Got an idea? Here's what to do first.

Start Right: a founder's guide to starting a company in Canada and the United States. Test the idea, choose a structure, register and handle tax, protect your ideas, fund it and win your first customers, in the right order.

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Cover of Start Right, a Fulkrem guide for new founders

What's inside

Six steps, in the order a business is built.

→ Test the idea before you spend: 20 conversations and the one-sale test
→ Choose your structure, with notes for Canada (federal or provincial) and the US (LLC, S corp, C corp)
→ Register, tax and stay compliant: BN, GST/HST, PST and QST, EIN and state sales tax
→ Founders' agreements and protecting your name and ideas
→ Cash, books and funding: Futurpreneur, BDC, CSBFP, IRAP, SBA loans and more
→ First customers, pricing and first hires, plus using AI as a small team
→ A 90-day checklist, and where to get help, much of it free

Written by Roy De Medeiros, CEPA®
Founder & CEO, Fulkrem Management Group, Toronto

Written for: new founders in Canada and the US. General information only, not legal, tax, accounting or financial advice.

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From the guide

The honest odds

68%

of new Canadian small businesses are still operating after five years
ISED, 2025

34.7%

of US business establishments are still open after ten years
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

70%

of failed venture-backed startups ran out of cash, usually the final cause, not the root problem
CB Insights

Got an idea? Here's what to do first.

Six steps, in the order a business is built.

Get your free copy

The honest odds

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