Starting Small part 4

Starts small 4
Covering your legal side
1.Consider finding an attorney or other legal
advisor: There will be many hurdles to leap as
you go from working stiff to overworked and
underpaid small business owner. Some of those
hurdles will be composed of stacks of documents
with rules and regulations, ranging from building
covenants to city ordinances, county permits,
state requirements, taxes, fees, contracts, shares,
partnerships, and more. Having somebody you
can call when the need arises will not only give
you peace of mind, it will give you a much-needed
resource who can help you plan for success.
Choose someone with whom you "click" and
who shows that he or she understands your
business. You will also want someone with
experience in this area, as an inexperienced
legal advisor could lead you to legal trouble or
even fines and prison time.

2.Get an accountant: You’ll want someone who
can deftly handle your financials, but even if
you feel you can handle your own books, you’ll
still need someone who understands the tax side
of running a business. Taxes with businesses can
get complicated, so you’ll need (at a minimum) a
tax advisor. Again, no matter how much of your
finances they’re handling, this should be someone
trustworthy.

3.Form a business entity. You’ll need to decide
what type of business entity you want to be,
for tax purposes and hopefully to eventually
attract investors. You will do this after you've
decided whether you will need money from
others either in equity or loans and with the
advice of your legal and accounting experts. It is
one of the last steps taken before you actually
spend money or ask someone for money. Most
people are familiar with corporations, LLCs, etc.,
but for the vast majority of small business
owners, you will need to form one of the following
[2]:
A sole proprietorship, if you will be running
(not including employees) this business on
your own or with your spouse.
A general partnership, if you will be running
this business with a partner.
A limited partnership, which is composed of a
few general partners, who are liable for
problems with the business, and a few limited
partners, who are only liable for the amount in
which they invest in the business. All share
profits and losses.
A limited liability partnership (LLP), where no
partner is liable for another’s negligence.