One mailbox, not a team you do not have
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A one-person US local business needs one Google Workspace seat. Not a “starter team.” Not a 10-pack because the checkout page looked cheaper per user. One human who answers the phone needs one login that receives you@yourdomain.com.
This is the guide that exists because every vendor, Google included, will happily sell you more. Shopfront Stack’s line is the same as it is for domains and desks: buy the job, not the aisle.
The job of a seat
A seat is a person. It is a password, a 2FA prompt, a Drive, a Calendar, a Meet identity. It is not a spelling of an email address.
If Mike is the plumber, Mike gets a seat. mike@ can be the primary. hello@ and jobs@ can be aliases on that same seat so a homeowner can guess. Aliases are cheap (usually included). Extra seats are a monthly bill and another inbox to check.
A second seat is for a second human who should not read Mike’s mail. A dispatcher. A spouse who actually runs the book. A second tech. If that person does not exist yet, do not pre-create them “for growth.” You can add a seat in an afternoon when they do.
Aliases vs extra users
Aliases are extra doors into the same room. They are how you look reachable without becoming a call center.
Useful year-one aliases:
hello@orinfo@as the public print address- your first name, if hello@ feels too anonymous on a proposal
- a trade-specific door only if you will actually file those messages separately — and even then, a filter on one seat is enough
Useless year-one aliases:
- a different address for every service (drain@, waterheater@, hydrojet@)
- misspelling bundles
- catch-all, which collects the spam the filters would have missed
When a bookkeeper needs access, decide whether they need a seat or a shared Drive folder and a quarterly export. Many CPAs are fine with a PDF dump in April. Some want a login. If they want a login, that is a second seat with a tight 2FA policy — not “here is Mike’s password.”
Plans, without invented prices
Google publishes Workspace plan names (Business Starter and the rungs above it, as of the public marketing site). Features and list prices change. We will not quote a number. Verify current pricing and what is included — Gmail, Calendar, Drive storage, Meet length, and any “plus” extras — on Google’s site before you pay.
The picking rule for this audience: the cheapest business plan that includes custom-domain Gmail, Calendar, Drive, and Meet is the default. Jump up a tier only when you can name the missing feature (usually storage or a Meet limit) as a real problem you already hit, not a hypothetical.
If you need Microsoft Word-style desktop apps every day, you are on the wrong default. Read the comparison and consider Microsoft 365. If you need neither, do not buy both.
What to leave unchecked
Checkout and the admin console will offer more:
- Extra storage packs before Drive is actually full
- Add-on security suites you cannot configure
- Voice / phone products you will not port a number onto this month
- Gemini or AI add-ons sold as productivity. If you want them later, they will still be there.
- A second domain sitting in the cart “in case”
Skip anything you cannot explain to a spouse in one sentence. That is the same rule we use at Start A Site for registrar add-ons.
Sharing without turning the shop into IT
Drive sharing is how a one-person shop stays a one-person shop. Put the W-9, the insurance cert, the license scan, and the logo in a folder with a boring name. Share that folder with the bookkeeper or the web person as a viewer or commenter. Do not email the same PDF twelve times from a dying laptop.
Calendar sharing is how a spouse sees when you are on a job without reading customer mail. Share free/busy or a second calendar. Do not share the primary inbox.
Meet is a link. You do not need a webinar license to show a homeowner a broken flue.
Billing and renewal are part of the kit
Workspace is not a one-time setup fee. It is rent. Put it on a card that will not expire unnoticed. Turn auto-renew on. Calendar-remind yourself 30 days before the card expires.
If Google offers an annual vs monthly choice, pick the one you will actually remember. Annual can be cheaper. Monthly is easier to abandon if you chose wrong. We will not invent a discount. Read the current offer on the merchant site.
A lapsed Workspace seat is not “we’ll catch up Monday.” MX still points at Google. Messages still try to deliver. You just cannot log in. That is a worse outage than a website, because customers think they reached you.
A one-page policy you can tape inside the van
- One admin: the owner
- One seat per human
- 2FA on
- Aliases, not extra seats, for extra doors
- Old Gmail kept for 90 days, then only as recovery
- No shared passwords
- No contractor as sole admin
Tape is cheap. Rebuilds are not.
When you are tempted by a 10-pack, close the tab. Add a seat when there is a second pulse. Then go print you@yourdomain.com on the next invoice. That is the whole product.