On-Line Business Question

[RetroLounge]

I am selling used books online on a number of sites. Would you recommend that I:

1) Register as an LLC with the State of Wisconsin.

2) Report it as income (obviously, but to do that, do I need to do 1 above).

3) Anything else to prevent troubles down the road...

thanks

RL

[sybylla]

1. Register as an LLC after

you speak with someone you trust as an accountant/business consultant. In fact, there may be benefits (accounting,tax,organizational) to registering other ways in your type of business.

And don't be afraid to ask for referals for accountants/business consultants/business attorneys. Go to people you know who have businesses of their own in the area and ask them who they use, if they are easy to work with, if they have had any problems/drawbacks with their type (llc, llp, corp, entrep.) of business.

That's how I found my first business attorney who advised us on setting up the business and registering it as an LLC. My only regret was not finding an accountant first and asking him about the financial benefits and drawbacks to each. We probably would have settled on LLC anyway, but it would have been nice to be better informed.

[Finder]

2. Depends...

Is it just you or are others involved?

If just you, sole prop may be the best option. You still need to register with the state and get a tax Id regardless of what biz model you decide on.

[banana republican]

3. Choice of entity

is one of the biggest issues facing a small business startup.

Things you need to consider include:

1) Asset protection (how likely are you to be sued and what are the risks if you loose.
2) Tax implications of of each entity type (e.g. sole proprietor, "S" corp, "C" Corp, LLC, LLP, etc)
3) Any employees???
4) How big do you want to get???


In any event you should get an Employer Identification Number from the IRS. Use that number and not you Social Security Number for all business (bank accounts, credit cards etc)


The Small Business Administration web site has a variety of very informative checklist, templates and other stuff.

[RetroLounge]

4. I registered as an LLC...

In case anyone wondered.

Oh, and my sig line is my webstore...

:hi:

RL