For founders, small businesses and growing companies
Practical guides, independent software comparisons and free tools for founders and small business owners. We cover everything from setting up the company to hiring your team, whatever your industry.
Every part of building a business, from the first idea to staying compliant. Go straight to whatever you are working on today.
Test the idea, choose a legal structure and register the company.
Branding, website builders, hosting and no-code tools that get you live.
Reach buyers, run a sales process, sell online and look after customers.
Banking, payments, bookkeeping, invoicing, tax and cash flow.
Recruiting, hiring abroad, payroll and the tools that run a team.
Insurance, contracts, filings and security that keep you in good standing.
Guide · Proposals and scheduling
Founders should close the first 10 to 20 customers themselves, in protected weekly blocks for prospecting, calls, follow-ups and a pipeline review. Write the process down as you go. Hire salespeople once deals follow a pattern you can teach, and hire two rather than one.
· 9 min read
Guide · Compliance and filings
A single-member LLC owned by a non-US person files Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120 every year, by fax or mail, due April 15 for a calendar year. Putting money in or taking it out counts as a reportable transaction, so almost every such LLC has to file. Missing it costs $25,000.
· 7 min read
Guide · Branding and design
A name that's free in your state can still infringe a trademark, and a federal trademark application costs $350 per class of goods or services. Check the USPTO database, your state's name rules and the domain before you print anything. Here's how to clear a name, and what each registration does and doesn't protect.
· 7 min read
Guide · Collaboration and productivity
Start with a domain you control, email on that domain, a simple website, a business bank account, accounting software, a way to take payments, a CRM, shared docs, a password manager and light automation. Most have free plans that last a two-person company months. A five-person stack runs about $180 a month at list prices.
· 7 min read
Guide · Business banking
Mercury accepts US companies with founders living abroad, but may ask for proof of US business activity and can close accounts that have none. Relay asks every owner for a physical US address. Airwallex's US service needs a US principal place of business. Wise Business works alongside any of them for currency. Here's how to choose.
· 7 min read
Guide · Cross-border payments
If Stripe doesn't serve your country, you either form a US company and open a US Stripe account, or sell through a merchant of record such as Paddle, Lemon Squeezy or Stripe Managed Payments, which charge around 5% or more but take on sales tax and VAT. Here's how the three routes compare.
· 7 min read
How many months your cash lasts, when it runs out, and whether you reach profit first.
What Deel and Remote charge each month for employees and contractors in other countries.
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