Incorporation

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“Why is now the best time to start my own business?”, you ask.

-The economy has taken an enormous downturn, meaning several things:
-Less job security for you
-More available employees
-Less competition to hiring
-More willingness for employees to work part-time
-Lower cost of supplies
-Companies cutting advertising and expansion, lowering competition and opening gaps for market entry

All of these together mean that now is an ideal time to start your own business, even if you’re low on capital.

You might be saying, “Yeah, I’ve had thoughts of starting my own business in the past, but I’m thinking of staying in my job a little longer. I don’t think now is the best time to start my own business.”

Well, consider this:
Every year that you postpone starting your own business is a year of experience you could have gained in entrepreneurship, but instead you learned how to stay in your job longer. At least, that’s how it was with me. When I worked for others, I was always considering how to make myself more marketable as an employee and improve my position in the company. Decent goals, maybe, but I knew I wanted to start my own business one day. Then one day it hit me like a ton of bricks: “If I want to own my own business, everything I learn in starting my own business, even if I fail, will make me better at being a business owner! I should try to start my own business as soon as possible. Then every step I take will bring me closer to better owning and managing my own businesses!” (Here, I have to give an enormous “thank you” to Robert Kiyosaki and the Rich Dad book series for helping that revelation come to me).

So why not start your own business now? Begin the incorporating process and soon you’ll be well on your way toward independent wealth and satisfaction, according to the values you hold most dear.

Before you give up your salary, make sure you have the financial net to survive if your first business doesn’t work. If you don’t, I highly recommend starting your business on the side. If there is any way for you to afford cutting your normal job to part-time work, this will free up more time to focus on your business. If you’re planning to start your own business, expect to take full responsibility for everything that happens within and because of it. Always have a back up plan!

Quick guide to incorporating:
1) Before incorporating, plan an Exit Strategy. You’ll need to make several crucial decisions, and the exit strategy for your business effects those decisions. Do you plan on selling the business someday? Do you want to keep it for your whole life and pass it on to someone else someday? Do you think you might want to take it public? You may change your mind as your business progresses, but keeping the end in mind is very important when making decisions about incorporating your own business.
2) Find a good incorporation service. Whether you have plans of incorporating or starting an , you will need to pay some money to complete the process. There are a number of high quality firms that offer their services for very reasonable prices (or sometimes even !). Do a search and some research, comparing prices and services- you’ll find most are fairly similar, so you can compare them on price.
3) Decide the type of formation and location you want. While I won’t go into all the details now, you’ll need to decide whether you plan on incorporating as a C-Corporation or S-Corporation. Or maybe you plan to go the route of an LLC (Limited Liability Company). Then, you still have choices about how you want to be taxed and which state you plan to incorporate in (Delaware and or LLC formations are the most popular). If you’ve already planned the exit strategy for incorporating your business, this decision will be easy. The issues basically come down to taxes, address of doing business, amount of cash you want the business to accumulate, types of ownership and control you want, and privacy. I’ll leave it at that for now.
4) Incorporate today. Sign up online and send in the little bit of money today, and you’ll have an official business in a matter of no time!

(*note: you can change the type of incorporation of your business in the future if you need to. So don’t let the decisions stop you from incorporating. There are some costs involved, however.)

Thanks for reading about why to start your own business now and how easy incorporating your own business is. As I’m sure you’re already aware, it won’t always be easy. But from one entrepreneur to another, be brave and don’t give up. You’re creating happiness and wealth for yourself and others.

(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.)