How do I start an Association?

Besides hiring relevant help, how does one generally start an Association and what major requirements are there?

I tried looking online in State websites but found nothing.

What kind of Association?

What would its aims and purposes be?

Small Business education and assistance.

Thank you

Maybe you need some help from a trade association that provide education and assistance to people forming trade associations.

Sorry, couldn't resist that.

Well, if I was going to do it, here's the steps I would take.

1 - Determine if there were any laws or regulations regarding associations. The Secretay of State's office can probably tell you that.

2 - Decide if I wanted to be non-profit (tax exempt) or profit. The IRS has resources on its website for non-profit (tax exempt) associations.

3 - Incorporate.

4 - Buy association liability insurance.

5 - Seek paying members.

However, since there are thousands of trade associations that exist to serve almost any kind of business out there, I think I'd want to line up enough preliminary membership commitments to make it worth spending the couple of thousand that it would take to get started.