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Work through it in six phases: decide (service, area, name), make it legal (state filing or DBA, free IRS EIN, business bank account, licenses), protect it (insurance, contracts), price it (costs, minimums, price sheet), make it findable (domain, business email, phone, website, Google Business Profile, CRM with invoices and online payments), then find the first customers. Each phase depends on the one before it.
Key takeaways
- Check the name against your state's business database and domain availability before filing anything.
- File the LLC first, then the EIN, then the bank account. The IRS warns that applying before the state filing can delay your EIN.
- Insurance certificates get requested early. Have one ready before your first commercial client asks.
- Your phone number and domain outlive your logo, your truck and your first website. Own both.
- Set up the CRM before job one so every customer is captured from the start.
This is the short version: every task, in sequence, with one line on why it sits where it does. If you want the reasoning behind each step, our full guide to starting a service business has it. Print this one, tape it inside the truck door and cross things off.
A caution before you start: business registration, tax and licensing rules are set state by state and sometimes city by city. This checklist is general information and not legal or tax advice. Where a step involves a law, confirm the specifics with your state or a professional.
Phase 1: decide what you are selling
| # | Task | Why now |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Write one sentence: the service, the customer, the towns. | Every later choice (name, equipment, website) follows from it. |
| 2 | Pick a service area you can drive in under 30 minutes. | Tight routes keep fuel and windshield time down while you are small. |
| 3 | Shortlist three names. | Your first choice is often taken somewhere. |
| 4 | Search each name in your secretary of state's business database. | The SBA notes most states won't register a name someone else already registered. |
| 5 | Check the .com for each name and search Google Maps for it locally. | A name that matches a competitor down the road will split your calls and reviews. |
| 6 | Register the domain the same day you choose the name. | Per the SBA, once a domain is registered, nobody else can use it for as long as the owner keeps it. |
Keep the name easy to say on the phone and easy to spell from a truck wrap. Avoid towns in the name if you might expand, and avoid initials nobody will remember.
Phase 2: make it legal
| # | Task | Why now |
|---|---|---|
| 7 | Choose sole proprietor or LLC (talk to an accountant if unsure). | It decides what you file next. |
| 8 | Name a registered agent for the LLC. | The SBA says you need one in your state before you file. |
| 9 | File the LLC with your state, or file a DBA if you trade under a name that is not your own. | The IRS says to form the entity first or your EIN application may be delayed. |
| 10 | Get an EIN directly from IRS.gov. | It is free, takes one online session, and the bank will ask for it. |
| 11 | Open a business checking account. | The SBA says separate business funds give limited personal liability protection, and clean books save tax-season pain. |
| 12 | Check state, county and city licenses and permits for your trade. | Requirements depend on the work and the location. |
| 13 | Register for state tax accounts if your state taxes your service or you plan to hire. | Sales tax and payroll registration come before the first taxable invoice or paycheck. |
| 14 | Set up bookkeeping (software or a bookkeeper). | Starting clean is easier than cleaning up later. |
Two federal facts that trip people up. First, the IRS states plainly that an EIN costs nothing, so a site billing you for one is a middleman you can skip. Our EIN walkthrough shows the real application. Second, FinCEN's beneficial ownership page says a final rule issued in August 2026 made permanent the exemption it first introduced in March 2025: U.S. companies are no longer required to file beneficial ownership (BOI) reports. FinCEN also says there is no fee to file BOI directly with it and that it does not send letters asking for payment to file, so ignore any mailer that demands a paid BOI filing for your new LLC.
On structure, our LLC vs sole proprietor comparison covers liability, taxes and paperwork in plain terms, and the business bank account guide lists what the bank will ask for.
Phase 3: protect the business
| # | Task | Why now |
|---|---|---|
| 15 | Buy general liability insurance. | Customers and property managers ask for proof before you start. |
| 16 | Ask your agent about commercial auto. | The NAIC warns that a personal auto policy may exclude business-related liability. |
| 17 | Ask your agent how tools and equipment are covered at home, in the truck and on the job. | Personal homeowners and renters policies usually cap business property low (see below). |
| 18 | Line up workers' compensation before your first hire. | The NAIC says most states require it even if you have only one employee. |
| 19 | Save a certificate of insurance PDF you can send in minutes. | Commercial jobs stall waiting on it. |
| 20 | Write a one-page service agreement and quote terms. | Scope, payment terms, cancellations and what is not included, in writing. |
The NAIC's small business guide puts the usual cap for business property under a personal homeowners or renters policy at $2,500 at home and $250 off the premises. If your pressure washer, mowers or ladders live in the garage, that number matters. Have a lawyer review your service agreement once; you will reuse it for years. Our contractor insurance guide explains each policy.
