is selected for examination.
State and Local Tax Obligations: A State-by-State Overview
Navigate the complex landscape of state and local taxes, including income tax, franchise tax, gross receipts tax, and how to determine your obligations in each state.
Year-End Tax Planning Strategies for Small Businesses
Actionable year-end tax planning strategies to reduce your tax liability, from timing income and expenses to maximizing deductions before December 31.
Retirement Plans for Business Owners: SEP, SIMPLE, Solo 401(k)
Compare SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, and Solo 401(k) plans for small business owners, including contribution limits, tax advantages, and which plan fits your business.
Sales Tax Nexus: When and Where You Must Collect
Understand the concept of sales tax nexus, how the South Dakota v. Wayfair decision changed the rules, and how to determine where your business must collect sales tax.
Payroll Taxes: What You Owe, When You Owe It
A complete guide to federal payroll tax obligations for small businesses with employees, including FICA, FUTA, withholding schedules, and filing requirements.
Vehicle Deductions: Mileage vs. Actual Expenses
Compare the standard mileage rate and actual expense methods for deducting vehicle costs, and learn which approach maximizes your tax savings.
Home Office Deduction: Simplified vs. Regular Method
Compare the simplified and regular methods for claiming the home office deduction, and learn which approach saves you more on your taxes.
Business Tax Deductions: The Complete Guide
A comprehensive guide to every major business tax deduction available to small business owners, with practical examples and documentation requirements.
Self-Employment Tax: What It Is and How to Reduce It
Understand how self-employment tax works, who pays it, and practical strategies to legally reduce your self-employment tax burden.
Quarterly Estimated Taxes: How to Calculate and When to Pay
Learn how to calculate quarterly estimated tax payments, when they are due, and how to avoid underpayment penalties.
Federal Tax Obligations for Small Business Owners
Understand every federal tax obligation your small business faces, from income tax to employment taxes, and learn the filing requirements for each.
Building a Competitive Moat: Sustainable Advantages for Small Business
A competitive moat is what keeps others from easily copying your success. Here's how small businesses can build durable advantages that compound over time.
Pivoting Your Business: When to Change Direction and How
Knowing when to pivot is one of the hardest decisions in business. Learn how to recognize the signals, evaluate your options, and make the change without losing what you've built.
Annual Planning: A Simple Process for Small Business
Annual planning doesn't need to be a corporate ritual. Here's a straightforward process that takes a weekend, not a quarter, and gives you a roadmap you'll actually follow.
Succession Planning: Who Runs the Business After You?
Whether you plan to retire, step back, or prepare for the unexpected, succession planning ensures your business survives the transition. Here's how to start.
Exit Planning: Preparing Your Business to Sell (Even If You're Not Ready Yet)
Most small business owners wait too long to think about their exit. Start planning now so you have options later -- whether that's selling, merging, or passing it on.
Market Research for Small Business: Low-Cost Methods That Work
You don't need a $50,000 research budget to understand your market. Here are practical, low-cost methods that give you real insight into customers, competitors, and demand.
Goal Setting: OKRs, KPIs, and What Actually Drives Action
OKRs, KPIs, SMART goals -- there's no shortage of frameworks. Here's how to cut through the jargon and set goals that actually change how your business operates.
SWOT Analysis: A Practical Framework for Decision Making
SWOT analysis gets taught in every business class, but rarely done well. Here's how to use it as an actual decision-making tool instead of a pointless exercise.
Competitive Analysis: Understanding Your Market Position
Stop guessing where you stand. Learn how to systematically evaluate your competitors, identify gaps in the market, and position your business where you can actually win.
Writing a Business Plan: Who It's Really For
A business plan isn't just a document for lenders. Learn how to write one that actually helps you run your business, make decisions, and stay focused on what matters.
Revenue Diversification: Reducing Dependence on One Income Stream
If one client, one service, or one market represents the majority of your revenue, you are one bad month away from a crisis. Learn how to diversify strategically.
Reducing Customer Churn: Why They Leave and How to Stop It
Understand the real reasons customers leave, build early warning systems to identify at-risk accounts, and implement retention strategies that work.
Contract Negotiation: Protecting Yourself While Closing the Deal
Learn how to negotiate contracts that protect your business, set clear expectations, and prevent the disputes that destroy profit margins.
