For people starting a business
Got fired?
Start your own business.
Or retired but not done working. Or just done working for someone else. Whatever brought you here — the hard part of starting a service business used to be the office: the website, the phone, getting found. That part now comes as a kit.
$297/mo, everything included · month-to-month · cancel anytime
Built by someone who started with nothing. Thad Paschallstarted Protect America out of a spare bedroom in 1992 with no outside money and, over 23 years, created more than $600 million in revenue. He knows exactly what week one feels like — his story is further down this page.
Laid off
You have a skill someone was paying for. Now customers can pay you for it directly — without the middleman who just let you go.
Retired, but not done
You don't want a boss or a 50-hour week. A small service business on your own schedule — with the office work automated — is the version that stays fun.
Done working for someone else
You've been doing the work for years while somebody else sent the invoice. The tools to run it yourself finally fit in a monthly subscription.
The checklist
How to start a business, step by step.
To start a business in the United States you pick the work you will sell, find out what your state requires to do it legally, register the business and get an EIN, open a business bank account, line up insurance, decide what you charge, set up the way customers find and reach you, and then go get the first customer. Most of that list is paperwork you do once. The last two never stop — and those are the ones we handle.
- 1
Pick the work you will sell
Start with what you already know how to do and what you own the tools for. One service done well beats a menu of five you have never charged for. If you have not landed on a trade yet, the industries list below explains what the day looks like in each one.
- 2
Find out what your state requires
Whether the work needs a license, a registration, an exam, or nothing at all varies by state and sometimes by county. Your state's licensing board publishes the real answer — start there rather than with anything you read on the internet, this page included. Our trade guides tell you which board to look at and what they usually ask for.
- 3
Register the business and pick a structure
Sole proprietor, LLC, or something else. Your Secretary of State's site lists the forms and the filing fee. We are not attorneys or accountants — an hour with one before you sign anything is time well spent, especially if you are taking on a partner.
- 4
Get your EIN from the IRS
The federal tax ID for your business. It is free, it is done online at irs.gov, and it takes a few minutes. Banks and commercial customers will ask for it.
- 5
Open a separate business bank account
Run every dollar of the business through it from the first job. Mixing it with your personal account is the single most common thing new owners regret at tax time.
- 6
Line up insurance
General liability at a minimum, plus whatever your trade and your state require. Commercial customers and property managers often ask for a certificate before they will hire you, so this one is worth handling before you quote your first job, not after.
- 7
Decide what you charge
Price off your own costs and your own time — materials, fuel, insurance, the hours the job really takes, and the hours you spend quoting it. Undercutting the cheapest person in town is the fastest way to be busy and broke.
- 8
Set up how customers find you and reach you
A website with your name, your services, and your town on it. A phone that gets answered when you are on a job. A Google Business Profile. Reviews starting from customer number one. This is the part the day-one kit handles, because it is the part that takes the longest to do alone.
- 9
Go get customer number one
Tell everyone you know what you now do. Do that first job better than it needed to be done. Ask for the review while you are still standing there. Repeat. There is no shortcut here and anyone selling you one is selling you something.
What it costs to start
It depends on the trade and the state, so anyone quoting you one number is guessing. The costs almost everybody has: your state's filing fee, any license or exam fee your trade requires, insurance, tools and a way to get to the job, and the office side — website, phone answering, booking, reviews. Your state publishes the first two. We publish ours: $297 a month for the whole office side, month-to-month.
Starting with almost no money
Some of it genuinely costs nothing — an EIN is free, and a sole proprietorship often has no filing fee. Some of it is real money you should not skip: license and exam fees where your state requires them, and insurance. The usual approach is to start with the smallest version of the work you can do with tools you already own or can rent, keep every fixed cost month-to-month so you can stop it if you need to, and add equipment as jobs pay for it.
Don't know what business to start?
Browse all 126— every one explained in plain English: what you'd actually do all day, what gear it takes, and whether licensing typically applies. No hype, no income promises. Just the honest picture, so you can find the one that fits you.
Browse all 126 business types →The day-one kit
Everything a new business needs, before the first customer.
A brand-new business and a twenty-year-old one look identical to a stranger searching on their phone — unless one of them has nothing to find. This is the part that makes day one look established: a real website, a phone that gets answered, and reviews starting to stack up from customer number one.
Your storefront, built for you
A professional website for your trade — written, designed, and launched by us in about 5 business days. You never touch a website builder.
Your phone answered while you work
You'll be on a ladder, under a sink, or with a customer. Our AI receptionist answers every call 24/7, takes the details, and books the job.
