Most small businesses will choose the LLC over a partnership when given the option in their state. Setting your business up as a Limited Liability Company is remarkably easy. The process can be accomplished in just a couple of hours and costs less than $1000 dollars. After obtaining a copy of your state’s LLC Articles of Organization from your local Secretary of State office, just fill out the form with some basic information (company name, address, purpose of your business, names of initial members). Then, submit the form back to the Secretary of State for approval.
It’s really that easy.
If you’re not the sole owner of your company, it’s important to set up an LLC Operating Agreement with your partners to ensure financial and managerial rights and responsibilities are clearly spelled out. This will help make sure everyone involved understands how profits will be divided and which roles each individual is required to fulfill. This can save headaches later on should the stresses and strains of running a business interfere with smooth operation of your business.
It may behoove you to hire an attorney in order to properly prepare your LLC Operating Agreement, to eliminate any chance of ambiguities or conflicts in the paperwork.
From there, your business is well on its way to achieving greatness. The LLC is incredibly beneficial for your company with regards to taxes and liability for damages. For a marginal start-up cost and minimal paperwork, the Limited Liability Company is a phenomenal business model no matter what your trade or industry is.