Sales Pipeline Management: Forecasting Revenue You Can Trust
Turn your sales pipeline from a wish list into a reliable revenue forecasting tool with stage-based management and data-driven analysis.
CRM Implementation: Choosing and Actually Using a System
Stop managing your pipeline in your head or on sticky notes. Learn how to pick the right CRM for your business size and actually get your team to use it.
Upselling and Cross-Selling Without Being Pushy
Increase your average transaction value by learning when and how to offer additional services in a way that genuinely serves your customers.
Objection Handling: Responding to "That's Too Expensive"
Learn practical frameworks for handling the most common sales objections without caving on price or losing the deal.
Follow-Up Systems: The Revenue You're Leaving on the Table
Most deals are lost because of poor follow-up, not poor pitches. Build a systematic approach to following up that turns maybes into signed contracts.
Writing Proposals and Estimates That Close
Stop losing deals to sloppy proposals. Learn how to write estimates and proposals that communicate value and make saying yes easy.
Designing a Sales Process That Doesn't Depend on You
Build a repeatable, documented sales process that your team can execute without you being in every meeting or on every call.
Profitability Benchmarking: How Do You Compare to Your Industry?
Learn how to benchmark your profit margins, labor costs, and overhead against industry standards so you know exactly where you stand and where to improve.
Subscription and Recurring Revenue Models for Small Business
Recurring revenue transforms unpredictable income into stable, forecastable cash flow. Learn how to build subscription and maintenance models in any trade.
Discount Strategy: When Discounts Build and When They Destroy
Discounts are a tool, not a reflex. Learn when discounting makes strategic sense and when it silently destroys your profitability.
Job Costing: Knowing Your True Cost Per Job
Job costing tracks every dollar spent on every job so you know which work makes money and which work drains it. Here is how to set it up.
Understanding Gross Margin: The Number That Determines Survival
Gross margin is the single most important number in your business. Learn how to calculate it, track it, and use it to make better decisions.
Raising Your Prices: When, How, and What to Say
A practical guide to implementing price increases without losing your best clients, including scripts, timing, and common mistakes to avoid.
Pricing for Service Businesses: Hourly, Flat Rate, and Retainer Models
Compare the three core pricing models for service businesses and learn which one fits your trade, your clients, and your growth goals.
Competitive Pricing Analysis: Research Without a Race to the Bottom
Learn how to research competitor pricing, position yourself strategically, and avoid the trap of always being the cheapest option.
Value-Based Pricing: Charging What the Work Is Worth
Stop anchoring prices to your costs. Learn to price based on the outcome and value your customer receives.
Cost-Plus Pricing: The Foundation Most Businesses Get Wrong
Learn how to calculate your true costs and apply the right markup so every job covers overhead and generates real profit.
KPI Dashboards: The Numbers You Should See Every Morning
How to build a KPI dashboard that gives you a real-time view of business health so you can spot problems early and make decisions with confidence.
Building Customer Service Systems That Scale
How to create repeatable customer service processes that deliver a consistent experience as your business grows beyond what you can personally oversee.
Workspace and Facility Planning: Home Office to Commercial Lease
A step-by-step guide for deciding when and how to move from a home office to commercial space, including lease negotiation, buildout, and cost analysis.
Supply Chain Resilience: Planning for Disruptions
How to build a supply chain that survives vendor failures, material shortages, price spikes, and global disruptions without sinking your business.
Project Management for Small Business Owners
Core project management skills for small business owners who need to deliver work on time and on budget without a dedicated PM team.
Scheduling and Dispatch Optimization for Service Businesses
How to schedule crews, dispatch work, and manage capacity so you maximize billable hours and minimize windshield time.
Quality Control: Consistency Without Micromanaging
How to build quality control systems that deliver consistent results without requiring you to inspect every piece of work personally.
Fleet and Equipment Management: Buy, Lease, or Rent?
A decision framework for acquiring and maintaining vehicles and equipment, including when to buy, lease, or rent, and how to manage what you already have.
Inventory Management for Small Business
Practical strategies for tracking, ordering, and optimizing inventory so you never run out of critical materials or tie up cash in dead stock.
Vendor Management: Negotiating, Evaluating, and Protecting Yourself
How to select reliable vendors, negotiate better terms, build strategic relationships, and protect your business when a supplier lets you down.