A real shot at getting found
Your site is built to be readable by Google and ChatGPT — where your first customers are already searching. No promises of rankings; a better shot at being the one they find.
Reviews from customer #1
Automatic review requests after every job, so your reputation starts building from the very first customer instead of two years from now.
From laid off to open for business.
Pick your trade
Cleaning, lawn care, pressure washing, handyman, painting, detailing — browse 100+ industries and see a finished example of what your website would look like.
Answer simple questions — we build YOUR site from them
Your business name, what you do, where you work, your phone number, photos if you have them. That's it — we build your website from your answers while you handle your license, insurance, and equipment. Live in about 5 business days.
Open for business — findable, answerable, bookable
From day one, calls get answered, appointments get booked, and reviews get requested. You do the work. The kit does the desk.
The part nobody warns you about
What this quality costs the traditional way.
Most new owners find out the hard way: a custom-built website with real copywriting isn't a couple hundred bucks — and the website is only the start. Here's what the same setup costs when you piece it together.
Piecing it together yourself
- Custom website built by an agency$6,000–$12,000
- Professional copywriting (8 pages)~$1,900
- Logo design$249–$1,050
- Before you open the doorsabout $11,300
- Live phone answering service$250–$395/mo
- Booking software$49–$79/mo
- Review software$75–$125/mo
- SEO / getting-found retainer$750–$1,750/mo
- Website maintenance$35–$100/mo
- Every month afterabout $1,800/mo
The day-one kit
Website built for you, with the copywriting done
$0 to build
Site + phone answered 24/7 + online booking + review requests + built to be found on Google and ChatGPT + changes handled for you
$297/mo, everything included
Month-to-month. No contract. Cancel anytime. You cover your first month to launch — that's the whole up-front cost.
Traditional-path figures verified July 2026 against published pricing and industry surveys: agency build costs from WebFX's survey of 2,000+ businesses; answering, booking, and review software from Ruby, Jobber, Housecall Pro, and NiceJob published plans; SEO retainers from the Ahrefs and Backlinko provider surveys. Ranges are what small businesses typically pay — your quotes may vary.
The startup program
One stage is open. Two are being built.
The kit is the part you can buy today, and it is where everyone starts. The other two stages are in the works — neither one has a price yet, and we would rather tell you that than invent one. Put your email on a list and you'll hear the price when it exists, before anyone else, with nothing owed.
Stage one
Open nowThe day-one kit
$297/mo, everything included
Your website built for you, your phone answered 24/7 while you work, online booking, review requests from customer number one, and the work that gives you a better shot at getting found on Google and ChatGPT. Getting recommended is part of this price, not an add-on.
Month-to-month. No contract. No setup fee. Cancel anytime.
Stage two
WaitlistFounding member
Price not set yet
A monthly group call with Thad — you bring what you're stuck on, he answers as somebody who ran the trucks, made the payroll, and learned it the hard way. Plus a members' chat for the questions that come up between calls. Shared experience and education, not business, legal, or financial advice.
Founding members join before the price is set and hear it first.
Stage three
WaitlistThe research desk
Price not set yet
For founders who have raised money or are funding it themselves and are still deciding what to build: research on what people in a market actually search for, and which services in that market have the fewest businesses competing to be found. Research and data you can read yourself — the call is yours to make, and we are not investment or business advisors.
Being built for funded startups and self-funded founders.
We provide tools and education — not business advice, legal advice, or income promises. Licensing, insurance, and tax requirements vary by state; check your state's official sources.
Your name on the door
The examples are previews. Yours is yours.
Never had a website before? Perfect — you'll never need to learn website software. Here's exactly how it becomes your business, in plain English.
You tell us about your business
Simple questions, no tech words: your business name, the services you offer, the area you cover, your phone number, and photos if you have them. Ten minutes, tops.
It's built with YOUR name and YOUR services
Your answers become the website — your name at the top, your services listed, your town, your number. The example you browsed just shows what it looks like; the one we launch is yours.
Changing it later is just as easy
You get your own dashboard — see your calls, bookings, and reviews in one place. Added a service? New prices? New photos? Tell us what changed and it's updated for you. You never touch website software.
Who is behind this
I started mine in a spare bedroom too.
I’m Thad Paschall. I started a company out of a spare bedroom with no outside capital and spent 23 years building it. That company was Protect America, and you don’t have to take my word for any of it — its story is on Wikipedia: founded in 1992, roughly 400,000 customers by 2012, and credited with the first self-install monitored home-security model back in 2005.
