Thinking about starting your own consulting business? Have you decided that you've thought about it for long enough and you're ready to jump in? You're excited and want to form your company right away. CEO? President? Founder? You've picked your title, company name and maybe you have a partner. So why not go ahead and incorporate? Because you don't have a client yet.
You believe that you have to form a company, have a logo, business cards and a sharp website to open the doors and get clients. You are now official but maybe it takes 6 months to get a client and meanwhile during that 6 months a calender year ended and you have to file taxes and pay fees without any revenue. In doing so you've invested time and money upfront that could have been dedicated to getting your first client.
So, do the research and figure out the quickest process for and fees involved in incorporating in your state (can be expedited for 1 week turnaround) and how you can file for the company name to be placed on hold. Have a business insurance company lined up--in most cases it only takes a day or two to get your company insured. Get that first client then pull the trigger.
Gotta bill first to be able to keep on billing.