You already have a business. Now let's make it yours on paper.

The whole path

Seven moves, in this exact order

Each step feeds the next — the bank wants your LLC papers and EIN letter, the county wants your EIN letter, and so on. Don't skip ahead.

1. 1
   Pick your name & get your factsFree · this week
2. 2
   Form the LLC with Georgia$110 · about a week to approve
3. 3
   Get your free EIN from the IRS$0 · 15 minutes, instant
4. 4
   Get your local business license~$50–$210 · Newnan or Coweta County
5. 5
   Open the business bank account$0 · the rule that protects everything
6. 6
   Get insuredfrom ~$17/month · what big clients ask for
7. 7
   Work smart in each trade & growknow the three hard lines, then climb

Step 1 · This week

Pick your name and get your facts straight

Cost: $0 · Time: one evening plus one phone call

• Choose a business name and check it's free $0

  Think of a name that says what you do — "Southside Lawn & Paint LLC" beats something clever. It must end in "LLC". Search it at ecorp.sos.ga.gov/businesssearch — if the search finds nothing, the name is almost certainly available. Small tweaks (adding "The", making a word plural) don't count as different. Don't pay the $35 name reservation — just file when ready.

• Find out: are you inside Newnan city limits or not? $0

  Your business license comes from the city if you're inside Newnan city limits, or the county if you're not — and a Newnan mailing address doesn't tell you which. One call settles it: City of Newnan licensing 678‑673‑5478, or Coweta County 770‑254‑2626. You'll need this answer at Step 4.

• Check your free ChexSystems report $0

  Banks screen new accounts through ChexSystems, and old abandoned or force-closed accounts (common after time inside) can show up. See what banks will see, free, at chexsystems.com. If it's messy, no problem — Step 5 lists banks that don't use ChexSystems at all. Never lie on an application; just apply where they don't check.

• Know exactly what's on your record ~$15–25

  Get your GCIC criminal history from the sheriff's office (~$15–25) so you know what a customer or lender sees if they ever look. Then attend a free "First Fridays" online session with the Georgia Justice Project (404‑827‑0027, gjp.org) — they help restrict and seal what Georgia law allows, free. Under SB 288, up to two eligible misdemeanor convictions can be sealed four years after your sentence ends.

Step 2 · The LLC

Form your Georgia LLC — $110, no lawyer

Cost: $110, one time · Approval: about 5–7 business days

An LLC (Limited Liability Company) makes the business a separate legal "person." If a job ever goes badly wrong, the business takes the hit — not your personal money, as long as you follow the money rules in Step 5. It also lets you open a business bank account and look legitimate to bigger clients.

• Decide your "registered agent" first $0–$25/yr

  Georgia requires every LLC to name a registered agent: a person at a real Georgia street address (no P.O. boxes, no mailbox stores) who can receive legal papers during business hours. Cheapest: be your own agent at your home address — free, but your address becomes public record and stays in the state's files even if you change it later. For privacy: a service like Georgia Registered Agent LLC (~$25/yr, Atlanta) or Northwest Registered Agent ($125/yr) lets you put their address on the public filing instead of your home. If keeping your address private matters to you, pay from day one — historical filings never get erased.

• File the Articles of Organization online $110

  Go to ecorp.sos.ga.gov → Create a User Account → "Create or Register a Business" → "Domestic Limited Liability Company." The wizard builds the paperwork as you type: your LLC name, registered agent, your name as organizer, and a principal office address. Pay $110 by card ($100 fee + $10 service charge). Skip every expedite option — the standard week is fine, and skip LLC-formation websites entirely (they charge $0–$300 to fill in this same free form).

• Download your Certificate of Organization $0

  In about a week you'll get an email; log back into eCorp and download the stamped certificate. Save it to your phone AND email it to yourself. The bank and the county will both ask for it.

• Set a phone reminder now: "Renew LLC — every January" $60/yr

  Every Georgia LLC must file an annual registration between January 1 and April 1 ($60 online at eCorp). Miss April 1: $25 late fee. Keep ignoring it: the state dissolves your LLC around July — that's the #1 way small Georgia LLCs die, and reinstatement costs $100+. Set the repeating reminder on your phone right now, before reading further. Georgia even lets you prepay up to 3 years.

