questions about steps on starting your business in the USA

Hello ladies, For those who are in the US I was wondering how did you start your business.
What are the steps
I know I have to get a domain but is that registering the name or do I have to register the name 1st.
The website you can get it n one f those free website. Any suggestions?

Thank you so much!

You can get a domain anytime you want - but if you want it to match your company name and if you want to register your company name you'll have to do some searches to see if it is already in use.

All it takes to get a domain is to buy it - but it has to be available. To register a company name is a part of the legal aspect of getting a business license, etc. It may not be necessary in your jurisdiction to get a business license as not all cities/states require one for this type of business.

As for website - I'm partial to acquiring my own domain and using it rather than a free one which often is either limited or has advertising on it... also makes the address shorter if it is your own generally.

Maggie, Shannon's right, but I will add that when I was in Florida, if I used my full name in my business name, I didn't have to pay the extra $50 to register a name. My business license was super simple to get. I just went to the tax office with my ID and paid $50 to get it. Also using your name allows for various changes in your business through the years without various name changes. I wanted my website to be whitneymyers.com, but unfortunately there is a famous Olympian that I share my name with who has already taken that domain. If you search my name, you get pages and pages on her. But the point is, whitneymyers.com is just my name and doesn't specify services so those could change frequently if I pleased. Not to mention, it is part of establishing a "name" in the industry. Have fun. It's a super easy process and I'm really happy I did it.

Thanks so much for all your help, I really appreciate.
Funny you mentioned but I want mi business name to be maggie plummer then I'll add face and body art or face painting when I build my site. It is simple and people will have better chance remember me by my name.

So, how do you know some one else has that name, when I check it out on godaddy maggieplummer.com is available. But where do you check if some one else already registered that name.

So who do you recommend for a website?

If godaddy says it's available, then it's available.

Thank you Whitney!

Maggie thanks for posting this!..i was just talking to my boyfriend about this and i just had ideas and alot of questions!

Shannon..after reading one of your comments on another topic i decided to google you and just like you said you were the first one..i loved how you had your name as your domain.

Whitney you wrote what i was just telling my bf lastnight..i told him i would love to get my name (like shannon) as my domain...my name is Abril Danini ....and well even though alot of people dont get the spelling right i dont think there are many if any other like me (well with the same name) ...i love face painting..i love events..anything that has to do with bdays, weddings etc i love it!...flower arrangements, decorations..well everything!...and i did tell him that i think having my name as domain would pretty much establish my name plus give "freedom" ,as you said, to change my services without changing my whole website/business.
...I posted in another topic that i wasnt sure about a name for my website because i didnt want to have a just facepainting.com when i can do flower arrangements..center pieces...bdays/wedding decorations etc. (which i would love to offer as well).

About a bus. lic. i have nooo idea! i started this as a hobby but im loving it..all i know is thanks to this forum! ...and pretty much my "business plan" is written down in my notebook hehe....i dont want to rush things..baby steps, baby steps...but i definitely want to be ready when the right time comes!

If any of the ISPs say that a domain is available then it is... but beware. Once you have done a search on some of those services it can suddenly become "owned but for sale" meaning someone bought it and then they will sell it to you!!

So... don't get carried away checking for available domain names until you have your first choice figured out and THEN search and buy.

Some people also buy multiple domains and just hold onto them using them to redirect traffic to their main site or just to stop others from using similar names. I know of people who have bought several to use.

If I were you, I'd buy up the most common mis-spellings of your name too. You can just point them all to the same site.