This advice is garbage.<p>Which is not to say that it's FALSE, per se, but that it covers the purely mechanical details.<p>Yes, you need a checking account.<p>Yes, you need a tax ID.<p>But, heck, you need a desk too.<p>And, if you don't eat meals, you'll die, and never do a startup, so why not put that on the list?<p>Having launched two bootstrapped startups over the last six years (<a href="http://SmartFlix.com" rel="nofollow">http://SmartFlix.com</a> and <a href="http://HeavyInk.com" rel="nofollow">http://HeavyInk.com</a>) I would NEVER give this advice to someone - it's like saying "The secret to becoming a tennis pro?  Simple: 1) guy a tennis racket; 2) but tennis balls ; 3) and never, EVER forget to buy tennis shoes - you just can't play barefoot".<p>This stuff will all get done in due time, because it HAS to get done.  There's not need to itemize steps which more or less take care of themselves.<p>The IMPORTANT stuff is the stuff you find in Steve Blank's book Four Steps to the Epiphany, and in a few other great business books (Getting Everything You Can From All You've Got).<p>1) figure out you value proposition (who are you helping?)
2) who are you selling to?
3) what is your unique selling proposition (how do you convey the value to your would-be customers?)
4) what is your plan to iterate in discovering your customers?
5) what is your plan to iterate in discovering the proper marketing channels to reach your customers?<p>etc.<p>"Get a bank account" is the kind of bogus filler that you find in a housewive's magazine about how to turn her candle making hobby into a small little business selling to friends and relatives.<p>Entrepreneurs need REAL advice.