Week 2 – Forms, Phones, and Full-On Panic

Behind the scenes of “getting set up” (aka the admin Olympics):

This was supposed to be the week I got all the boring-but-essential business setup done: register the LLC, open a business bank account, get the insurance rolling, set up the phone number, connect my domain. And technically, I did most of that—but not without a generous helping of chaos.

Turns out, when you Google “how to start a business,” nobody warns you about waiting 87 minutes at the bank only to realize you left your EIN paperwork at home. Or that the local small business insurance agent you picked from Google Maps won’t return calls. Or that trying to link a domain to a Google Workspace while your toddler smears yogurt on your mousepad is a uniquely humbling experience.

What totally derailed me (and what I learned from it):

I underestimated how many micro-hurdles come with admin tasks. None of them are hard in isolation, but together they form a swamp of logistical sludge. I thought I could knock it all out in two days. Instead, it dragged across the entire week and still felt incomplete.

And I didn’t realize how emotionally draining it is to spend hours doing “work” without producing anything visible. No clients, no inspections, no marketing magic. Just forms and phone calls. It felt like motion without momentum. But looking back, I see the foundation being poured—even if it’s all still underground.

The surprise emotional curveball of the week:

There was one afternoon when I sat in my car outside the bank and just… deflated. I had driven there twice, realized I was missing a document (again), and was mad at myself for not being more organized. That frustration snowballed into doubts: “If I can’t even get a business account opened, how am I going to run a whole franchise?”

But here’s the twist—when I finally got it set up and saw the account number in my name, something shifted. It felt real. Not a dream, not a pitch deck. A real business, with a real structure. It’s amazing how much confidence a piece of paper can give you.

The band-aids I used to survive the week:

I leaned hard on checklists and reminders. Every day I made a mini-plan—3 admin tasks max—and if I got through those, I called it a win. I also started a “Business Dumb Things I Did” list in my notebook. Spoiler alert: forgetting to file the domain email forwarder before launching my contact page is on there.

I also reached out to another franchisee in the system who shared that his LLC paperwork got rejected twice. That made me feel 10x better. Turns out, I’m not the only one riding the admin struggle bus.

What helped me not lose it completely:

The franchise’s onboarding guide helped a lot. It’s broken into “must-do now” vs. “do later,” which kept me from spiraling. And again—Curt. I sent a mildly panicked email at 10 PM on Wednesday about which insurance vendor to pick, and by Thursday morning, I had a calm, clear reply breaking down my options. I don’t think he sleeps. Or maybe he just knows exactly when to jump in and say, “You’re doing fine.”

Next week’s mission: making this look like a real business

Now that the guts are in place, I’m turning toward the stuff people will *see*: getting my vehicle wrapped, finalizing branding, and making sure I actually look like a home inspection franchise—not just a guy with a Gmail and a dream. I’m nervous. But I’m excited, too. Visibility makes it feel real… and vulnerable.

What I’d do again (and what I won’t):

Do again: Start early, ask questions, and celebrate the small wins. Don’t do again: Assume anything with the word “simple” in it (like “simple business phone setup”) will be, in fact, simple. And triple-check you’ve got your EIN before heading to the bank, for the love of all things caffeinated.

→ Next up: Week 3: I Got My Vehicle Wrapped and Didn’t Sleep That Night

← Still catching up? Week 1: Territory Orientation & “I Don’t Know What I Don’t Know”

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