Get your business ready to take customers.
A free six-step guide for solo professionals and local service businesses. Follow it yourself, or have Elon Pope personally install and test the entire system.
How to use this
- Open a card to see the steps for it.
- Arrows, arrow keys or swipe to move along.
- Go in order. Each step needs the one before it.
Free, no sign up. Educational information only, not advice.
How to set it up · 1 of 11
Go to 1password.com and click Get 1Password.
How to set it up · 2 of 11
Choose the Individual plan. Not family, not business.
How to set it up · 3 of 11
Type in your email. They send a code. Enter it.
How to set it up · 4 of 11
They hand you a Secret Key, a long code. Do not screenshot it and do not email it to yourself. An inbox is the first place an attacker looks.
How to set it up · 5 of 11
Use their own Emergency Kit instead. Download the PDF they offer, print it, and put the paper somewhere you keep important documents. A safe, a locked drawer, a fireproof box.
How to set it up · 6 of 11
If you lose that key and your password, nobody on earth can get you back in. That is the point of it, and it is why the paper copy matters.
How to set it up · 7 of 11
Create your one master password. Make it a sentence you will never forget.
How to set it up · 8 of 11
On your phone, install the app from the app store and sign in.
How to set it up · 9 of 11
On your computer, install the browser extension and sign in.
How to set it up · 10 of 11
Turn on Face ID or fingerprint on the phone so you are not typing it all day.
How to set it up · 11 of 11
Save one login into it right now, so you have used it once.
When you are done
Every login lives in one place and works on all your devices.
What it costs
The personal plan is enough. Around $3 a month at the time of writing. Do not buy the family or business tier yet.
Watch out for
People leave this until last. Then they have twelve passwords in a phone note and no idea which is which.
Before you start
Not every business has to form an LLC or a corporation before it can take money. Many sole proprietors trade legally under their own name. What you need depends on your state, your industry and your situation, so treat this card as the shape of the task, not as advice about your case.
How to set it up · 1 of 10
Decide which state. For most people it is the one they actually live and work in.
How to set it up · 2 of 10
Search for your state plus Secretary of State business filing. Use the official .gov site only. There are paid lookalikes that charge for the same forms.
How to set it up · 3 of 10
Search their name database for the name you want. Make sure nobody has it.
How to set it up · 4 of 10
File the formation paperwork online. It asks for the name, an address, and who is responsible.
How to set it up · 5 of 10
Pay the filing fee with a card. The amount is set by your state.
How to set it up · 6 of 10
Approval takes anywhere from the same day to several weeks, depending on the state and how busy they are.
How to set it up · 7 of 10
When it is approved, download the stamped document and save the PDF.
How to set it up · 8 of 10
Go to irs.gov and apply for an EIN online. It is free and takes about 15 minutes. Only the official IRS site is free.
How to set it up · 9 of 10
You get the number on the last screen. Save that PDF before you close the window.
How to set it up · 10 of 10
Take the stamped document, the EIN letter and your ID to a bank and open a business checking account.
Licences and registrations
Separately from all of the above, your city, county, state or industry may require a licence, a permit or a sales tax registration before you can trade. Check before you take money rather than after.
When you are done
The money lands somewhere that is not your personal account, and the business has the paperwork its bank and its payment provider will ask for.
What it costs
The state filing fee, roughly $50 to $500 depending where you live, and only if you are forming an entity. The tax ID is free. Many banks open a business account with no monthly fee, though some charge one or require a minimum balance, so read the account terms.
Watch out for
Which business type to choose is a question for an accountant or an attorney, not for me. It depends on your state, your industry and your situation.
How to set it up · 1 of 8
Go to a registrar that sells at cost. Cloudflare or Porkbun are two.
How to set it up · 2 of 8
Make an account there first, and save the login in your password app. That account is how you control the domain, so protect it like a bank login and turn on two-factor.
How to set it up · 3 of 8
Search the name you want. Try .com before anything else.
How to set it up · 4 of 8
If it is taken, do not buy a strange spelling. Add your city or what you do instead.
How to set it up · 5 of 8
Add it to the cart and decline every add-on. Privacy protection is free at some registrars and charged at others.
How to set it up · 6 of 8
Pay for it. One year is fine.
How to set it up · 7 of 8
Turn on auto-renew before you close the tab, and keep a working card on the account. A lapsed domain is a dead business.
How to set it up · 8 of 8
Make sure the contact email on the registration is one you will still read in a year. Renewal notices go there.
When you are done
You control a name that your email and your website will both use.
What it costs
Around $12 a year for a .com at a registrar that sells at cost, at the time of writing. Renewal is yearly and the renewal price is not always the same as the first-year price. If someone quotes you $40, you are on the wrong site.
Watch out for
A domain is a registration, not a permanent purchase. You hold it for as long as you keep renewing it. Some sellers charge three times the going rate and add things you did not ask for.
How to set it up · 1 of 12
Go to workspace.google.com and click Get Started.
