Definitely had a lawyer for all of the initial stuff, especially when i was getting ready to sign any lease or partnership agreements. To actually form the company just use the michigan.gov site it's pretty easy, you can do most of the forms online (though some you still have to print out and send in). We couldn't get any grants though that doesn't mean you couldn't find some good ones, it's just hard for some types of businesses. As far as capitol we used outside investors, just talk to some people you know that my be friends with people that look for businesses. Theres really a lot of people out there with plenty of money that are looking to make a slightly better interest rate than what the bank will give them (4.5% is about tops) so if you offer them prime (around 8.25%) your still better then most loans, you don't have a mountain of paper work and you get the money quick. Though if you can't find money that way go with the SBA (small business association) they take a bit of time (about 2 months) but they will finance most start-up businesses, though a word of advice on that, always ask for a lot more than what you need, they will nickel and dime you down on what they think you need. If you have to have 100,000 ask for 175,00-200,000 but make sure you try and justify it even if it's way more than you need. Drop me a message if you have any other question in particular.
