I have my own
rigging business, and frankly, the worst part is the paperwork--getting set up,
buying insurance, quarterly
taxes, all that. Once you get those things in train, the rest is simply, well, working, and maintaining the paperwork (receipts and
books are a weekly part of my life).
Around here (Rhode Island), there's attorneys who can help you set up a business and get you LLC'd and all, if you can afford them. For me it was just legwork. And then other small guys like me often hire a part time bookkeeper who does quite well managing several different operations.
If your business is in tugging (as your name suggests), I can't offer advice--I can only say that there are plenty of small-time tugboat operations here that seem to do quite well. I have no idea how they market themselves or find clients; I just see them tooling up and down the bay all the time.