Anyone here own their own business that is incorporated in NC?

[Flaxbee]

Can you give me good points, bad points, whatever you have to say about it? Thinking of incorporating here for various contract reasons, but wanted to get input from anyone who might have first-hand experience.

Thank you very much!

[sam sarrha]

1. I'm thinking about it.. small cottage business.. I'm disabled need an income, lost my hand

im in winston salem

[clarence swinney]

7. Public Speaking

Ever think of it.

Easy. Good money.

[e-mail]

[supernova]

2. I'm thinking about it

I want to start a small IT documentation business, with more creative writing on the side.

I don't really know the differences between say having Inc. after my name or making it an LLP.

[Flaxbee]

3. LLCs are nice - give you the protection and standard

benefits of a corporation, but with the tax structure of a partnership - meaning, you only pay taxes ONCE when money is distributed from the LLC to you (as opposed to the company paying taxes, then you paying taxes when you receive it as salary).

But - definitely do research before you choose.

[RedLetterRev]

4. Six things I can add:

Before you launch: (1-3) research, research, research
After you launch: (4-6) document, document, document

I've had two businesses (I'm launching my second now, a wedding business) and whatever you do, document every move. You never know what you'll need. Your best friend will be a scanner and a CD burner to keep from having mounds of paper around you. When you have receipts, scan them and keep them on disk. When you have enough, burn them to CD, date the CD and set it aside. Shred the originals and recycle the recylable paper as earth-friendly mulch or dispose of them responsibly. (You can be green and run a business too :) ) Your accountant will thank you for having EVERYTHING handy for her and for keeping it organized. You'll thank yourself for keeping your work area free of paper-blizzards :)

As for your computer files, get an external drive. There's no excuse these days; they're cheap enough even if you have to save up for a few months. Every time you save a file to your internal drive, save it to your external. That way, if disaster befalls your PC, you still have your external drive and you won't have to reconstruct your business from scratch. For a couple of hundred bucks, you'll save yourself weeks of tears and hand-wringing and Wish-I-Wudda's.

BTW, I'm in Yanceyville, just northeast of you.

Best of luck, fellow DU'er. :hi:

[Flaxbee]

5. Thank you, RedLetterRev, very much!

I appreciate your input - all very wise. We'll have Quicken for the accounting info -- looks like we might choose Delaware, simply because we'll have investors and Delaware law is pretty straightforward on all things corporate. I was hoping to avoid the hassle of a representative office, but oh well. We'll do what we have to do.

A wedding business sounds like fun - consulting or planning or ?

Again, thank you. :hi:

[Wickster]

6. Just a thought.

Just a thought: If you register your corp in Delaware will you have to also file in NC as a "foreign" corporation? You might be adding a complication. I agree that research is a big factor.

Corporate establishment in NC is really simple. You must file an annual report (can be done on line). Other than that it depends on Federal laws and County requirements. If you have problems, a simple call to Elaine Marshall's (NC Secty of State, running for re-election) office is all it takes.

We have had a business in NC for over 12 years. So far so good. :-)
Good luck in your business.