Hi Torsh,
The process is a long one - you need time to lead the guild (probably the most underestimated!), a theme that makes your guild YOURS and why it stands out, and social skills to build a network and sell your guild to people that you want to join. Then it’s all about keeping it going through good times and bad. Until you get a trusted core of officers that can manage if you take some time off, you’ll be pulling the weight of everything for the first good bit!
To lead it effectively, you need to be a leader, not just a manager / boss. Figure out what your players want to interact with in your story (don’t just hand them the reins). Are they combat heavy? Are there some making a more humanitarian effort? You can’t just favor one side, you have to encourage all segments of your guild to grow - and where there’s a weed… you’re the whacker.
Problems will spring up. Either from how things are roleplayed to being told without screenshots or evidence that one of your players was in orgrimmar calling everyone a terrible slur. Most people have elephant to capture chat logs, but even if it’s a founding member, you need to have a fair and heavy hand when it comes to justice. Otherwise people will see your guild isn’t one worth joining. Get used to handing out your discord handle, people will need to speak with you often.
I look for a Guild Master that takes time with the newest members of the guild as well as the veterans. If you are told by one person that the echelon of leadership and officers feels segmented and closed off, there’s a dozen unspoken minds in agreement. If people openly complain your leadership is lackluster in some areas, be open to criticism. Maybe people want to do more than just RP and you don’t. That’s a great opportunity for you to raise a player up into the ranks of the Guild’s raid leader / PvP Warmonger.
Possibly the single greatest piece of advice I have is: Communicate with your members and would-be members.
If you’re taking some time off, have a plan for who’s leading while you’re gone. Don’t ever go zero contact. Check in with your guild via discord and be open to solving problems while remote. Even if you need to log in for five minutes to kick a member that’s been problematic since “the boss is on vacation”, do it. Never idle.
Openly post your event schedule. It doesn’t have to be where, but if it’s every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday at 8pm Server Time, let people know that from the get-go. The forum here, of course, is a great place to put that in the first post about your guild as you’re selling it.
Possibly the single greatest warning I have is: If you think you have the time to lead a guild, you don’t. Not without help. A guild is a full-time investment in the early stages and is why mine failed.
Good luck.