This is the second post in our "Starting a Business Series". This series stemmed from a conversation I had a bit ago with a brand new business owner. They were completely lost and no idea where to start.

That got me thinking that we should do a series on this specific topic so I ran it past everyone in our Free Facebook Group and with overwhelming support, everyone wanted it. So here we are!

On this post we invited our preferred Attorney, Andrew M Ayers. If you would like to connect with Andrew or are looking to setup an entity you can contact him directly here.

Here is a guest post from Andrew M Ayers:

If you've started your business already, or if you're getting ready to start, one of the first things you'll confront is whether you should incorporate your business. Depending on how much experience you have, or how much research you have done, you may know that you can simply start up a business at any time.

Many times, I meet with new clients who have been working on a side hustle for a while. They've been doing a great job with their passion, but they are now ready to take that next step and incorporate their business to make it "official." While incorporating your business comes with certain advantages, they are often under the mistaken belief that without it, they can't run a business. In fact, you can run a business without formally incorporating it. There are benefits and disadvantages to doing it that way, but it's called a sole proprietorship, and there are many more of them out there than you would think.

Sole Proprietorships

A sole proprietorship is a business that does not formally incorporate itself with the state where it is located. While it may seem odd that an attorney would tell a client that they don't need legal work done for their business, there are many people who can run their business as a sole proprietorship and are very successful at doing so.

The advantages to a sole proprietorship include,

• No paperwork to start the business
• No annual filings with the state
• All of your profits and losses are reflected on your personal tax return

There are some disadvantages to it as well, like

• There is no liability protection for you personally
• It can be hard to get outside financing or business credit
• There can be tax advantages that you are unable to claim

There's a lot less that you need to do to start a sole proprietorship, but there are definitely advantages to incorporating as well.

Incorporating Your Business

There's more paperwork involved with incorporating your business, but with that paperwork come some significant advantages:

• Liability protection for you personally from business debts
• It's easier to get outside financing
• Tax election options (like an S Corp., C Corp.) are available

The main disadvantages that you'll run into aren't really as bad as you may think. Really, it comes down to a few that require more paperwork from you,

• Additional paperwork to get started
• Annual filings with your state
• May be subject to local business taxes
• More complicated tax returns

There are strong reasons to consider both a sole proprietorship and incorporating your business. Before you make that choice, if you've got questions, talk to a professional or someone who's been through it before to see what's best for you and your business.

Finally, I highly recommend you sign-up for our Tax Minimization Program (w/ Stress-Free Bookkeeping Training) as not only will you get a bunch of in depth training, templates, group coaching but you also have unlimited access to our team for general tax and accounting questions. How sweet would it be to have an accounting professional by your side for those questions that pop up in this crazy journey of being a business owner?