How to set it up · 2 of 12
Enter your business name, choose just you, and pick your country.
How to set it up · 3 of 12
Enter your name and a current email so they can reach you.
How to set it up · 4 of 12
When it asks about a domain, choose the option that says you already have one, and type the one you bought.
How to set it up · 5 of 12
Create your address. founder@ or your first name works.
How to set it up · 6 of 12
Choose the cheapest plan that covers one person. It does everything you need at the start.
How to set it up · 7 of 12
Google now shows you a list of records to add. Leave that tab open.
How to set it up · 8 of 12
In a second tab, sign in where you bought the domain and open its DNS settings.
How to set it up · 9 of 12
Add each record exactly as Google shows it. Copy and paste. Do not retype.
How to set it up · 10 of 12
Go back to the Google tab and click Verify.
How to set it up · 11 of 12
If it fails, wait an hour and click it again. It is usually just slow, not wrong.
How to set it up · 12 of 12
Once it verifies, go to gmail.com and sign in with your new address.
When you are done
An address that looks like a business, plus a calendar and file storage.
What it costs
About $8 a month for one person on the entry plan at the time of writing. Plan names and prices change, so check theirs before you commit.
Watch out for
The records step is where people get stuck. Changes can take a few hours to take effect. That is normal. Do not redo it.
How to set it up · 1 of 9
Go to stripe.com and click Start now.
How to set it up · 2 of 9
Sign up using the business email you made in step four.
How to set it up · 3 of 9
Enter the business details. The legal name has to match your filing exactly.
How to set it up · 4 of 9
Enter your tax ID and business address. A sole proprietor without an EIN is usually asked for a Social Security number instead.
How to set it up · 5 of 9
Enter your own details as the owner. They are legally required to ask. This is normal.
How to set it up · 6 of 9
Connect your business bank account with the routing and account number.
How to set it up · 7 of 9
In the dashboard, find Payment Links and create one. Name what you sell and set the price.
How to set it up · 8 of 9
Copy the link and open it on your phone.
How to set it up · 9 of 9
Pay yourself one dollar with your own card, then refund it. Now you know it works.
When you are done
You can charge a customer by card, today.
What it costs
Nothing to open. They keep a percentage of each payment plus a fixed fee, in the region of 3%, and the exact rate depends on the card and the country. You only pay when you get paid.
Watch out for
The first payout commonly takes a week or two while they verify the business, and some accounts are held longer. Do not plan on the money arriving Friday. Payout schedules are set by the provider and can change.
How to set it up · 1 of 7
Go to calendly.com and sign up with your business email.
How to set it up · 2 of 7
Connect the Google calendar from step four so it can see when you are already busy.
How to set it up · 3 of 7
Set your working hours. Be honest about them, not optimistic.
How to set it up · 4 of 7
Create your first event type. Name it and set the length. Thirty minutes is a good default.
How to set it up · 5 of 7
Set a buffer of fifteen minutes before and after.
How to set it up · 6 of 7
Set a minimum notice of at least four hours, so nobody books you for ten minutes from now.
How to set it up · 7 of 7
Copy the link and put it in your email signature.
When you are done
No more messaging back and forth about times.
What it costs
The free tier does everything you need at the start. Stay on it until it actually stops working for you. What the free tier includes is set by the provider and changes from time to time.
Watch out for
Without a buffer, people book you back to back with no travel time between jobs.
Elon Pope, personally.
Not an agency, not a support queue, and nobody you have not spoken to. I configure every account, connect them to each other, test them end to end, write down what I did, and hand it over on a recorded call.
Every account is created in your name, with your email and your card. On the last day you remove my access while I talk you through it.
Or I set the whole thing up for you.
You have seen all six.
Not just these six. The full stack, installed, connected and tested by Elon Pope, personally.
That is the whole free guide. If you would rather not do it yourself, Elon Pope installs the full stack personally and hands it over in two weeks.
What that means
- Everything in the six cards, done for you
- Email that lands in inboxes
- Payments, booking and calendar wired together
- A recorded walkthrough, then you take my access off
$3,750, one time. Every account is created in your name and stays yours.
What is included
Day 1 · The call
Sixty minutes together. We create the accounts that need you in the room, and you invite me into the rest.
Days 2 to 7 · The build
I do the slow parts on my own time. Domain records, email, payments, booking, all tested. No meetings for you.
Day 8 · The walkthrough
Forty five minutes, recorded. I show you every account, where it lives, and how to use it.
Day 14 · You sign off
We fix anything that broke, then you take my access off. It all stays yours.
What you end up with
A business that can take money, send email that lands in inboxes, and book its own appointments.
What I need from you
About twenty minutes before the call. Your business name, your state, and a few ideas for a web address.
The part I do not control
State filing, licences and bank appointments run on their own schedule. Everything else is on my clock.
What it costs
$3,750, one time. Every account is created in your name and stays yours.