This form is not a corporation, partnership, or trust, but offers a combination of features that make it a popular choice for many businesses. The chief advantage is that an LLC provides corporate-like liability protection for the owners – plus partnership-like flexibility in capital and management structure. Members of the LLC can be actively involved in [...]
Read the rest of this entry »S-Corporation (Subchapter S Corporation)
This is the most popular form of corporation. Many small businesses are choosing it. The S-Corporation provides the legal protection of a corporation, but for tax purposes, its income or loss is passed on to the shareholders in proportion to their ownership. Your earnings are reported as personal income on a special IRS form, schedule K-1, so [...]
Read the rest of this entry »Corporation
A Corporation is a legally created entity, which unlike a sole proprietorship or partnership, has rights, duties, powers, responsibilities, and unlimited life in and of itself. A Corporation enjoys most of the rights and responsibilities that an individual possesses. It has shareholders who elect a board of Directors who in turn appoint Officers such as [...]
Read the rest of this entry »Partnership
A Partnership is the joining of one or more individuals, corporations or other entities into and under a partnership agreement. Its chief advantage is that the income and expenses of the business are divided among the partners according to their proportion of ownership. This means the entire load is not on your shoulders alone [...]
Read the rest of this entry »Sole Proprietorship
The Sole Proprietorship is a business owned by a single individual or married couple. It has the advantage of being easy and inexpensive to start. In addition, it gives the owner great freedom of operation – you can do whatever you want with no input from partners, members, or shareholders. The primary disadvantage is that you, [...]
Read the rest of this entry »Organizing Your Business
A fter creating your business plan, your next step is selecting the business structure under which you will operate. As your idea begins to come together, your first thought may be what’s to decide? It’s going to be my business, so I’m the owner, right? That’s true enough, but as we’ve already pointed out, the [...]
Read the rest of this entry »Marketing Plan
If a man can… make a better mousetrap than his neighbor… the world will make a beaten path to his door. Ralph Waldo Emerson True enough, Rev. Emerson…but these days you had better make sure the world knows about this better mousetrap of yours. And that is the function of marketing, which should be [...]
Read the rest of this entry »Business Plan Description
Start with a detailed description of your business products, market, and services as well as a thorough description of what makes your business unique. Your plan could start off like this: Universal Widgets will sell and service the latest state-of-the-art widgets to the general public. Unlike other widget sellers in the area who cater to large businesses, [...]
Read the rest of this entry »Developing Your Business Plan
Okay, you’ve made the big decision to make the plunge. Now it’s time to start putting your American dream of business ownership into action. What is the plan? Unbelievably, there are people in twenty-first century America who actually go into business with little or no planning. (They are the ones you’re likely to read about [...]
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