how to start a business for real...

[ccc_javier]

still reading and learning, logo and business card in process, but had have two customers so far (friends) and they paid me with cash and no invoice required. but, i am looking for information about getting this in a formal fashion

i might get another couple of customers soon, and they will require an invoice for sure

sole ownership, partnership, Limited Liability Company or Corporation?

I live in Miami...

please advice

thanks in advance

www.pablocobaphoto.com

[ccc_javier]

talked to my accountant, he recommends C Corp.

OK, will use www.sunbiz.org or http://www.incorporate.com/ to do it

then, I need a business license, right?

regards

[hypertech]

Get a new accountant.

Really, a c corp just for you and your camera? I think he is trying to make sure he has a steady income of accounting work from you.

[ccc_javier]

Get a new accountant.

Really, a c corp just for you and your camera? I think he is trying to make sure he has a steady income of accounting work from you.


well, now i am not sure either, started checking the paperwork and of course talks about stocks and all that.... no way at this point

:oops:

[tracknut]

Most likely you should be deciding between a sole proprietorship or an LLC for your business.

Get a Business License, contact your local town. Get setup to collect and file Sales Tax, from http://dor.myflorida.com/dor/taxes/registration.html

And yes, something's fishy with your accountant, unless you described a much larger view of your photography business to him :)

Dave

[HydroPhotos]

I would say a LLC or get a DBA. The LLC will seperate the business from you personally. I currently have a DBA but I'm looking at getting a LLC to make everything easier and less risky.

[tracknut]

I would say a LLC or get a DBA. The LLC will seperate the business from you personally. I currently have a DBA but I'm looking at getting a LLC to make everything easier and less risky.

You've got the term wrong... a DBA (Doing Business As, or Fictitious Name) can be used for any type of business entity, to allow you to state a business name other than your own personal name. So while you may have a DBA, that doesn't define that you have a SP, an LLC, a Corporation, etc. I suspect you mean that you currently are a sole proprietorship, and you're thinking of changing to an LLC.

Dave

[HydroPhotos]

You've got the term wrong... a DBA (Doing Business As, or Fictitious Name) can be used for any type of business entity, to allow you to state a business name other than your own personal name. So while you may have a DBA, that doesn't define that you have a SP, an LLC, a Corporation, etc. I suspect you mean that you currently are a sole proprietorship, and you're thinking of changing to an LLC.

Dave


Correct sorry for the confussion.

[ssim]

Anyone that is seriously considering starting a business should not be looking for information on an anonymous online forum. Are you really that comfortable taking advice from a forum and running with it.

Get yourself an accountant and a lawyer that you can seek advice from. They will know the local laws and regulations. Most governments have websites that will guide you through the generalities of doing this and you can also find out what, if any, incentives exist for starting a new business in a specific location.

If you are going to invest your money and more importantly your name do it right and get the correct information from the right source.

[Doc Fluty]

I have an llc for my other business (not photgraghy) and got it through legalzoom.com

it makes thing easy come tax time, filing for a loan, getting bank account or just keeping things separate.

you 4 sure dont need a c corp. you might just need a business licence.. go to your city hall website and look around. its kind of hard to give advise becuase differnt states have different laws.

some states make you get a license in each count or city you do business in.

for example.. i live in hawthorne.. if i want do business in beverly hills i might need a separate license.. would i get it.. prolly not. I just take care of my home area.. but "technically" could i get in trouble... prolly.

in california they want us to pay $100 a year to get a ID for our dogs, and they use the water company to spy on you.

http://cbs2.com/local/dog.horse.license.2.1514201.html

so were a little more jacked up than the rest of the country

[ccc_javier]

Anyone that is seriously considering starting a business should not be looking for information on an anonymous online forum. Are you really that comfortable taking advice from a forum and running with it.

