• Your full legal business name must match exactly as listed on the corporation records including capitalization, punctuation, and abbreviation.
• Check if anyone else is using your desired name.
• Check if the matching domain name is available.
• Depending on your industry, you may not want to include the industry name in it.

• Form your company with the Secretary of State of your choosing. You can file in your state or foreign.
• Choose your entity type: LLC, S Corp, C Corp, etc. Sole Proprietor will not work.
• Establish your (EIN) Employer Identification aka Tax ID Number and match your state filings exactly.
• Be prepared to assign your "Registered Agent".

You can also file yourself through your Secretary of State and the IRS. Call (800) 829-4933 then #1, #1, #3.

• Your business must have its own phone number — a real business or VOIP number, not a mobile or home phone.
• You must have a business fax number and use that on applications when applying.
• A toll-free number is recommended versus just having a local number.

• The business needs its own physical address. Do not use a PO box or UPS box.
• A home address can work but your home will show up under your business listings including on maps.

Be sure to select a "Premium" location. Opus includes a business phone number and reports monthly payments to business credit bureaus.

• You need to select and know what your industry codes are.
• You will need this for most loan applications and to list on public records.

• Your business domain name is your piece of virtual real estate — also known as your website address.
• You must have a professional business email address @yourdomainname. Not a Yahoo or Gmail type email.
• Purchase your website domain name to match or complement your business name.
• Your website should have your company phone, fax, address, email, privacy policy, and terms of use.

• You must open a business checking account using only your business information.
• Make sure all of your business information is entered correctly when setting up your account.
• Setup an account with a bank that is business friendly and offers business products you can benefit from.

• Be sure to get the proper licensing as required for your industry and your state.
• Check any local city and county license requirements.
• Get the proper business insurance for your industry.

• Business phone number must be listed with 411 under your exact business name for public records.
• Get listed on web directories: Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Yelp, Yellow Pages, etc. At least get listed on the top 7.
• Clear your business of any tax liens, judgments, or UCC filings against your company.
• Verify your personal credit — if you have derogatory items, dispute them before hiring a credit repair person.

• Make sure all of your business information is correct before setting up your DUNS Number.
• Register your credible business with D&B as a verified business.
• Experian & Equifax business credit profiles are automatically created when an account reports to them — they can only be updated by mail.

• NAV Prime — Reports to D&B, Experian, and Equifax. Includes monitoring.
• ULINE — Reports to D&B and Experian.
• CreditStrong — Reports to Equifax only.
• Ecredable — Report business utilities and telecom payments.
• BILL Divvy Corporate Card — Rewards, expense tracking, net payment terms, and no personal credit check.