Week Three of Three

by Tim Berry on June 27, 2008

This is the third installment of the three-week timetable to start a new business in three weeks. It’s from 3 Weeks to Startup, the book I’ve just finished as co-author with Sabrina Parsons.

3 Weeks to Startup
by Tim Berry, Sabrina Parsons

What you really have to do, no matter what, as in absolute essentials, the plan for week three …	… along with notes, comments and why in this week
Establish your location. That goes from desk and phone and such in your home office (pretty easy) to completely revamping the restaurant, manufacturing plant or other big deals.	For some people and some businesses, this is where the three weeks premise trips up. You can’t always set up a restaurant or manufacturing or offices in less than three weeks. Sometimes you can’t even lock in the location you want in that time.
Set up the bookkeeping	We’re recommending you check with your bank, look into what your bank supports for exporting into your bookkeeping, and choose what looks best to you.
Make it legal. Follow through with the annoying details of ownership, fairness and tasks by getting documents you can refer back to if the need arises.	In week one we recommended going over ownership shares and responsibilities with fellow founders. And we recommended getting all that in writing, but as a draft, to record the agreement. In this step we’re talking about doing the real legal work, with the help of an attorney, including registering the legal entity, the buy-sell agreement and whatever is required to lock in the use of the name.
Hire your startup employees	You set the standards and started recruiting in week two. In week three, you sign up the real people.
Settle the financing	Your simple startup, a home office and a computer, might need nothing more than what you can get at Office Depot in an afternoon. If you have to raise more money than you have, then you’ve got to do a more detailed business plan, find potential investors and do a lot more work. You should revise your goals by setting the three weeks startup to be the beginning of serious investor meetings.