Get yourself an accountant and a lawyer that you can seek advice from. They will know the local laws and regulations. Most governments have websites that will guide you through the generalities of doing this and you can also find out what, if any, incentives exist for starting a new business in a specific location.

If you are going to invest your money and more importantly your name do it right and get the correct information from the right source.

yes i feel ok getting tips from other photographers that have gone thru this process already and get comments from their experience is really good, so i can go back to my accountant and ask the right question having a bit of more knowledge in hand

trusting random accountants/lawyers could be even more risky if you don't know the basics.

[DRNPhoto]

I started up my business last year as a LLC through Bizfillings.com and did a great deal of online research to determine what entity needed to be setup, LLC vs. S (or) C-corp. I thought I had everything that I needed and launched my LLC. I made sure I had all business receipts and documentation for an accountant in 2010 so filling my taxes would be straightforward, boy was I wrong.

I hand over everything to a new accountant and I was laced with so many questions on specifics of how I set up the LLC (sole member vs. partnership). I had no idea that there was a difference when it comes to filing your income tax (schedule C on personal tax return vs. a separate return for the business which is what I wanted from the beginning. If I was armed with the right questions to ask Bizfillings, I am sure I would have gotten what I needed. BTW, I was happy with their pricing and service.

After many individual phone calls between him, the IRS and Bizfillings, I realized that I could have talked with an accountant from the beginning and be told what I needed to do. In the end, I still did not accomplish completely what I wanted to do and I will spend this year getting the remaining forms in place for 2011. It may also cost me some more $$$ but I guess you have to pay to learn. Just my 2 cents..... :o

[J Michael]

There are financial reasons why you would select one entity type over another and those financial reasons are the only ones I'd be interested in hearing about from an accountant. I would like to know about liability risk but I'd expect to get that advice from an attorney. Your accountant should have explained, or be able to explain, why you should select the suggested entity type. I would ask questions regarding: reporting requirements, taxation including things like health insurance and SEP plans. A blanket recommendation without explanation of the benefits and liabilities isn't of much value. There are finer issues within entity selection, such as whether an LLC should be treated as a partnership or a corporation. Finally, I would weigh the information from accountant and attorney in making the final decision.

[Mark1]

Look to see if there is a small business section to your county government. It might be called different things. Here is called "Small Business Development Center" and is part of the "Office of Economic Development". But they offer free classes on how to start a small business in the area. It is one class for about 2.5 hours. But they cover everything you need to legally open a business as far as your state, county, and city are concerned. And how you best fit into each category.

[Hamfist]

Steer clear of d/b/a / sole proprietorships. The biggest drawback is that there's no limited liability shield interposed between you and your customers/creditors. Granted, if you organize or incorporate you must observe certain formalities to avoid an attack on the corporate form as a mere subterfuge, but those formalities are quite simple for the average person. I agree with the above; if you're unsure, a few bucks spent with a knowledgeable attorney or accountant will pay dividends in the long run. To be honest, the forms required to organize or incorporate are freely available from most state websites, as well as the instructions for filing. You will need an alternative resource for your by-laws or operating agreement and other requied documents, as may be applicable.

[Lens Lenders]

still reading and learning, logo and business card in process, but had have two customers so far (friends) and they paid me with cash and no invoice required. but, i am looking for information about getting this in a formal fashion

i might get another couple of customers soon, and they will require an invoice for sure

sole ownership, partnership, Limited Liability Company or Corporation?

I live in Miami...

please advice

thanks in advance

www.pablocobaphoto.com
Absolutely first; write a business plan. Do not spend $1 on logos or business cards or marketing or accounting until you have written a plan describing how your business is going to function and make money.

The process should take you months to complete.

Jumping ahead to logo designs or ownership structure is going to distract you from what's most important. You must have a written PLAN of how you will LOSE money in your first year and how you plan to keep paying the bills to survive and profit in later years.

Without a plan, you're just "winging it." If you're lucky enough to succeed (and it will be by luck without a plan) you will have spent twice the money getting there than if you had a proper business plan.