Phase 4: price it
| # | Task | Why now |
|---|---|---|
| 21 | List monthly overhead: insurance, phone, software, vehicle, website, storage. | Every job must carry a share of it. |
| 22 | Pick a real hourly wage for yourself. | Pricing as if your own labor were free is a classic early mistake. |
| 23 | Estimate billable hours per month honestly (drive time is not billable). | Overhead per hour depends on it. |
| 24 | Build a cost-per-hour number and add profit. | That is your floor. |
| 25 | Check local market prices. | Price to the market if it sits above your floor. |
| 26 | Set a minimum charge. | Small jobs still cost a full drive. |
| 27 | Write a one-page price sheet with your common jobs. | Faster quotes, consistent prices across the crew. |
Our job pricing guide runs the math on a sample company, line by line.
Phase 5: make it findable and easy to pay
| # | Task | Why now |
|---|---|---|
| 28 | Get a dedicated business phone number. | It goes on the truck, the cards and the website. Changing it later costs calls. |
| 29 | Turn on voicemail transcription and missed-call text back. | You will be on a ladder when the best lead calls. |
| 30 | Set up email on your domain with SPF, DKIM and DMARC. | Gmail requires SPF or DKIM from every sender, and says authenticated mail is less likely to be rejected or marked as spam. |
| 31 | Launch a website: services, area, photos, quote form, phone number. | It is where a customer checks you out before calling. |
| 32 | Create and verify your Google Business Profile, with your address hidden if customers do not visit you. | That is how you appear in Maps and local results. |
| 33 | Set up a CRM with your services and price sheet loaded. | Every lead, quote, job and invoice lives in one place. |
| 34 | Connect online payments (card and bank) to your invoices. | Customers pay from the invoice link; you stop chasing checks. |
| 35 | Create a review request message to send after every job. | Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help your local ranking, and new customers read them. |
Two rules for this phase. Every account (domain, website hosting, phone, Business Profile, payment processor, CRM) is opened in the company's name with an email you control. And everything connects: the website form and the phone line both feed the CRM, and the CRM sends the invoice with the payment link. When pieces do not talk to each other, leads fall through the gaps.
This is the work we do every day. We set up business phone systems, email on your domain, websites and a CRM with online payments, all in your name.
Phase 6: the first customers
- Tell 30 people you know, individually, what you do and where. Ask who they know who needs it.
- Post once in local community groups with a photo of your own work and your booking link.
- Leave a door hanger at the five houses on either side of every job.
- Introduce yourself to two or three businesses that see your customers first (property managers, realtors, related trades).
- Log every lead in the CRM with its source, even the ones that do not book.
- Send a review request the day each job finishes.
- Book the next visit, or set a reminder for next season, before you leave the driveway.
Lead marketplaces can fill gaps, but read the terms. Angi's FY2025 10-K describes match fees owed even when the pro never does the work, and Thumbtack's own rules let a searcher contact as many as five companies before the four-hour mark, and more after it (Thumbtack adds that customers usually reach out to fewer). You are paying to compete for someone else's customer. Use them, if at all, as a bridge while your own channels grow.
The final check before you open
Before you take the first paid job, you should be able to answer yes to each of these:
- Is the business registered (or am I clearly operating under my own name)?
- Do I have an EIN and a business bank account?
- Have I checked the license and permit rules for this work in this city and state?
- Am I insured, and can I send a certificate today?
- Do I know my cost per hour and my minimum charge?
- Do my phone number, email address and website all show the same company name?
- Can a customer pay me by card from an invoice?
- Will this customer end up in my CRM with a note on where they came from?
If any answer is no, fix that first. If they are all yes, you are open for business. If you want a second set of eyes on the systems part, our free system quote reviews your phone, website, profile and lead flow, and the start a company hub collects every guide in this series.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to start a service business?
It depends on the trade, your state's filing fees and your equipment. The SBA notes that registration typically costs less than $300; equipment and insurance are often the larger costs. Get quotes for both before you commit.
Can I do these steps out of order?
Some, yes. The part that must stay in order is forming the LLC before applying for the EIN, and having both before opening the bank account, because each step asks for the one before it.
Do I need a website if I have a Google Business Profile?
Yes. The profile gets you seen in Maps, but customers click through to check you out, and a website is the one place you control the whole message and the quote form.
What should I set up first, the CRM or the website?
The CRM, if you must choose. You can take your first jobs from referrals without a website, but every customer should be captured from day one so you can rebook and ask for reviews.
Sources
- IRS: Get an employer identification number
- SBA: Choose your business name (entity names and domain names)
- SBA: Register your business (registered agent, costs)
- SBA: Choose a business structure
- SBA: Apply for licenses and permits
- SBA: Open a business bank account
- FinCEN: Beneficial ownership information reporting (updated August 2026)
- NAIC: Small business insurance
- Google Business Profile guidelines
- Google Business Profile Help: Tips to improve your local ranking on Google
- Gmail Help: Email sender guidelines
- Angi Inc. Form 10-K for FY2025, SEC
- Thumbtack: Quality commitment
General information for service-business owners, not legal, tax or financial advice. Rules vary by state; check with a qualified professional for your situation.