How To Form Your Own LLC

Several blogs start and die everyday. Due to the very low barrier of entry, often times people don’t treat their online entity as a real business, end up not making money, and eventually let the entity die a slow painful death.

It is one thing to treat your online work has a real business, but it is another one to actually make it a legal one. Obviously, I am talking about incorporating your business, with the most popular and probably easiest form being a Limited Liability Company (LLC).

There are many various reasons why somebody would want to incorporate their business. A few include…

• Protect your personal assets. Setting up your business as a separate entity will protect creditors, lenders, or anybody who would want to come after you (legally).
• Continuity. If you have multiple partners or state powers in your will, a corporation can continue to go on with business.
• Access to money. Everybody already knows incorporating your business will help you look more legit, but it will also help you should you decide to find investors and other type of investment into your business. You also can’t get an your Employee Identification Number (business version of social security number) banks need to open business accounts and get business loans.
• Tax benefits. There are many tax benefits and loopholes available to small businesses, and incorporating allows you to take advantage of them.

While there are still also disadvantages to incorporating your business, bottom line is that you really won’t go anywhere unless you take some type of action.

You might notice that ASANT Media is an LLC, and all my sites and online entities fall under it.

The following are steps to turning your business into a limited liability company.

1. As an LLC you are required to register within the state you are headquartered in. So if your headquarters is your home, then that is the state you will register with. There are several legal sites like legalzoom.com that will take care of all the paperwork for you, but it can be costly, especially for a task that is pretty easy and not time-consuming at all.

2. While each state may slightly vary, they all basically require you to do the same thing. Fill out a form, pay some fee, and wait for your certificate to come in the mail. The best way to find the form is to simply run the Google search, “LLC in [your state].” So if you live in California then do “LLC in California.”

3. Find the site that has a .gov in it. It should usually be one of the top links. Look for the Articles of Organization for an LLC form (example for California). Either fill it out on the computer or by hand and print the form.

4. Mail the form and fee required to the address listed on the form.

5. Wait for about a month or so for your certificate  of organization to come in the mail.

That’s it! Steps 1-4 can literally be done in 10 minutes. Once you receive your form, you can now apply for an EIN, open any business accounts you may need, and actually have the knowledge that you are running a full scale business.