online incorporation services: basically a rip-off. they make money off selling your business name to marketers. i LLC’d recently in Portland, OR for about $150. If you’re concerned, get a lawyer — there is no substitute! :)

investors & partners: a friend and i took on a woefully underqualified partner in an old startup because his father-in-law invested. it blinded us to his incompetance and cost invaluable time and money. initial investment often comes from those close to you, so be warned!

equity & ownership: i can’t echo Ted’s thoughts strongly enough here. Someone HAS to be majority owner. A business is complicated enough, a fuzzy management structure just makes things worse. Everything — ownership, structure, responsbilities — should be CRYSTAL clear to everyone involved. Plus, despite your best intentions, “politics” begins as soon as three people are involved. It can’t be helped. Be careful.

business models: you will spend an inordinate amount of time in excel creating financial models (if you have that kind of business). three years out is usually plenty, but get crazy detailed — do weekly columns if possible. the catch-22 of financial models is that they are completely worthless (being fiction) and totally necessary (they help you understand & plan your business). do your best, but never forget that it’s a complete fabrication and that usually your worst case scenario is not “worst” enough.

contracts: contracts are critical for managing expectations. when you’re months into a project, expectations often change. it’s very useful to have documentation of what you originally agreed to. a contract that spells out the scope of a project will help you avoid arguments later on.

payment: get payment upfront. i know too many stories of businesses that “invested” in their clients success and got burned (and usually closed shop). you are NOT a VC or bank. if your business operates on cash flow, respect that. as a team member, getting paid regularly allows you to properly “invest” your talent into a project. you can’t pay rent with the promise of riches.

secrecy & competition: one of the hardest things to combat is the US culture of competition. our society is rife with combative business speak. the truth is that competition is good. it means you’ve identified some worthwhile market territory. but it’s also generally overstated. it’s rare that early stage businesses actively compete against one another (if they do, then the market is probably way too small). so, do your best to put aside the conspiracy theories and make as many friends as you can and grow your market together.

the truth is that when you’re small, you’re vulnerable, and the real competitive threat is probably some huge company who’s not even on the radar yet. know that once you’ve done all the hard work identifying a new market niche, a slew of big Co.’s and copycats will rush in to strip out whatever profits they can get. circling the wagons with other like-minded startups will help you deal with this “real” competition.

be nice: you’ve got a long career path ahead of you, and nobody wants to work with a dick. :)