Step 3 · The tax ID

Get your EIN — free, instant, 15 minutes

Cost: $0 — always · Any site charging for this is a middleman

An EIN is the business's Social Security number. From now on you give customers, banks, and payment apps the EIN instead of your SSN — that alone protects you from identity theft. The application never asks about criminal history; the number is issued automatically by computer.

• Wait for LLC approval, then gather your info on paper $0

  The order matters: LLC first, then EIN — the EIN must be issued in the LLC's exact legal name or the bank will refuse to open your account. Before you start, write down: the LLC name exactly as Georgia approved it, your SSN, your street address, your county (Coweta), and one line describing the work ("lawn care, painting, and moving-labor services"). The application cannot be saved and wipes after 15 idle minutes.

• Apply at irs.gov — type the address, don't Google it $0

  Go directly to irs.gov and follow "Apply for an EIN online." (Look-alike sites that charge $50–$300 buy their way to the top of search results.) The tool is only open certain hours — our time zone: Mon–Fri 6 a.m.–1 a.m., Sat 6 a.m.–9 p.m., Sun 6 p.m.–midnight — so a weekday evening after your shift works. Answer: Limited Liability Company, 1 member, formed in Georgia. Your EIN appears on screen immediately.

• Download the CP 575 letter THE MOMENT it appears $0

  The confirmation letter (CP 575) is the business's birth certificate — and the IRS issues it exactly once. Download the PDF right there, email it to yourself, and print two copies. If it's ever lost, the free fix is calling the IRS at 800‑829‑4933 and asking for a "147C letter" — banks accept it the same — but save the original and skip that headache.

Step 4 · The local license

Get your occupation tax certificate

Cost: ~$50–$210/yr depending on jurisdiction · One certificate covers all three trades

Georgia has no statewide business license — anyone selling you a "Georgia business license" online is selling something that doesn't exist. What you actually need is the local occupation tax certificate from whichever answer you got in Step 1:

• Inside Newnan city limits → City Finance Department $25 + small tax

  Submit the New Business Occupational Tax Certificate Application (forms at newnanga.gov) plus two notarized affidavits: the SAVE affidavit (you swear you're a citizen or legal resident, show ID) and the E-Verify affidavit (with 10 or fewer employees you just sign a statement saying so). Cost: $25 admin fee plus a small tax on your estimated first-year receipts — typically tens of dollars at side-business size. A home-based business still needs it. Questions: 678‑673‑5478.

• Unincorporated Coweta County → county online portal $35 + ~$100–175/yr

  Apply through the Coweta County Business License Portal (guide at coweta.ga.us, office at 22 East Broad Street). Upload: the two notarized affidavits, your driver's license or state ID (must match your home address for a home business), your EIN letter (CP 575), and your LLC Certificate of Organization — this is why the order of steps matters. They email an invoice you pay online.

• Add the second January reminder: "Renew city/county license" annual

  Renewal packets go out the first week of January; Newnan's is penalty-free through April 15, then penalties start at 11.5%. Renewals are based on last year's gross receipts and ask for your Schedule C — which you'll have, because of Step 5.

Step 5 · The money system

Open the account. Then never mix money again.

Cost: $0/month · This step is what makes the LLC's protection real

• Open free business checking (no ChexSystems, no credit check) $0/mo

  Best three for your situation, all free and all apply-from-your-phone with the LLC certificate + EIN letter + your ID: Found (built for one-person service businesses — automatically sets aside your tax percentage and tracks your Schedule C as money comes in), Bluevine (no fees, pays interest), or Novo (refunds ATM fees). None of them run ChexSystems for business accounts. Want a branch you can walk into to deposit cash? Delta Community Credit Union has a Newnan branch on Hwy 34 E — call first and ask what they need for an LLC account.

• Pay yourself the simple way: the owner's draw $0

  No payroll, no W-2, no payroll company. You just transfer money from business checking to personal checking and label it "owner's draw." Any amount, any time the business can afford it. One mental shift: you're taxed on the business's profit for the year — not on how much you drew out.

