Starting and Running a Business

Running a business in the United States means dealing with government at nearly every stage, from choosing a legal structure to filing taxes to complying with the rules that apply to your industry. Federal, state, and local agencies each play a role, and the requirements a business faces often depend on its size, its structure, and what it sells.

Getting set up. Before a business can operate, it typically needs to choose a legal form and register with the appropriate authorities. Business Structures and Registration covers the choices owners make early on, including how a business gets identified for tax and legal purposes.

Finding support and certification. Many owners look for programs designed to help smaller companies grow, recover from setbacks, or qualify for opportunities set aside for particular kinds of businesses. Small Business Resources covers the government programs and certifications available to entrepreneurs, including disaster assistance and options for businesses owned by underrepresented groups.

Paying and complying. Every business has to reckon with taxes and with the patchwork of rules that govern how it operates, markets itself, and treats workers. Business Taxes explains the obligations businesses owe at different levels of government, while Business Regulation covers the broader rules businesses must follow, from labeling standards to emerging oversight of new technologies. Owners weighing how they classify their workforce may also want to see how liability shifts between employees and contractors in Employee vs. Contractor: Who Pays When Your Workers Cause Damage.

Protecting ideas and covering people. Businesses that develop new products often need to think about intellectual property, as explained in The Cost of Getting a Patent: What Every Inventor Needs to Know, while employers offering benefits can look to options built for smaller companies, such as the marketplace described in Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP): Insurance for Employers.