Process Improvement: Finding and Fixing Bottlenecks
A practical guide to identifying inefficiencies in your business processes and implementing improvements that save time, money, and frustration.
Writing SOPs: Document Your Business Before It's Too Late
Learn how to create standard operating procedures that capture institutional knowledge, ensure consistency, and let your business run without you in the room.
Understanding CAC and Lifetime Value (LTV)
A practical guide to calculating customer acquisition cost and lifetime value, the two metrics that determine whether your business is building wealth or just staying busy.
Measuring Marketing ROI: What's Working and What Isn't
How to track, measure, and optimize your marketing spend so you know exactly which channels generate leads and revenue -- and which ones waste your money.
Branding on a Budget: Logo, Website, and Identity Essentials
How to build a professional brand identity for your small business without spending thousands -- covering logos, websites, vehicle wraps, and consistent visual identity.
Customer Reviews and Online Reputation Management
How to systematically generate positive reviews, respond to negative ones, and manage your online reputation across Google, Yelp, and other platforms.
Social Media for Small Business: What Works and What's a Waste
An honest assessment of which social media platforms actually generate results for service businesses, how to use them efficiently, and what to avoid.
Building a Referral System That Runs Without You
How to create a structured referral program that turns satisfied customers into a consistent, low-cost lead generation engine for your small business.
Email Marketing: Building a List That Actually Converts
How to build an email list, write emails people actually open, and use email marketing to turn past customers into repeat buyers and referral sources.
Content Marketing: Building Authority Without a Big Budget
How small business owners can use content -- blog posts, videos, project showcases -- to build trust, improve SEO, and generate leads without spending thousands.
Paid Advertising: Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and Where to Start
A practical breakdown of paid advertising platforms for small businesses, including budget guidance, platform selection, and how to avoid wasting money on ads that do not convert.
Local SEO: How to Rank in Your Service Area
A practical guide to local search engine optimization for contractors and service businesses who want to appear at the top of Google when local customers are searching.
Google Business Profile: The Free Tool That Drives Local Leads
How to claim, optimize, and leverage your Google Business Profile to appear in local search results and generate leads without spending a dime on ads.
Marketing Fundamentals for Small Business Owners
A no-nonsense guide to understanding marketing strategy, channels, and budgeting for contractors and small business owners who need results without wasting money.
Environmental Regulations Affecting Small Business
Learn which federal and state environmental regulations apply to your small business, how to comply with waste disposal and emissions rules, and how to avoid costly penalties.
ADA and Accessibility Compliance for Small Business
Understand your obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act, including physical accessibility requirements and digital accessibility standards for your website.
Dispute Resolution: Mediation, Arbitration, and When to Sue
Understand your options for resolving business disputes, from informal negotiation to formal litigation, and learn which approach fits different situations.
Commercial Lease Review: What to Negotiate Before Signing
Know what to look for and negotiate in a commercial lease before you commit. This guide covers key lease terms, hidden costs, and negotiation strategies for small business tenants.
Independent Contractor vs. Employee: Classification Rules and Risks
Understand the legal tests for classifying workers as employees or independent contractors, the consequences of misclassification, and how to structure compliant working relationships.
Data Privacy: GDPR, CCPA, and Small Business Obligations
Learn what GDPR, CCPA, and other data privacy laws require of small businesses, and how to implement practical data protection measures without breaking the bank.
Regulatory Compliance: Federal, State, and Industry-Specific
Navigate the complex web of federal, state, and industry-specific regulations that small businesses must comply with to avoid penalties and operate legally.
Terms of Service and Privacy Policies: What You Need Online
Understand why your business website needs terms of service and a privacy policy, what each document should contain, and how to stay compliant with current regulations.
Intellectual Property: Trademarks, Copyrights, and Patents
Understand the three main types of intellectual property protection available to small businesses and how to use them to safeguard your brand, content, and inventions.
Contract Essentials: What Every Business Agreement Needs
Learn the key elements every business contract must include, common pitfalls to avoid, and when you need a lawyer to review your agreements.
Business Licenses and Permits: What You Need Before You Operate
A practical guide to identifying and obtaining the federal, state, and local licenses and permits your small business needs to operate legally.
Mentorship and Advisory Boards: Getting Guidance Without Giving Up Control
Learn how to find the right mentors, structure an advisory board, and get expert guidance that accelerates your growth without surrendering decision-making authority.
