How I Formed an LLC in One Working Day (Anvil Road origin story)
I formed Anvil Road LLC in a single working day. NJ filing, EIN, virtual address, business email, and the start of Apple Developer enrollment, all before dinner. Here is the exact sequence.
The total cost was 169 dollars for formation and registered agent service, plus 7 dollars for Google Workspace. No lawyer. No setup company beyond Northwest. The hardest part was the naming, which I had spent weeks on already.
The order that matters
Run these in this order. Skipping ahead breaks the chain.
Step 1: Name the business and check the domain. I went with Anvil Road after 85 plus options across multiple naming rounds. If the .com is gone, pick another name. A registered LLC tied to a domain you cannot get is a slow problem.
Step 2: File the LLC through Northwest Registered Agent. The 169 dollar bundle includes formation, a real virtual address you can use on every business document, and one year of registered agent service. NJ filing fee is included.
Step 3: Get the EIN. The IRS issues this online for free in about 10 minutes. You need the LLC formation paperwork from step 2 to fill the form. Save the PDF the IRS hands you. Banks and Apple Developer ask for it.
Step 4: Buy the domain. I bought anvilroad.com the morning before filing. If you wait, somebody might park it overnight.
Step 5: Set up Google Workspace at anthony at anvilroad.com. Seven dollars a month, real email, real calendar. Cloudflare email routing is free but it is aliases only, and Apple Developer plus banks want a real From address.
Step 6: Update your D-U-N-S with the new business address. If you do not have a D-U-N-S yet, request one through the Dun and Bradstreet mini inquiry. Takes 1 to 5 business days. Anvil Road's D-U-N-S is 144998774, tied to 971 US Highway 202 N #N, Branchburg NJ 08876.
Step 7: Start Apple Developer enrollment. Use Apple's D-U-N-S lookup tool. Apple verifies through their own queue, which can run 2 to 3 weeks. That clock starts the day you submit.
What went sideways
Setting up anthony at anvilroad.com took 24 extra hours. A previous owner of the domain had a Google Workspace account tied to it. I filed a case with Google to clear it. Resolution took one business day.
Lesson: when you buy a domain that has been registered before, check Google Workspace conflicts before you go live. You cannot create a Workspace account on a domain that is already tied to one, even if the old account is dormant.
What 169 dollars actually buys
Northwest's bundle is the right pick for one specific reason. The virtual address is included. Separate virtual address services run 200 to 400 dollars a year. The 39 dollar formation fee inside the 169 bundle pays for itself in the first year through that included address.
Other formation services are cheaper on paper, then charge 200 dollars a year for the same virtual address. Read the fine print.
The total bill on day one
169 dollars Northwest bundle, 7 dollars Google Workspace, 10 dollars annual domain renewal. EIN is free. D-U-N-S is free if you go through D and B directly. Apple Developer is 99 dollars a year when you start the enrollment.
Year one fixed cost to operate a legitimate publishing LLC with real email, a private address, and an active Apple Developer account: 359 dollars. Not 3,000. Not 10,000. Three hundred and fifty-nine.
What I would do differently
I would request the D-U-N-S first. Mine was created earlier, then I updated the address after the LLC filed. The address update took another business day. If your D-U-N-S is fresh, file it after the virtual address is live so it locks in correct from day one.
Everything else I would run the same way.