Startup Planning Checklist for New Entrepreneurs

The first 90 days of a new business are chaotic on purpose. This checklist keeps the essentials from slipping while you focus on customers.

Weeks 1–2: Foundation

• Pick a name. Run it through the Business Name & Branding workflow to test positioning at the same time.
• Secure the domain. Get the .com if you can; if not, at least the primary regional TLD.
• Register the business. Check entity types (LLC, Ltd, sole proprietor) with a local accountant.
• Open a business bank account. Never mix personal and business money, even briefly.

Weeks 3–4: Plan

• Write a one-page business plan. Use the Business Plan Builder to structure it.
• Model your costs and pricing. The Startup Cost Calculator covers one-time and recurring costs.
• Define your first customer. Not “the market” — one specific person you can name.
• List the top three risks. Assumptions that would kill the business if wrong.

Weeks 5–8: Build the minimum

• Build the smallest version of the product. A landing page + waitlist counts.
• Get 5 customers to say yes. Not “interested” — committed.
• Set up analytics. Even a simple counter is better than nothing.
• Prepare basic legal. Terms, privacy policy, contract template.

Weeks 9–12: Launch

• Plan the launch. Use the Marketing Campaign Planner to structure channels, dates, and messaging.
• Ship it. Do not wait for perfect. Ship at 80% and fix live.
• Talk to every early user. Book 15 minutes with each. Take notes.
• Decide what to double down on. By end of week 12 you should know which one thing is working.

The single mistake to avoid

Don’t optimize a business nobody has confirmed they want. Every hour spent on logos, decks, and workflow diagrams before you have a paying customer is an hour subtracted from finding one.

If you can only do one thing well in the first 90 days, make it customer conversations. Everything else on this checklist supports that.