Over 23 years I created more than $600 million in revenue there. I tell you that for one reason: it started as nothing but a guy with a skill, a truck, and a phone number.
I know what the first month feels like. I know what it’s like to lie awake over a slow week, and I know that nothing matters more to a new business than the next customer being able to find you and reach you.
That is the entire reason this kit exists, and it is why the honest part below is on the page instead of in the fine print.
The honest part
- •We sell tools, not a business opportunity.We can't tell you what you'll earn — nobody honestly can. The work, the pricing, and the hustle are yours. The website, the phone, and getting found are ours.
- •Licensing and insurance are real.Most trades have state or local requirements — check your state's official licensing site before you take your first job. Our guides point you to the right questions to ask.
- •No contract, because starting is scary enough.$297 a month, cancel anytime from your dashboard. If the business isn't working, you can stop paying us — that's our problem to prevent by being useful.
Startup guides
Pick a trade. Get the facts.
What the work actually involves, what a realistic starting equipment list looks like, how the licensing process generally works, and what belongs in a business plan — no hype, just the facts and the tools.
How to start it
What the day actually looks like, the gear the first jobs need, and how customers pick who to call.
How to Start a Cleaning Services Business
What the work really involves, the starting equipment list, and how customers find cleaners.
How to Start a Lawn Care Business
The mowing route life, the gear that matters, and getting found when neighbors search.
How to Start a Pressure Washing Business
Machines, surfaces, water access, and the facts on licensing before your first driveway.
How to Start a Handyman Business
What jobs a handyman can legally take, the starter toolkit, and how repeat clients happen.
How to Start a Painting Business
Interior vs exterior work, the equipment facts, and how homeowners pick a painter.
How to Start a Car Detailing Business
Mobile vs fixed location, the supplies that do the work, and where car owners look first.
How to Start a Junk Removal Business
The truck, the dump fees, the disposal rules, and how urgent customers choose fast.
How to Start a Landscaping Business
Design, installs, and maintenance work, plus the licensing facts that vary by state.
How to Start a Pool Cleaning Business
The weekly route model, water chemistry basics, and how pool owners find their tech.
How to Start a Dog Grooming Business
Salon vs mobile grooming, the table-and-tub equipment facts, and winning trust with pet owners.
How to Start a Moving Services Business
Trucks, dollies, and DOT rules, plus how stressed movers-to-be pick a company in a hurry.
How to Start a Window Cleaning Business
Residential vs storefront routes, the squeegee-and-pole kit, and how recurring work builds.
How to Start a Gutter Cleaning Business
Cleaning, guards, and repairs, the ladder-safety facts, and the seasonal demand rhythm.
How to Start a Fencing Business
Wood, vinyl, and chain link installs, the tool list, and why permits come up on most jobs.
How to Start a Flooring Business
LVP, laminate, tile, and epoxy work, the installer's kit, and how remodelers get chosen.
How to Start a Tile Work Business
Showers, backsplashes, and floors, the wet-saw kit, and where bathroom remodelers look.
How to Start a Drywall Business
Hanging, taping, and patch work, the tools that matter, and how contractors find subs.
How to Start an Appliance Repair Business
Diagnosis-first service calls, the meter-and-parts kit, and why urgent searches decide fast.
How to Start a Locksmith Business
Lockouts, rekeys, and installs, the licensing facts (stricter than most trades), and trust signals.
How to Start a Home Organizing Business
Decluttering and closet makeovers for real homes, the low-equipment start, and how clients find organizers.
How to Start a Construction Business
The first jobs, the crew question, the licensing facts, and how homeowners pick a builder.
How to Start a Roofing Business
Crews, ladders, insurance, and the licensing facts, plus how homeowners choose a roofer in a hurry.
How to Start a Vending Machine Business
How route operating actually works: getting locations, stocking machines, and the paperwork that comes with selling food.
How to Start a Consulting Business
Turning what you know into paid engagements: scoping work, contracts, and how clients check you out before calling.
How to Start a Photography Business
Picking a specialty, the body-and-glass question, editing time, contracts, and how clients decide who to book.
How to Start a Hardscaping Business
Patios, walls, and driveways: the base work that decides the job, the plate compactor and saw, and how homeowners choose.
How to Start a Dog Walking Business
Keys, leashes, and midday routes: how the schedule works, what insurance covers, and how owners decide who to trust.
How to Start a Tutoring Business
Subjects, in-home versus online sessions, scheduling around the school year, and how parents pick a tutor.
