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Well, this is a good place to start. And those who know me will know that I'm going to recommend that you read the classic "The E Myth Revisited" by Michael Gerber. That discusses some of the major issues faced by small business owners in a very readable format. And it's old enough that E does nor stand for electronic.

In terms of next steps, I suggest you need to think quite widely. No matter how small a business may be, it faces the same broad issues as larger ones. And if you just focus on immediate issues, others are likely to come up in major mays at the worst times.

So for example as a first step I'd encourage you to think about a vision. That's only 2-3 sentences that say what you're about - and prefereably includes what is special about it. That might seem woolly and unnecessary - but if you do it right, it will help with many other decisions you'll face. It really helps develop a clear focus.

As for other stuff, there are a few places that provide help in some form. These include govenment web sites (such as IRD, business.govt.nz, WINZ, etc) and private web sites. It's probably helpful to think about each operational area of the business - goods and services, marketing and sales, people (even while it may only be you, you have different roles, and need different advisors), systems and processes, and finance. They're all areas which you need to manage.

One of the reasons I mentioned WINZ is that you may be able to get some help from them - they do provide help to get back to work. Of course they're not experts at business - so you will need to work closely with a range of people - and some of these may cost.

There are also business mentors - I'm thinking particularly of a group I've heard advertise which charges only $100 as a registration fee. I'm not sure how useful they are - especially to newbies. I've come across people whose advice I regard as worse than useless - so be careful with any advisors - sadly not all advice is sound.

Finally specific areas I would recommend to newbies getting started in business include checking for special regulations for your industry (and you may want legal advice on some issues), record keeping (I'm a chartered accountant so my advice can be seen as biased, but you need good records from the start), and even the format of the business (sole trader, company, etc). of course you'll also need good banking facilities - including at least a separate bank account for the business.

And you really want to think long and hard about even something as basic as a name. I suggest you might want to check not only that a name is available as a company name, but also a domain name, and maybe even a trademark.

This list should keep you going for a day or two - but it's by no means complete or comprehensive. So feel free to ask more questions - either here or in the forums.