Ask HN: When should I register my business? Before or after revenue?

by babyent on 1/23/2024, 5:18 PM with 1 comments

Hey folks.

I've got a few people (biz owners) willing to be pilot customers, and I guess you can think of it like a closed beta. My goal is to prove/ensure my software can work for them, iterate and improve.

Should I register my business now, or once I start to charge them? With this current customer cohort I'm planning to do a 30 days free trial, might even extend it to 60 based on how it goes. So until then no revenue.

FWIW I'm bootstrapping with my own money, and while I do have bigger aspirations this is my first time running a business and don't know any VCs nor even talked to one (or even a lawyer for that matter).

I do know that in order to take investor capital I should create a C Corp. Anyway this stuff is obviously important but I have no experience and nobody to ask. I'm in the US btw.

  • by al2o3cr on 1/23/2024, 8:03 PM

        or even a lawyer for that matter
    Fix that and it'll provide answers for the rest of your concerns.

    If you're doing something for those pilot customers that they could sue you about, you want to understand & control your exposure to liability BEFORE something's gone wrong.