🚀 Starting a side business: checklist

Order matters here: the boring registration and money steps come before the first client, not after, because unwinding them later costs far more than an evening now.

19 items

1. The idea tested on one real, paying customer before anything elseA business plan proves nothing. Someone actually paying for the thing does.
2. Checked whether your employment contract allows outside workSome contracts restrict working for competitors or require you to declare it. Read yours before you tell anyone.
3. A name checked for availability
4. The company name register
5. A matching domain
6. The same handle wherever your customers actually are
7. Business structure decided: sole trader or a registered companyCheck the current rules for your situation, or take advice — the right answer depends on income and risk in a way no checklist can settle for you.
8. Registered with the relevant tax authorityThere's usually a deadline from when trading starts, not from when you registered the name. Check it early.
9. A separate bank account, even as a sole traderMixing personal and business money is the single thing that makes the first tax return take three times as long.
10. Basic bookkeeping set up before the first invoice, not after ten of them
11. Prices worked out from cost and time, not guessedGuessed prices are almost always too low, and the first client sets the anchor for every one after.
12. A simple contract or terms, even one pageScope, price, payment terms and what happens if either side wants out. One page beats a handshake.
13. Insurance checked for what the work actually needsPublic liability or professional indemnity, depending on the work — check what clients expect before they ask and you don't have it.
14. An invoice template with the details it legally needsYour registration details, a sequential number, and clear payment terms — check what's required to look and be legitimate.
15. Payment terms decided and stated upfront, not negotiated per client
16. A simple way to track what's owed and by whom
17. The first invoice sent within a day of the work being doneDelay it and it becomes the thing at the bottom of a list that never gets sent.
18. A record kept of every receipt from day oneReconstructing months of expenses from memory at tax time is a way to lose money you're entitled to claim.
19. Time set aside weekly for the admin, not just the workThe invoicing and the books are what gets skipped when work is busy, which is exactly when it matters most.