Starting Your Small Business or Side Hustle

Discussing starting a small business

11/19/20242 min read

Starting a small business or side hustle can be exciting as well as overwhelming. There are so many things that are required just to start, and even more so in 2025 based on new 2024 tax requirements, that it can be an expensive process.

I'm sure you've seen those videos on YouTube about starting a business or side hustle with little or no money. You've also probably seen videos where people claim to have made from $0 to $10,000 a month in a very short period of time - and they can show you how for a fee on their website, which in return you'll get a very vague PDF document.

So, let's list a few items of what you have to do just to get started on your small business or side hustle journey.

  • Business Checking / Savings account

  • EIN

  • A Business Plan

  • Articles of Organization

  • Business Registration and Licensing (State and Local)

  • Web hosting Company

  • Platform to build your website

  • Pay a Website Designer or purchase a template

  • Business Cards

  • An Alternate Business Phone Number

  • Professional Email Address

  • Office Suite

Right here, this list will run you about $500 to $1000 depending on the required deposit for the business checking and savings account. Upfront an Office Software Suite (Google or Microsoft) will cost $80 a year or $174.00 a year, depending on the type of services you want (booking with clients, professional chat / webcam services, etc.) - and these are the most cost effective pricing plans. A web hosting company will cost at least $100 a year plus the cost of purchasing a domain for your business (professional email address may be an additional fee). When you start adding costs of products to sell, shipping containers and other packing materials, it starts to add up.

The next thing to consider is profit. It doesn't happen overnight. Profit margins don't usually appear for the first year, to be honest. Do you have savings to cover the cost of living on top of managing your business?

I'm not trying to scare anyone, but this is a realistic point of view. On top of the finances, there has to be an onset and ongoing market study to stay on top of trends which allows you to make better decisions in an ever changing movement of supply and demand. This is where my coaching services come in handy. It's never a bad thing to ask for help.