Burnout Prevention: Sustaining Yourself as a Business Owner
Burnout is not a badge of honor. Learn to recognize the warning signs, build sustainable work habits, and protect the energy that your business depends on.
Conflict Resolution in Small Teams
Conflict in a small team can poison the entire business. Learn how to address it directly, resolve it fairly, and prevent it from recurring.
Communication and Transparency: What to Share and When
Learn how to build trust through open communication without oversharing or creating unnecessary anxiety among your team, clients, and partners.
Building a Leadership Team: Your First Key Hires
You cannot scale alone. Learn how to identify, hire, and develop the leadership team that will take your business from founder-dependent to founder-led.
Managing Through Crisis: Playbook for When Everything Goes Wrong
A step-by-step guide for leading your business through emergencies, downturns, and unexpected disasters -- without making things worse.
Time Management: Protecting Your Highest-Value Hours
Your time is your scarcest resource. Learn how to audit where it goes, eliminate low-value work, and build a schedule that reflects your real priorities.
Decision-Making Frameworks for Business Owners
Stop agonizing over decisions. Learn proven frameworks that help you make faster, better choices -- even when the information is incomplete.
Delegation: What to Let Go Of and How
A practical system for identifying which tasks to delegate, how to hand them off effectively, and how to build trust without losing quality.
Owner vs. Operator: Getting Out of the Day-to-Day
Learn the critical difference between owning a business and operating one, and build a concrete plan to extract yourself from daily operations so you can focus on growth.
Bonding and Surety: Requirements for Contractors and Service Businesses
Understand the difference between insurance and surety bonds, the types of bonds contractors and service businesses need, how to qualify, and what happens when a bond claim is filed.
Risk Assessment Framework for Small Business
A practical framework for identifying, analyzing, and prioritizing business risks. Learn how to build a risk register, score threats by likelihood and impact, and create mitigation strategies that fit a small business budget.
Business Continuity Planning: Surviving Disasters and Disruptions
A step-by-step guide to creating a business continuity plan that keeps your company operating through natural disasters, cyberattacks, pandemics, supply chain failures, and other major disruptions.
Key Person Insurance: Protecting Against the Loss of Critical People
Learn how key person insurance works, who should be covered, how to determine coverage amounts, and why small businesses are especially vulnerable to losing their most important contributors.
Cyber Liability Insurance: Protecting Against Data Breaches
Understand what cyber liability insurance covers, why small businesses are prime targets for cyberattacks, and how to choose the right policy to protect against data breaches and digital threats.
Business Owner's Policy (BOP): Bundled Coverage Explained
Understand what a Business Owner's Policy bundles together, who it is designed for, and how it compares to purchasing individual policies. Learn whether a BOP is the right fit for your business.
Commercial Property Insurance: Protecting Physical Assets
A practical guide to commercial property insurance for small business owners, covering what qualifies as insurable property, policy types, valuation methods, and how to avoid gaps in coverage.
Professional Liability (E&O) Insurance: Who Needs It
Learn what professional liability insurance covers, which industries require it, and how errors and omissions policies protect service-based businesses from client claims.
General Liability Insurance: What It Covers and What It Doesn't
Understand what general liability insurance actually protects your business from, where the coverage gaps are, and how to avoid common mistakes when purchasing a policy.
HR Compliance Checklist: Federal and State Requirements
A comprehensive checklist of federal and state HR compliance requirements for small businesses -- covering hiring, payroll, workplace safety, anti-discrimination, and record-keeping.
Workers' Comp and Unemployment Insurance: What You Must Carry
A plain-English guide to workers' compensation and unemployment insurance requirements for small business owners -- what you must carry, what it costs, and how to manage claims.
Employee Retention: Why People Leave and How to Keep Your Best
Practical retention strategies for small businesses -- addressing the real reasons employees quit and what you can do about each one without a Fortune 500 budget.
Building Workplace Culture When You Have Under 50 People
How to intentionally build a strong workplace culture in a small business -- without the corporate culture playbook that doesn't apply to you.
Firing and Termination: Doing It Right, Legally and Humanely
How to terminate an employee the right way -- covering legal requirements, documentation, the termination conversation, and protecting your business from wrongful termination claims.
Performance Management: Reviews, Feedback, and Accountability
How to run a practical performance management system for a small business -- from setting expectations to giving honest feedback to handling underperformers.