How to Become a Dog Trainer
Certification bodies, getting hands on enough dogs, and why coaching the owner is the real skill.
How to Become a Wedding Planner
Full planning versus day-of coordination, the venue paperwork nobody warns you about, and how you get the first wedding.
How to Become a Bookkeeper
Learning the software, the certifications that matter, and the cleanup work that fills a new bookkeeper's first year.
How to Become an Interior Decorator
Decorator versus designer and the title rules behind it, building a portfolio with no clients, and trade accounts.
How the licensing works
The usual sequence, what a licensing board asks for, and where your state publishes the real rules. Requirements vary by state, so these point you at the official source instead of guessing for you.
How to Get a General Contracting License
How contractor licensing generally works, what boards ask for, and where your state publishes the real rules.
How to Get an HVAC License
The apprenticeship-to-license path, the federal refrigerant certification, and the state-by-state part.
How to Get a Plumbing License
Apprentice, journeyman, master: how the plumbing ladder works and who decides in your state.
How to Get an Electrical License
Hours, exams, and the journeyman-to-master path, plus where the requirements actually live.
How to Get a Pest Control License
Applicator categories, exams, and supervision rules, and where your state department publishes them.
How to Get a Notary License
How commissioning generally works, what the state asks for, and the difference between a notary and a loan signing agent.
How to Get a Real Estate License
Pre-license course, state exam, and sponsoring broker: how the path generally runs and who sets the rules.
How to Get a Security Guard License
Guard card, training hours, and background checks: how the process generally runs, plus the separate company license.
How to Get a Massage Therapy License
Approved school hours, the national exam, and state licensure: the usual sequence and who actually decides.
How to Become a Financial Advisor
The exams, the two ways to be regulated, and why most advisors start inside someone else's firm.
How to Become a Home Inspector
Course, exam, ride-alongs and the report that is the actual product, plus who sends the work.
How to Become an Insurance Agent
Lines of authority, the state exam, carrier appointments, and captive versus independent.
How to Become a Mortgage Broker
The NMLS record that follows you everywhere, loan originator versus brokerage licensing, and the two-license problem.
How to Become a Tax Preparer
The PTIN, the credential ladder from unenrolled preparer to enrolled agent, and the states that add their own rules.
How to Become a Certified Arborist
What the ISA credential is and is not, the experience it takes to sit the exam, and why it is separate from a licence to run a tree company.
Mold Remediation Licensing
Why some states license this work and others do not, the assessor-remediator split, and the certifications that stand in for a licence.
What goes in the business plan
Section by section through the plan document, and why a lender or a licensing board asks for each part.
Construction Business Plan
What belongs in each section of a construction business plan, and where to get the official template.
HVAC Business Plan
Section by section through an HVAC business plan, including the service-vs-install decision.
Plumbing Business Plan
What a plumbing business plan needs to cover, from service mix to the on-call reality.
Roofing Business Plan
A roofing business plan section by section, including the storm-work question and crew planning.
Pest Control Business Plan
The recurring-route model on paper, plus the applicator licensing section every plan needs.
Food Truck Business Plan
What belongs in each section of a food truck plan, from the menu and the truck to the commissary and health permits.
Vending Machine Business Plan
The plan document for a route business: locations, machine mix, service schedule, and the section lenders read first.
House Cleaning Business Plan
Section by section through a house cleaning plan, including the recurring-schedule model and the staffing question.
Restaurant Business Plan
What a restaurant plan has to cover: concept, menu, the space, staffing, licensing, and where the official template goes.
Home Care Business Plan
The plan for a caregiving agency: services, staffing and background checks, scheduling, and the licensing section.
Consulting Business Plan
What a consulting plan needs when the product is your time: services, delivery, the client-acquisition section, and the numbers.
Landscaping Business Plan
The plan document for a landscaping company: maintenance versus install work, crews, equipment, and the seasonal section.
Security Company Business Plan
Guard services on paper: contracts, post orders, licensing for the company and the officers, and staffing coverage.
Hair Salon Business Plan
The salon plan section by section: the space and the chairs, booth rent versus employees, services, and licensing.
Junk Removal Business Plan
What a junk removal plan covers: the truck, disposal and transfer stations, crew, and the operations section.
Trucking Business Plan
Authority, equipment, and lanes: what belongs in a trucking plan and which federal registrations it has to name.
Handyman Business Plan
The plan for a one-person repair business: the service list, the work you can and cannot legally take, and scheduling.
Photography Business Plan
A photography plan on paper: the specialty, the packages, the calendar, gear replacement, and the numbers section.
