Legal and money basics

This lesson is the unglamorous plumbing. None of it should delay your first outreach, and all of it should exist by the time real money flows. Standard disclaimer: this is orientation, not legal or tax advice. Rules vary by state and country, and one short conversation with a local accountant is worth the fee.

When to form the LLC

The honest answer: you can send outreach, take discovery calls, and even close your first deal as an individual. Form the entity when money is about to move, because you want the client contract and the bank account in the business's name. In the US that is typically an LLC: cheap, fast, and it separates business liability from your personal life. Most states let you file online in under an hour. Get the EIN (free, from the IRS site) the same day.

Banking: one rule

Open a separate business checking account before the first client payment, and never mix personal and business money. Every dollar in and out of the business goes through that account and your Stripe. This single habit is ninety percent of clean bookkeeping.

Bookkeeping without the drama

• Early on, a spreadsheet updated monthly is genuinely fine: date, amount, client or vendor, category.
• Categories you need: revenue, software, contractors, wholesale delivery costs, fees, everything else.
• Save a percentage of every payment for taxes in a separate savings account. Ask your accountant for the right rate; do it from client one.
• When monthly transactions get annoying to track by hand, move to proper software. Not before.

The contract that protects you

You need one services agreement template. Have a lawyer review it once, or start from a reputable template, then reuse it forever. The clauses that actually matter:

• Scope: exactly what is included, by reference to your service menu (Module 3 makes this easy).
• Payment terms: deposit before work starts, balance at launch, care plans billed monthly in advance.
• Revisions: how many rounds are included and what happens after.
• Content responsibility: what the client must provide and by when, and that delays on their side move the timeline.
• Ownership: the client owns their site and content after final payment. You keep the right to show the work in your portfolio.
• Termination: either side can exit care plans with thirty days notice. No hostages.