Image: Aleksi Tappura / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
The first ninety days of a new business are a strange mix of excitement and paperwork. You want to build the product, talk to customers and make the first sale. Meanwhile, a list of setup tasks keeps growing: forming the entity, getting a tax ID, opening a bank account, registering for state taxes, checking licenses, buying insurance and figuring out how to keep the books. Miss one of these and it rarely causes trouble right away. It shows up months later as a penalty notice, a frozen payment processor account or a tax season mess.
A well-organized set of bookmarks will not do the work for you, but it shortens every task. Instead of searching from scratch each time a question comes up, you know exactly where to look. The twelve bookmarks below are grouped roughly in the order most founders need them, from legal setup through money, protection and support. Rules vary by state, country and industry, so treat this as a map and confirm the details for your location.
1. Your State’s Secretary of State Business Portal
This is usually the first official stop. Your state’s business filing office (most often the Secretary of State) is where you form an LLC or corporation, register a trade name in some states and file annual or biennial reports. The portal also has a business name search, which you should use before you fall in love with a name. Bookmark the page for annual report deadlines specifically, because missing one can cause your entity to fall out of good standing, a problem that can block bank loans and contracts later.
2. The IRS EIN Application Page
Most businesses with employees, and all corporations and multi-member LLCs, need an Employer Identification Number. Many single-member businesses get one anyway because banks and clients often ask for it, and using it instead of your Social Security number on forms reduces exposure of personal information. The IRS offers the application free of charge online. Be careful of third-party sites that charge a fee to file this for you; the official application costs nothing.
3. SBA.gov Business Guide
The U.S. Small Business Administration’s business guide walks through planning, launching, managing and growing a company. For a first-time founder, its value is in the checklist it provides. Reading the launch section helps you spot steps you had not considered, such as registering with state agencies or understanding federal licensing requirements in regulated industries. It also explains SBA-backed loan programs and other support, which is good to know about even if you are not borrowing yet.
4. Your City and County Licensing Office
Local requirements are where many founders slip. Depending on where you operate and what you do, you may need a general business license, a home occupation permit, a zoning approval, a health permit or a sign permit. Your city or county website usually lists these, though finding the right page can take some digging. Bookmark it once you find it, and note renewal dates, since many local licenses renew annually.
5. Your State Department of Revenue
If you sell taxable goods or services, you will likely need to register to collect sales tax. If you hire employees, you will need to register for state payroll withholding and unemployment insurance (sometimes through a separate labor or workforce agency). Your state revenue department’s site explains registration and filing schedules. Bookmark the login page for your account once you register, because you will be filing returns there regularly, sometimes even when you have no sales to report.
6. USPTO Trademark Search
Before you print signage, build a website or order packaging, search the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s trademark database for conflicts with your business or product name. A name that is available as a domain or an LLC may still infringe on someone else’s registered trademark. The USPTO also publishes educational material explaining what makes a mark strong and how the registration process works. Even if you are not ready to file, a quick search now can save a painful rebrand later.
7. GrowBizLab
Official portals tell you what to file; they rarely explain how the pieces fit together or which decisions matter most for a business your size. GrowBizLab publishes practical guides for founders and small business owners across business setup and legal topics, finance and software. In the first ninety days, that kind of connected explanation helps with decisions like choosing an entity, understanding what business insurance covers, building business credit and setting up a business bank account. When you hit a question that the government sites answer only in formal terms, you can explore more of its Business Setup and Legal guides for a plainer walkthrough.
It is also useful once the legal setup is done and you shift to operations. Guides on cash flow, tax deductions, contracts and project management software cover the questions that tend to pop up in month two and three, when the first clients arrive and the admin starts piling up. Bookmark this resource alongside your official portals so you have both the rules and the practical context in one place.
8. Your Business Bank’s Account and Online Banking Pages
Opening a separate business bank account is one of the most important early steps. It keeps personal and business money apart, which simplifies bookkeeping, makes tax time easier and helps support the liability protection your entity is meant to provide. Compare fees, minimum balance requirements, transaction limits and integrations with accounting software before choosing. Once your account is open, bookmark the online banking login and set up alerts for low balances and large transactions.
9. Your Bookkeeping Software’s Setup Guide
Whether you choose a full accounting platform or a simpler tool, spend an hour with its setup guide before you start entering transactions. Setting up your chart of accounts, connecting your bank feed and creating categories that match how you will report taxes will make every month easier. Many providers also offer free training videos. Clean books from day one are far cheaper than a cleanup project at year-end.
10. Your State Insurance Department’s Consumer Pages
Business insurance can feel optional until something goes wrong. Depending on your state and situation, some coverage, such as workers’ compensation once you have employees, may be required. Your state insurance department typically publishes consumer guides explaining types of business coverage, how to verify that an agent or insurer is licensed and how to file a complaint. Use those pages to educate yourself before talking to a broker, so you can ask sharper questions about general liability, professional liability and property coverage.
11. SCORE Mentoring
SCORE offers free mentoring from experienced business people, along with workshops and templates. For a first-time founder, a mentor’s biggest contribution is perspective. They can tell you which tasks are urgent and which can wait, review your pricing, and help you think through your first hires or contracts. Booking a session in your first month, even before you feel ready, gives you a sounding board for the decisions that follow.
12. Your Local Small Business Development Center
Small Business Development Centers provide free one-on-one advising and low-cost training. Advisers can help with business plans, financial projections, loan applications and market research, and they know local programs that national websites miss. If your business needs financing in its first year, an SBDC adviser can help you prepare a stronger application. Bookmark your nearest center’s event calendar, too; workshops on bookkeeping, marketing and taxes are often free or inexpensive.
A 90-Day Plan for Using These Bookmarks
Here is a rough sequence many founders follow, adjusted for their own situation:
- Days 1 to 30: Check name availability and trademarks, form your entity, get an EIN, open a business bank account and set up bookkeeping software.
- Days 31 to 60: Register for state taxes, obtain local licenses and permits, review insurance options and put standard client or vendor agreements in place.
- Days 61 to 90: Build a simple cash flow forecast, schedule a mentor or SBDC session, add all filing and renewal deadlines to your calendar and review your first months of financial reports.
What Can Safely Wait
Not everything belongs in the first ninety days, and trying to do it all can stall the real work of finding customers. Unless your situation requires it, many founders reasonably postpone things like a polished brand identity, an elaborate website, a formal employee handbook, a complex software stack or a detailed five-year financial model. A clean one-page site, a simple logo, a basic forecast and a handful of standard documents are usually enough to start. The same goes for tax elections, such as whether an LLC should be taxed as an S corporation; that decision depends on your income and circumstances, and it is best made with an accountant once you have some real numbers.
What should not wait are the items with legal or financial consequences: forming the entity correctly, separating your finances, registering for the taxes you owe, getting required licenses and protecting yourself with appropriate insurance and contracts. Get those right, and the rest can grow at the pace of the business.
A few habits will keep the setup work from spiraling:
- Use only official sites for filings. Many lookalike services charge fees for free government forms.
- Keep a single compliance calendar. Annual reports, tax returns, license renewals and insurance renewals belong in one place.
- Save confirmation documents. Store formation documents, EIN letters, registrations and licenses in one secure folder.
- Ask for help early. An accountant or attorney review in month one costs far less than fixing a problem in year two.
The first ninety days set patterns that last. Organize your bookmarks, work through the setup in a sensible order and you will free up far more of your attention for the part you started the business for: building something customers want.