• Move 25–30% of every profit dollar into a tax stash habit

  Side-business profit carries 15.3% self-employment tax (this is you buying your own Social Security credits — it counts toward your future benefits) plus federal income tax plus Georgia's flat 4.99%. Setting aside 25–30% the day you get paid covers all of it with margin. Found does this automatically; otherwise use a separate savings account.

• Use your day job to handle the tax payments $0

  Simplest trick in the whole guide: instead of mailing the IRS quarterly payments, file a new W-4 at your job and add a flat extra amount on line 4(c). Example: expecting $10,000 side profit → ~30% ÷ 26 paychecks ≈ $115 extra per check. Extra withholding counts exactly like estimated payments and there's no penalty if you owe under $1,000 at filing time. (Prefer quarterlies? They're free at IRS Direct Pay — 2026 dates: Apr 15, Jun 16, Sep 15, Jan 15.) At year-end your business goes on Schedule C of your normal 1040 — one tax return, not two.

• Invoice every job — the paper trail is the whole point $0 + card fees

  Free invoicing from Wave, Found, or Square: after each job, send the invoice by text. Square takes 2.6% + 15¢ tapped in person, 3.3% + 30¢ on card invoices, or just 1% if the customer pays by bank transfer — push people to that option. On a $200 paint job that's ~$2–7. What it buys you: twelve months of invoices + matching deposits is provable income — the thing that gets you a truck loan, an apartment, and eventually real business credit. Cash in a shoebox proves nothing.

Later, when profit steadily clears $40–50k/year, ask a tax pro about an "S-corp election." Until then, ignore anyone who mentions it.

Step 6 · Protection

Insurance: cheap, and it wins you bigger jobs

Cost: from ~$17/month (or per-job) · No Georgia law requires it — but bigger clients do

One accident — a mower rock through a windshield, paint on hardwood, a dropped TV — could wipe out everything you're building, and the LLC alone doesn't shield you when you personally caused the damage. General liability insurance does. Bonus: property managers, HOAs, and businesses won't even let you start work without a certificate of insurance (COI) showing $1M/$2M coverage — so this is also the ticket to jobs that pay better than word-of-mouth.

• Day one, tight budget: per-job coverage from Thimble ~$8/hr–$17/mo

  Thimble sells $1M liability by the hour, day, or month from your phone — cover one Saturday job for a few dollars and the COI arrives by email in minutes. Cheapest legitimate way to say "insured" from your very first paid job.

• Steady work: compare 3 quotes for a monthly $1M/$2M policy ~$36–80/mo

  Get free online quotes (10 minutes each, no credit hit) from NEXT, biBERK, and Hiscox. Ballparks: lawn care ~$36–55/mo, painting ~$42–80/mo, moving labor priced like handyman work ~$40–60/mo. Describe ALL your activities honestly on the application — insurers can deny a claim for work you never disclosed. Ask their chat which class covers a lawn + paint + moving-labor mix before buying.

• Know what to skip (for now) $0

  Workers' comp: not required — Georgia's threshold is 3+ regular workers, and you're solo. (Careful later: paying the same two helpers every weekend counts toward the 3.) Tools coverage (~$32/mo, $500 deductible): skip until you own a $1,000+ mower or sprayer. A $10k dishonesty bond (~$100–200/yr) lets you advertise "bonded & insured" — a real trust-builder given your history, but it's rung two; liability insurance comes first.

Step 7 · The trades

Three trades, three hard lines

Lawn care and painting: no state license. Moving: one big rule.

Georgia lets you do almost all of your current work with zero state licensing. But each trade has one line you must not cross — cross it and contracts become legally unenforceable (customers can refuse to pay and courts won't help you), or worse.

🌿 Lawn care — mow everything, spray nothing

Mowing, edging, trimming, leaf cleanup: no license, any job size. The line: the moment you apply any weed killer or pesticide to a customer's property for pay — even store-bought Roundup — Georgia Dept. of Agriculture licensing kicks in. Easy play for now: tell customers to buy and spray their own product, you do everything else. (The spray licenses are a ~$150 + $55/yr upgrade when you're ready — see the ladder below.)

