|
10
Steps to Start Any Business
Startup Legal can provide assistance through each of the
following steps:
- Form a business entity, such as a
Corporation, LLC or Limited Partnership (see "Why
form an Entity"). Doing business as a separate legal entity
can give you a variety of legal and tax benefits, including protection from personal liability for the debts and
obligations of your business.
- Determine if there are any specialized
licenses you will need to open your business. For example, certain
professions or home-based businesses must file with their city or county before doing business.
- Determine if your business requires you
to file with any particular regulatory body. For example, lawyers
who want to start law firms must register their firm with the State
Bar.
- File for a tax identification number
with the IRS. This will allow your business to open a bank account
and hire employees if necessary.
- Open a bank account in your company's
name. Separating your personal and business finances will allow
your company to take tax deductions for many additional expenses.
- Develop a system for accepting
payments. If you will be running a retail or service business, you
may want to open a merchant account so that customers can pay with credit
cards. Or you may want to use other credit card processing
alternatives to decrease your initial overhead. If you are a real
estate or investment company you may want to open an escrow account.
- File the mandatory
Statement of Information with the state, updating the state on the status of
your company. This puts the state on notice of any relevant
changes in your business since the initial filing.
- File for tax status of your entity. You will want to decide upon the most advantageous
strategy for taking profits out of your company or reinvesting into your
company.
- Set up a system to follow future corporate
formalities. Certain business entities require annual board
meetings and/or mailed reports to all owners. While an entity may have only one
owner in some circumstances, certain
formalities must still be followed.
- Keep good records. In the future,
your business will need to file tax returns with the IRS, as well as annual
reports with the state regarding relevant changes to your business.
Setting up a simple record-keeping system in the beginning can save
significant time in the long run.
|
