If you have spent years building your career and garnering professional expertise, you may have the itch to venture out on your own. After all, with your know-how and drive, it only makes sense to start your own business and work toward your own bottom line. Entrepreneurship is a commendable goal and quality, and in many ways, it embodies the American spirit. Forming your own business, while professionally and financially rewarding when done right, is no minor challenge. You will need to be prepared to work long hours toiling away at getting your enterprise up and off the ground. Each day you will likely face a litany of choices, from approving marketing copy to hiring additional help, all of which can be consequential to your chances of success. In this vein of thought, you may also want to choose how you will legally structure your business. Many new business owners will gravitate toward the limited liability company (LLC), and you too may want to learn how to set up a business LLC in your state.
There, of course, are a number of different ways you can legally structure a business. What is available to you will largely depend on your state, but LLCs, in particular, are available everywhere. For some, a sole proprietorship is sufficient, and others may opt to form a partnership. In some cases, forming a corporation is necessary as it allows your business the opportunity to issue stock to generate capital. The ease of setup and valuable benefits that come with a limited liability company however have a broad appeal. Read on to learn more about how to set up a business LLC with our online forms.
What is a Limited Liability Company?
Before you start thinking about how you wish to legally structure your business, you may want to learn a bit about just what a limited liability company is. At a very basic level, creating an LLC establishes your business as its own legal entity. That means that your LLC can own property, hire and fire employees, lend or borrow money, and pay taxes. With an LLC, you and the other members (owners) will also receive limited liability protection from a legal standpoint. This means that if your business faces a lawsuit or files for bankruptcy, you and your fellow owners will be able to protect your private assets such as your homes and savings accounts. This can mitigate a great deal of the risk involved in starting a business, which is one reason that LLCs are so common.
Another draw to starting an LLC is that it receives “flow-through” status with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). With this designation, profits earned by your business are not taxed until they pass through to the members of the LLC, who will then pay taxes on their income. This allows you to avoid paying taxes “twice,” which can happen in certain corporate structures.
How to Set Up a Business LLC: Getting Started
If an LLC sounds right for your business, you may be wondering how to get started on creating one online. While the specific rules will depend on the state you are in, there is a general, basic formula that can be followed. First, you are going to want to choose a name for your business that is distinct from other registered LLCs in your state. From there, you will need to appoint a registered agent. The role of the registered agent is to receive all services of the legal process on behalf of your organization. They can also be responsible for government and tax correspondence as well.
With your name and registered agent in place, you can get to work on filling out the necessary documents to make your LLC official. Specifically, you are going to need to complete articles of organization with your Secretary of State’s office. This document should include the name and mailing address of your business, as well as those of your registered agent. You will also need to provide some information on the members of your LLC. Once submitted, you may want to draft an operating agreement for your business. This is not typically required, but it can help you formalize how you will manage your business on a day-to-day basis.
Using Our Online Forms
While you do have the option to draft your articles of organization on your own, there are easier options out there. By working with a private service such as ours at Corporation Center, you can complete and process your articles of organization online in just minutes. We have easy-to-complete web forms to create LLCs in all 50 states, and we can assist you in setting up other business formations as well. To learn more, browse our Frequently Asked Questions page, or reach us by email or phone today.