🎨 Painting — paint anything, remodel nothing

Painting is an exempt specialty trade in Georgia — no dollar limit. A $6,000 exterior repaint is 100% legal unlicensed. The line: don't drift into general repair or remodel work over $2,500 total, and never touch electrical, plumbing, or HVAC at any price. Write "painting and surface prep only" on every quote — it keeps you inside the exemption and looks professional.

📦 Moving — sell your muscle, never the transport

This is your most regulated trade, and the rule is simple: "moving labor only." You load, unload, pack, and carry. The customer rents the U-Haul and the customer drives it. Do that and you need no state certificate at all — and platforms like U-Haul Moving Help and HireAHelper exist to send exactly this work to people like you.

Then · The climb

The growth ladder

Every rung below exists, is verified, and is open to you specifically — including with a record.

1. Rung 1 — First equipment: Kiva, $1,000–$15,000 at 0%
   Kiva.org lends with zero interest, zero fees, no credit check, no collateral. The catch fits your situation: first you need a handful of people from your own network to lend $25+ each before it opens to Kiva's 2 million public lenders. A small ask ($1,500–2,500 for a commercial mower, sprayer, ladders) needs fewer backers — and a free SCORE mentor (below) can help you plan the pitch. 30–60 days start to money.
2. Rung 2 — After 6–12 months of bank deposits: Ascendus or an SBA microloan
   Ascendus lends up to $50k from a 575 credit score with ~6 months of revenue (watch the fees: $200 application + 5% closing). SBA microloans (up to $50k, avg ~$13k, 8–13%) come through nonprofit lenders who judge business potential, not just credit — and since the SBA's 2024 rule, your record doesn't block you. Every deposit you made in Step 5 is what qualifies you here.
3. Rung 3 — The truck
   License suspended? Clear it first — check exactly what you owe with the DDS "Pay Fees" tool at dds.georgia.gov (typical reinstatement: $200 online / $210 in person; many suspensions clear fully online). Then: join The Southern Credit Union (770‑719‑1111 — open to anyone living or working in Coweta County), do 6–12 months of a small credit-builder loan, then finance a boring, mechanic-inspected $6,500–10,000 used pickup (Ranger, Colorado, older F-150; pay $100–150 for the pre-purchase inspection, non-negotiable). Credit unions beat buy-here-pay-here lots by 10–20 points of APR — avoid those lots and their GPS-shutoff repo traps. Budget Georgia's ~7% one-time title tax (TAVT) + commercial auto insurance. Until then, Coweta Connect dial-a-ride goes anywhere in the county for $3 a trip (770‑683‑7433, book by noon the day before).
4. Rung 4 — Real moving company & spray-licensed lawn care
   With a truck, insurance money, and $50k shown in business + personal assets: the Georgia DPS Class B Household Goods Carrier certificate ($90, 6–8 weeks) turns "moving labor" into your highest-margin line — and customers can verify you on the state's own list, which is a marketing weapon. Add the pesticide licenses (~$150 to start: exam + license + study guide, then $55/yr) and your lawn business sells full treatment plans, not just mowing. ACE ($15k–$1M, free coaching, every Georgia county) funds this stage.
5. Rung 5 — First hire
   Hire another returning citizen and the Federal Bonding Program (Georgia DOL, dol.georgia.gov) bonds them free for 6 months — it insures the employer, so it de-risks giving someone the same chance you're taking now. Heads up: at 3 regular workers (you + 2, part-timers count), Georgia workers' comp becomes mandatory (~$150/mo for landscaping) — plan it into pricing before hire #2.

You're not doing this alone

Free help, made for exactly this

"Not many people to help" stops being true today — these are staffed by people whose whole job is you, and every one is free.

Keep it alive

The yearly rhythm

What it all costs

Roughly $190–$360 to stand the whole thing up, then well under $100/month to keep it alive and insured — less than most people's phone bill, for a real company with your name on it.