I've created a site... now what? Business setup help.

I'm nearly finished designing my commercial web site, and I'll be ready to publish it within the next month. I have very little business knowledge however and I would like to hear from some other developers who have started their own online businesses. I would like to know exactly what I need to do so that my web site is a 100% law-abiding business. What forms do I need to fill out and what steps should I take so that I can minimize taxes, etc.

My web site will provide services for dealerships and car buyers/sellers. It will store inventory, etc.

I'm a newbie to dot-com business, so please help me out and point me in the right direction. I've spent a LOT of time working hard on my site, and I want to make sure that I take the appropriate steps to get my business legally operational as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Thank you for your help,
David

I am going through this right now. Unfortunately it's not a real simple process and since you say you don' t know much about business you might have to do some research.

I would become incorperated. bizfilings.com is a website that we used to become a corporation in the state of deleware. Then you can get an EIN (Employer Id Number) you can get a bank account and depending how you wanna be paid for this service. you can go with Card Services Internation to do Credit Card transactions.

The corporation will afford you a layer of protection from personal liability if a "client" trys to sue you for something.

Also, its good to have a lawyer and an Accountant available to look over documents help with payroll and tax questions.

It probably won't be cheap... $200 - $500 to get all set up, but it's all worth it.. to do it right.