Yahoo Finance is answering your most-searched finance questions of the year. The number three thing you wanted to know was, "How to start a business."

It's a big topic but we'll try to boil it down for you. Every business begins with same first step: an idea. Once you’ve got an idea of what type of business you’d like to start, your next step is to come up with your business plan — this is where you lay out your roadmap for your company three to five years down the line. It’s what most people call a “living document” because business owners are constantly revising their business plans to make sure they are staying on track.

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Another important step is, of course, finding money! Unless you’ve got the cash on hand to get your business off the ground, you’ll need to find financing — that can come from traditional sources like small business loans, private investors, or grants. But these days, some businesses are getting funding from some alternative places, like Lending Club, a peer-to-peer lender, or crowdfunding sites like GoFundMe and Kickstarter. If you’re just starting out, I highly recommend checking out the Small Business Administration’s website. They’ve got all the tools and resources any entrepreneur would need to get started.

Have a personal finance question you’d like answered? Drop us a line at [email protected].

More of your top finance questions answered:

Number 4: Should you refinance your mortgage?

Number 5: Can you buy a house with bad credit?

Number 6: Should you buy Facebook stock?

Number 7: Why are gas prices going down?

Number 8: Who is the richest man in the world?

Number 9: Is social security taxable?

Number 10: What is Bitcoin and how does it work?