Creating an Employee Handbook That Protects You and Your Team
How to write an employee handbook that sets clear expectations, communicates policies, and provides legal protection -- without sounding like a corporate robot.
Compensation and Benefits: What Small Businesses Can Offer
How to build a competitive compensation package when you can't match corporate salaries -- including pay structures, affordable benefits, and creative perks that actually matter.
Onboarding New Hires: The First 90 Days That Determine Retention
A structured onboarding plan for small businesses that turns new hires into productive, committed team members -- covering paperwork, training, milestones, and check-ins.
Interviewing and Selection: Spotting the Right Fit
A practical framework for interviewing candidates and making hiring decisions -- including legal dos and don'ts, structured interview techniques, and red flags to watch for.
Writing Job Descriptions That Attract the Right People
How to write job postings that bring in qualified candidates instead of wasting your time -- including what to include, what to leave out, and where to post.
Hiring Your First Employee: Legal Requirements and Practical Steps
Everything you need to do before, during, and after hiring your first employee -- from getting an EIN to setting up payroll and staying compliant with federal and state law.
Adding E-Commerce to a Service Business
How service-based businesses can add e-commerce revenue streams by selling products, digital goods, or productized services online without losing focus on their core offering.
Adding Service Lines: Expanding What You Offer
How to identify, validate, and launch new service lines that complement your existing business, increase customer lifetime value, and diversify your revenue streams.
Geographic Expansion: Entering New Markets
How to expand your business into new geographic markets, from market research and regulatory compliance to go-to-market strategies and remote management.
Scaling Operations: Systems That Don't Break at 2x Volume
How to build operational systems, processes, and infrastructure that can handle double your current volume without doubling your costs or breaking under pressure.
Acquiring Competitors: Due Diligence and Integration
A practical guide to acquiring competing businesses, including how to identify targets, conduct due diligence, negotiate the deal, finance the acquisition, and integrate the businesses.
Strategic Partnerships: Growing Through Alliances
How to identify, structure, and manage strategic partnerships that create mutual value, expand your reach, and accelerate growth without the cost of doing it alone.
Licensing and White-Labeling: Growing Without More Headcount
How to grow your business through licensing your intellectual property or white-labeling your products and services, without the overhead of hiring more employees.
Franchising Your Business: Requirements, Costs, and FTC Compliance
Everything you need to know about franchising your business, including FTC Franchise Rule requirements, the Franchise Disclosure Document, costs, and whether franchising is right for your model.
Opening a Second Location: Playbook and Pitfalls
A step-by-step guide to opening a second business location, from financial readiness to site selection, staffing, and avoiding the most common expansion mistakes.
Hiring Ahead of Revenue: The Growth Gamble
Understand when hiring ahead of revenue is a calculated bet worth making and when it's a path to cash flow disaster. Includes frameworks for making the decision.
When to Scale: Signals Your Business Is Ready to Grow
Learn how to identify the financial, operational, and market signals that indicate your business is ready to scale — and the warning signs that mean you should wait.
Managing Business Debt: When to Borrow, When to Pay Down
A practical framework for deciding when to take on business debt, how to manage it effectively, and when to prioritize paying it off.
Understanding Term Sheets: What You Are Signing Away
A founder-friendly breakdown of term sheet provisions, what they mean in plain language, and which terms matter most.
Preparing Financial Projections Investors Actually Believe
Learn how to build realistic, defensible financial projections that withstand investor scrutiny and guide your business decisions.
Small Business Grants: Where to Find Free Money
A practical guide to finding and applying for small business grants from federal, state, and private sources.
Crowdfunding: Rewards, Equity, and Debt-Based Models
Understand the three types of crowdfunding, which platforms to use, and how to run a successful campaign.
Venture Capital: Is It Right for Your Business?
Understand how venture capital works, what VCs expect, and how to determine if VC funding aligns with your business goals.
Angel Investors: How to Find Them and What They Expect
Learn who angel investors are, how to connect with them, what they look for in a deal, and how to structure an angel investment.
Alternative Lending: Revenue-Based Financing, MCAs, and Online Lenders
Explore non-traditional funding options including revenue-based financing, merchant cash advances, and online lending platforms.
