Small Business & Self-Employment
Starting a business or working for yourself? Plain-English guides to choosing a structure and forming an LLC, licenses and permits, getting an EIN, self-employment and small-business taxes, hiring your first employee the legal way, contracts, and keeping business debts from becoming your personal problem. Formation, licensing, and many taxes vary by state and change year to year, so confirm current rules with the IRS and your state. Not legal, tax, or financial advice.
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150 guides for founders and the self-employed — starting out, business structures, licenses and permits, taxes, hiring, and contracts — across 10 topics.
Starting a Business
From idea to open, in order: the legal steps to start, whether you actually need an LLC, registering your business name and filing a DBA, getting a free EIN from the IRS, opening a business bank account, the home-based-business rules people forget, buying an existing business or a franchise, and what a freelancer really needs.
11 guides →Business Structures
Choosing how your business is legally organized: sole proprietorship, the LLC and how it protects you, how to actually form one and why even a solo owner needs an operating agreement, S-corp versus C-corp and the reasonable-salary election, partnerships, single- versus multi-member LLCs, and nonprofits.
16 guides →Licenses & Registration
The permissions and upkeep nobody warns you about: federal, state, and local business licenses and permits, a seller’s permit and collecting sales tax, professional and occupational licenses, the registered agent every entity needs, registering to do business in another state, the annual reports that keep you in good standing, and business insurance.
9 guides →Small Business Taxes
The taxes that surprise the self-employed: self-employment tax and both halves of FICA, quarterly estimated payments, 1099 versus W-2, what you can write off, the home-office deduction, how LLCs are actually taxed, the QBI deduction, recordkeeping, and paying contractors on a 1099-NEC.
27 guides →Hiring & Employees
Becoming an employer, done right: the first-hire legal checklist, classifying employees versus independent contractors, the I-9 and work eligibility, payroll taxes and withholding, whether you need workers’ comp, the free workplace posters you must display, which federal employment laws switch on at which headcount, and the special rules for hiring family and minors.
15 guides →Contracts & Running a Business
Running the business and protecting it: contract basics and what makes a deal binding, what every client or service agreement should include, website terms and privacy policies, protecting your name with a trademark, NDAs and trade secrets, getting paid when a client won’t, when business debts become your personal problem, and closing a business the right way so the fees and liability actually stop.
24 guides →Funding & Finances
The money side of a small business: how to fund it, SBA-backed loans, building business credit, business bank accounts and cards, the truth about grants, bookkeeping and cash-flow basics, accepting payments, and how to actually pay yourself.
13 guides →Self-Employment & Online Business
For freelancers, gig workers, and online sellers: when online sales trigger sales tax (economic nexus), marketplace-facilitator rules on Etsy, Amazon, and eBay, the legal side of dropshipping, cottage-food and trade licensing, gig work as a business, FTC disclosure rules for creators, and website accessibility.
13 guides →Business by Industry
The rules that actually apply to your trade: owner-operator trucking, booth rental in a salon, real estate agents, cleaning and landscaping, childcare, restaurants and food trucks, construction liens, photography and creative work, fitness, pet care, home care, and consulting.
14 guides →Buying & Selling a Business
The exit, explained before you need it: how to sell, what a business is really worth, asset sale versus stock sale, the letter of intent and purchase agreement, due diligence, earn-outs and seller financing, the tax side of a sale, and why a non-compete in a business sale is treated far more favorably than one in a job.
8 guides →Latest small business guides
- SBA Loans Explained: 7(a), 504, and Microloans
An SBA loan is a bank loan the government partially guarantees, not a grant. How 7(a), 504, and microloans differ, and how to apply.
- Marketplace Facilitator Laws: Selling on Etsy, Amazon, and eBay
Marketplace facilitator laws mean Etsy, Amazon, and eBay usually collect sales tax for you - but income tax, 1099-Ks, and gaps remain yours.
- Depreciation Basics for Small Business Owners
How depreciation, MACRS, Section 179, bonus depreciation, and the de minimis safe harbor work — and why depreciation recapture matters when you sell.
- The Tax Side of Selling Your Business
How the price gets split across asset categories on IRS Form 8594 decides how much of a business sale you actually keep.
- The Home Office Tax Deduction
Who qualifies for the home office deduction, the simplified vs. actual-expense methods, and why it doesn't automatically trigger an audit.
- Business Recordkeeping and How Long to Keep Records
IRS rules on what business records to keep and how long — 3 years as a floor, longer for payroll and property, indefinitely in some cases.