You may come to the conclusion after writing your business plan that the idea doesn't stand up. This is a perfectly legitimate conclusion to come to during the process of writing a business plan and, in fact, is one of it's purposes.

[ccc_javier]

well

the tax guy told me that LLC pays from taxed (48%) versus 30% (C Corp)...

just reading around..... bus plan in process.

no rush

thanks

[Doc Fluty]

he told you a llc gets taxed 48%?

thats wrong as a general term. Depends on if you bring in $5,000, $50,000 or $500,000 .. depends on your expenses.. depends on what state you live.. depends on your write offs.... depends on if you operated at a loss that year

Im in high tax hell in CA... but i dont get taxed at 48%

[ccc_javier]

he told you a llc gets taxed 48%?

thats wrong as a general term. Depends on if you bring in $5,000, $50,000 or $500,000 .. depends on your expenses.. depends on what state you live.. depends on your write offs.... depends on if you operated at a loss that year

Im in high tax hell in CA... but i dont get taxed at 48%


at the same time guy told i can just generate an invoice with my name on it for now .... ?:confused:

[ScottKCooper]

the % will vary as per above. the important thing is llc is some level of shielding in liability, but it does in fact pay taxes on profits - if you then take profits as salary it is taxed again if I made sense. A proprietorship, or partnership will be taxed straight on your income tax forms once, but affords no layer of protection for personaly assets in a law suit. remember as you sign contracts of any kind for the llc, you sign as your office (scott cooper, president myLLC). and do not co-mingle personal assets with business assets - any suit discovering that will allow them the "pierce the corporate veil" attack on you even with the llc sitting there. those are the two big things that I can think of.

[Tom Reichner]

Anyone that is seriously considering starting a business should not be looking for information on an anonymous online forum. Are you really that comfortable taking advice from a forum and running with it.

Get yourself an accountant and a lawyer that you can seek advice from. They will know the local laws and regulations.

Yeah, but this can be very expensive. Some part-time business will only clear a couple hundred bucks of profit over the course of several years. Would you really want all of your profit to go to lawyers & accountants? This just doesn't make any sense.

Go you one of your local Chamber of Commerce organizations. Many Chambers have free consultation on how to officially start a business in your community, and there are normally some Chamber members who already have established businesses that will be very eager to take you under their wing and help you start your own business. And all of that is free!

[ccc_javier]

Yeah, but this can be very expensive. Some part-time business will only clear a couple hundred bucks of profit over the course of several years. Would you really want all of your profit to go to lawyers & accountants? This just doesn't make any sense.

Go you one of your local Chamber of Commerce organizations. Many Chambers have free consultation on how to officially start a business in your community, and there are normally some Chamber members who already have established businesses that will be very eager to take you under their wing and help you start your own business. And all of that is free!


thanks!

[J Michael]

The 30% number for C corp is misleading. You pay a rate of 15% on profit less than $50k. So, let's say you have 100k in sales, pay yourself a salary of $50k and you have expenses of $5k, then you would have a net profit of $45k on which you would pay 15% federal tax rate. You'll also pay payroll-related taxes on the salary. You might ask your accountant about that scenario (I'm not an accountant. Don't believe what people on the internets tell you etc.), as well as what happens if you put $20k in a SEP IRA (can you do that under this scenario?) and paid the stockholders dividends totaling $20k (what are recipients reporting and tax obligations?).

Also look at state and local tax implications. Business licenses often have a floating rate based on your gross sales.

You might also check to see if SCORE is in your area - retired business folk who help people get their businesses started.

Have fun with it.

[Doc Fluty]

ah yes.. talk to score.. forgot about them. also go to you local sba

if your just pullin in a few hundred bucks a month on this i would (and did) just get an llc and then just collect receipts and go to h&r block 2 times a year

you dont want/need to keep an accountant on your payroll for something small like that