Do mostly pre-made character generation, and give the players a couple of options they can take to tweak the characters (so they don't spend half the first game doing character generation). From there, let them get some low-tech Mechs that they think are useful (Improved Commercial armor, 24 pts per ton, but any damage of 6+ pts gets a crit roll). Let them have fun vs pirates and bandits for a while, then face an actual House force. The first time a PPC hits them and it rolls on the crit table with every hit will be memorable. Plus afterward with all the players all wanting that PPC for their Mech.
Let them have fun trying to keep their mechs repaired, in enough supplies, etc, then let them see what a House unit gets to play with (because a House unit doesn't have to turn a profit). They can then choose if they want to become a House unit (with several assignments that are horrible) or keep their independence (with the loss of income/support) until the next time they get an offer. As a merc they can choose the contracts they take, but as a House unit they get handed assignments. If they are on a Periphery world, they are in worse shape, but can reinvent themselves (until a mail packet arrives with a list of their crimes/habits and they have to run away again).
If they get hired by a company, let them be paid part in C-Bills (acceptable anywhere, but the local Lord will tend to frown on you), part in the local scrip (only accepted in that House's realm), and part in whatever the company produces (don't take the job from the Fluffy Teddy Bear company). The nice part is payment in whatever the company produces will be at cost for the company, rather than what they sell it for. So if armor normally costs 10,000 C-Bills, and you agree to get 1 million C-Bills worth of armor, you might get 200-300 tons instead of just 100 tons. So they get more 'money', but that money is harder to spend.
Give them basic choices when the players get to pick a Dropship. An aerodyne can drop them roughly where they want to be on the battlefield (it flies over and they jump their Mechs out) and has more armor than a spheroid (higher max armor), but has lower cargo capacity (armor and structure ate up the tonnage). A spheroid will give a higher scatter radius, but have larger cargo capacity (lower SI tonnage, and lower tonnage needed for same protection). A passenger Dropship means they can carry extra infantry, rescuees, special mission personnel, etc. A cargo Dropship will not drop them (or perform hostile pickup), but will have large cargo bays for goodies (personnel bays, repair equipment, etc) that have to be bought.
