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Your business is your baby. But it won’t always stay that way, if you do things right. Soon, your business will grow up and begin to take on a life of it’s own. When that happens, you’ll be thankful you spent the time making careful decisions about incorporating.

There are a number of ways to form your business, from C-Corporation, to S-Corporation, to LLC formation, and more. For all of them, however, you should take the time to consider several important issues about what you want for your own business when incorporating:

1) Products and Services
When incorporating your company, it’s important to think about what products and services your business will be selling. If you will be shipping goods, where to and where from? What risks are involved? Don’t think only about your current plans for products and services, but also about the future possibilities.
2) Incorporation Services Companies
You’re probably planning to use an incorporation services company to officially form your business. Good decision. They’re low cost, can save you a lot of headache, and will make sure things are done right. Just make sure you choose a good one that can meet your incorporation needs. Check for liability and service guarantees. Check online forums for previous customer feedback. Give several a call and see how competent they seem. Let them know you’re comparing firms so they pull out all the stops in their professionalism and maybe even give you a discount (have some fun with the incorporating process).
3) Risk & Liability
What kind of risks are involved in your line of business? Think about the obvious, like if you’re in the health or food industry. Also think about the slightly less obvious, like how many people could potentially get angry with you in your line of business. What kind of legal and/or personal problems could arise? Make sure your incorporation plans match your business risks to insure you and your family are safe from personal liability as well as the grudges of easily-offended people.
4) Privacy
Privacy goes hand in hand with the risks and liability of doing business. The privacy of your name and personal information can go a long way to protect you and your family. It can also insure your control over managing your and your business’s reputations. When incorporating your business, think about the different corporate and LLC formations and how the location of incorporation can effect your personal privacy.
5) Location
Don’t just think about the location of your operations, although this is obviously crucial for many businesses. Think also about where you want to incorporate or start an LLC formation. Incorporating is not limited to your home state (or country for that matter). In the U.S., Nevada and Delaware are very popular because of their privacy, tax, and legal liability laws. The state you incorporate in is the state who’s laws legal settlements will be based on, no matter where you may reside or do business. Incorporating your business in the right place is critical to achieving the goals of your business.

The above 5 issues all tie into each other, and no issue is complete without considering the others. Take your time and think through these decisions carefully as you begin the process of incorporating. It can be costly to change the structure of your business in the future.

Thanks for reading the second 5 most important issues to consider when incorporating your own business!
Here’s to your business success now and in the future.

(While the above is intended to help educate you to make an informed decision and written to provide as accurate and valuable information as possible, please do not consider any of the above as professional or legal advice. Always be sure to get advice from authorized professionals whom you know to be trustworthy.)