I read some books about the legal process of starting a company, talked to a few local accountants and business attorneys I found in the Yellow Pages, and started my new business from the basement of my house. I got a business phone line, had some business cards made, created some business stationery, learned how to use QuickBooks, learned a little more about accounting than I already knew (I started off as a business major in college), called some old contacts, and I was in business.
With the internet taking off, my experience with DOS, Windows, Mac and Unix computer systems, and my contacts in the local business world (which came from my previous employer), I lucked into the perfect time to start a computer consulting business. With the work flowing in, my wife came on board as Employee #2, taking over the bookkeeping duties, some office duties, and handling the spam of sales calls that comes with opening a new business.
With just as much good luck, I was also able to hire some talented people right away, one who could help with the technical work, and another who could take over sales. A fellow techie named David joined me right away (followed by some other people who didn't last long), and I was also fortunate to hire a good salesperson named Jack who I had worked with before.
While my ego would like to take credit for the growth of the company, truthfully the only credit I can take is when I applied the old adage "hire well" to the company. Once I followed the advice of "Don't be afraid to hire people that are smarter/better than you are", we were on quite a roll. Jack was a much better salesman than I was, and once I started hiring technical people that were better than me, I didn't feel like I had to babysit them all the time.