Tow Truck Business Plan
The towing plan: the truck class, rotation and motor-club work, storage lots, dispatch, and the licensing section.
Gym Business Plan
The plan for a gym or studio: the space and the lease, equipment, membership structure, staffing, and insurance.
Car Detailing Business Plan
The detailing plan document: mobile versus shop, the service menu, water and power, and the operations section.
Lawn Care Business Plan
Route density, equipment, and the winter question: what a lawn care plan has to answer before anyone reads the numbers.
Med Spa Business Plan
The plan for a medical aesthetics practice: the medical director question, treatment mix, staffing, and compliance.
Moving Business Plan
Local versus interstate, the truck and the crew, damage claims, and the federal registration a moving plan must name.
Courier Business Plan
The courier plan: the vehicle, the route or on-demand model, contracts with local businesses, and cargo insurance.
Mobile Mechanic Business Plan
Working out of a van instead of a bay: the tool load, the jobs that travel, parts sourcing, and the licensing section.
Auto Repair Business Plan
The shop plan: bays and lifts, the specialty question, diagnostic equipment, technicians, and environmental rules.
Pressure Washing Business Plan
The washing plan: residential versus commercial accounts, the machine and water supply, run-off rules, and scheduling.
Law Firm Business Plan
The plan for a solo or small firm: practice area, the trust account, conflicts, and the bar rules that govern how you may advertise.
Private Practice Business Plan
The plan for a therapy practice: licensure by client location, panels versus private pay, and the privacy rules that shape operations.
Concrete Business Plan
The concrete plan: flatwork versus decorative finishes, the crew and the pour window, equipment, and the callback risk.
Doggy Daycare Business Plan
Zoning and the kennel permit, the building itself, temperament testing, staffing a seven-day operation, and the vaccine policy.
See the list you'd be trying to join.
We run our own boards that ask ChatGPT who it recommends in a city and publish the answer. Nobody can pay to be on one, and being listed has nothing to do with being our customer — we count the businesses it names whether or not they've ever heard of us. If you're weighing one of these two trades, look at a city near you first.
Most recommended roofers
How to Start a Roofing Business→Most recommended custom home builders
How to Start a Construction Business→Questions new owners actually ask.
- How do I start a business?
- Pick the work you will sell, find out what your state requires to do it legally, register the business and choose a structure, get an EIN from the IRS, open a separate business bank account, line up insurance, decide what you charge, set up the way customers find and reach you, and then go get the first customer. Most of that is paperwork you do once. The last two never stop.
- What is on a business startup checklist?
- Trade chosen, state requirements checked, business registered, EIN issued, bank account opened, insurance in force, pricing decided, website and phone handled, first customer asked for. Trades add their own items — a contractor's exam, a food handler's card, a commercial vehicle — which is why the checklist points you at your state's board instead of guessing for you.
- How much does it cost to start a business?
- It depends entirely on the trade and the state, so anyone quoting you one number is guessing. The costs almost everyone has are a state filing fee, any license or exam fee your trade requires, insurance, tools and a way to get to the job, and the office side — website, phone answering, booking, reviews. We only price that last part, and we price it openly: $297 a month, everything included, month-to-month, cancel anytime.
- Can you start a business with no money?
- Parts of it cost nothing. An EIN is free, and a sole proprietorship often has no filing fee. Other parts are real money and should not be skipped — license or exam fees where your state requires them, and insurance. The usual approach is to start with the smallest version of the work you can do with tools you already have or can rent, keep your fixed costs month-to-month so you can stop them if you need to, and add equipment as jobs pay for it.
- Do I need a license to start my business?
- It varies by state, and sometimes by city or county. Some trades need a license and an exam, some need only a registration, and some need neither. Your state's licensing board is the only source worth trusting on this. Our trade guides tell you which board that is and what it usually asks for, without pretending to know your state's rules for you.
- Do I need a website on day one?
- A customer looking for someone in your trade will check you before they call. A brand-new business and a twenty-year-old one look identical to a stranger on a phone unless one of them has nothing to find. A real website, a phone that gets answered, and a few early reviews give you a better shot at getting found. Nobody can promise you a ranking, and we do not.
- Is this business advice?
- No. We sell tools and we publish education. We are not attorneys, accountants, or business advisors, we cannot tell you what you will make, and no page on this site is a prediction about your business. The work, the pricing, and the hustle are yours.
See what your business could look like.
100+ industries, each with a finished example website. Find your trade and picture your name on it — because that's exactly what happens next: you answer a few simple questions, and we build yours with your name, your services, and your town.