Bank Loans and Lines of Credit for Small Business
Understand the differences between term loans and lines of credit, how banks evaluate your application, and how to improve your chances of approval.
SBA Loans: Types, Requirements, and How to Apply
A complete guide to SBA loan programs, eligibility requirements, and the application process for small business owners.
Bootstrapping: Building a Business Without Outside Money
Learn how to launch and grow your business using personal savings, revenue, and sweat equity instead of outside funding.
Inventory Accounting: FIFO, LIFO, and What to Use
Understand inventory accounting methods, their tax implications, and how to choose the right approach for your product-based business.
Internal Controls: Protecting Your Business from Fraud and Errors
Implement basic internal controls to prevent employee theft, accounting errors, and financial mismanagement in your small business.
Working with an Accountant: What to Expect and What to Demand
Get the most from your accountant relationship by knowing what to look for, what to ask, and what level of service your business actually needs.
Financial Ratios Every Owner Should Monitor
Learn the key financial ratios that reveal your business health, profitability, and risk — and how to use them for better decisions.
Building a Budget That Actually Gets Used
Create a practical small business budget that guides your spending, reveals problems early, and does not collect dust in a drawer.
Break-Even Analysis: Knowing Your Minimum to Survive
Calculate your break-even point so you know exactly how much revenue you need to cover costs before making a single dollar of profit.
Cash Flow Management: The Number That Kills More Businesses Than Profit
Master cash flow management to ensure your business survives and thrives, even when profit looks good on paper.
Accounts Payable: Managing What You Owe Without Killing Cash Flow
Learn how to manage your business obligations strategically, maintain vendor relationships, and keep cash flow healthy without missing payments.
Accounts Receivable Management: Getting Paid Faster
Practical strategies to reduce days sales outstanding, improve collections, and stop letting unpaid invoices drain your cash flow.
Setting Up Your Chart of Accounts the Right Way
Build a chart of accounts that organizes your finances for clear reporting, easy tax prep, and better decision-making from day one.
Cash vs. Accrual Accounting: Which One and Why It Matters
Understand the difference between cash and accrual accounting methods, when to use each, and the real-world impact on your business decisions.
Reading Your Financial Statements: P&L, Balance Sheet, and Cash Flow
Understand the three core financial statements every business owner must read, interpret, and use to make better decisions.
Bookkeeping Fundamentals: What Every Owner Must Track
Learn the essential bookkeeping practices every small business owner needs to maintain accurate financial records and make informed decisions.
Starting a Nonprofit: 501(c)(3) Formation and Compliance
A step-by-step guide to forming a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization — from incorporation to IRS approval to ongoing compliance requirements.
Operating in Multiple States: Foreign Entity Registration
What you need to know about foreign entity registration when your business operates across state lines — when it is required, how to do it, and what happens if you skip it.
Converting Your Business Entity: LLC to S-Corp and Beyond
How to convert between business entity types — from simple tax elections to full structural conversions — without creating a mess.
Getting Your EIN and State Registrations
A practical walkthrough of getting your EIN from the IRS and handling state-level business registrations, tax accounts, and license requirements.
DBAs and Trade Names: When You Need Them and How to File
Everything you need to know about "doing business as" names — when they are required, how to register one, and what they do and do not protect.
Choosing Your Business Entity: A Decision Framework
A no-nonsense decision framework for choosing the right business structure — sole proprietorship, LLC, S-Corp, C-Corp, or partnership.
General vs. Limited Partnerships: Choosing the Right Structure
Understand the differences between general partnerships and limited partnerships, and figure out which one fits your business situation.
C-Corp Formation: Who It's For and How to Set It Up
A clear-eyed guide to C-Corporation formation — when double taxation makes sense, how to form one, and why most small businesses do not need one.
S-Corp Election: When It Saves You Money (and When It Doesn't)
Understand the S-Corp tax election — how it works, who benefits, when to elect, and the common traps that catch business owners off guard.
Forming an LLC: Step-by-Step for Every State
A practical, step-by-step guide to forming an LLC — from choosing a name to getting your operating agreement in place.
Sole Proprietorship: What It Is, How to Start, and When to Move On
Everything you need to know about running a sole proprietorship — the simplest business structure, its benefits, its risks, and when it's time to upgrade.
Get New Guides in Your Inbox
Subscribe to get notified when we publish new guides and resources.
Subscribe to Newsletter