How to start a company from scratch: the order I'd follow today

Search for how to start a company and almost everything you find is about paperwork.

Registering. Tax. Legal structure. Lawyers.

All of that is necessary. But it isn't first.

First is having someone who'll pay you.

The order I'd follow

1. A problem you know up close

Not a brilliant idea. A problem you've seen with your own eyes, that happens to specific people and that you could explain in one sentence.

2. A first person willing to pay

Before any paperwork, find someone who says "yes, I'll pay you for this". Even if it's a small amount. Even if it's a trial.

That first "yes" is worth more than any business plan.

3. The simplest version of what you sell

A service. Something done by hand. The minimum that solves the problem.

You don't need a perfect website, a logo or an office. You need to deliver.

4. Now the paperwork

Once there's revenue, it's time to make it official. For most people, at the start, registering as self-employed is the simplest route. Later, as it grows, a company structure makes sense.

That's how we did it: first self-employed, then a partnership, then a limited company. Each step when it was needed, not before.

Here, a good accountant is worth every cent. Don't try to save on that.

5. Clear numbers from month one

What comes in. What goes out. How much you need to bill so you don't lose money.

You don't need complex software. You need to look at it every month.

6. Repeat what works

The first customer teaches you. The second and third show you what repeats. And what repeats is what you turn into a business.

A company isn't created at the registry. It's created the day someone pays you for the first time.

What I wouldn't do

• Spend on branding before having customers. The logo can wait.
• Rent an office to feel like a company. A company isn't a place.
• Build the whole product before selling. First the "yes", then the product.
• Do everything alone forever. A good partner, a good accountant and good customers multiply what you can do.

Write down what you want it to become

One last piece of advice, before you sign anything: write down on one page what you want your company to be in five years.

Big or small? With you in it or running without you? To live well from, or to sell?

There's no right answer. But if it's written down, every decision in the early years gets easier.

P.S. I wrote about this in more detail in write down what your company should become before you sign anything.