websites and LLC's

[lookingahead]

This question arose while I've been working on my website. When I first launch since I will have no monetary income(AS OF YET) would I need to go ahead and get an LLC/Scorp/Ccorp, or should I wait until I actually start having some income? Also, with an LLC, if the business I start under it fails. Could I still use the same LLC for subsequent businesses?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[oddball]

Curious to hear answers.

 

[lookingahead]

Can anybody help me out??

 

[Pinnacle]

Can anybody help me out??

Wait until you have income. You don't need this entity structuring until then. If you form an LLC for a business that can't sell anything, you've poored money down the drain. Your business does not go from being a liability to being an asset until it makes money.

If you are going to use the same LLC for a future business - assuming the first one fails - I'd recommend registering a trade name for the business so not to damage your brand. Using trade names gives you the ability to establish another brand if one fails. This will help you avoid the expense of having to create an LLC for each attempt at a successful fastlane business.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[AndrewNC]

From my own personal experience, unless you start a website that is very high liability such as selling guns: wait until you get an income before you register an LLC. I can not put that in enough bold. If it is just a normal website, wait wait wait.

 

[lookingahead]

Thank-you so much. That really helps me out. Hopefully helps anybody else as well.

 

[GlobalWealth]

Also, with an LLC, if the business I start under it fails. Could I still use the same LLC for subsequent businesses?

Yes, but you may not want to if the failed business incurs any unpaid liability as this could haunt the new business. If there are no liabilities, then no problem.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[RE Taipan]

Yes, but you may not want to if the failed business incurs any unpaid liability as this could haunt the new business. If there are no liabilities, then no problem.

GW...lookingahead....
...here is the analogy I use (in fact I think I used it in my presentation at the first B&P)....if you have a business entity that for whatever reason has anything "bad" associated with it and you start a new endeavor using the same entity, it is like taking a glass of dirty water and pouring it into a glass of clean water....sure it gets diluted, but are you going to want to drink from the glass now?

 

[lookingahead]

^^ So what your saying is that even though you could start another business with the same LLC. You shouldn't because it's like your exposing your new entity to some past failure. Kinda like putting a new engine in a car that is plagued with rust.

 

[RE Taipan]

Yes....as the "bad" from the prior business is going to follow the new business and contaminate it, too many potential issues can raise an ugly head and literally take everything you have in the new biz ...that is usually not a good thing-- especially if the new operation the LLC is running is successful. So, yes you could do it that way...but why would you want to --- besides, it is so easy not simply start a new biz entity....

....as for LLC's...I have my own thoughts on why that might not be the best entity for a biz, but since you did not ask about that, I'll hold my thoughts.

Hope that helps.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[geneaux]

....as for LLC's...I have my own thoughts on why that might not be the best entity for a biz, but since you did not ask about that, I'll hold my thoughts.

OK, I'll bite. Let's discuss your reasons for not choosing a LLC, Taipan.

 

[lookingahead]

I'm gonna take a bite as well and ask why you would not choose an LLC.

 

[RE Taipan]

Looking/Geneaux,

In my view...businesses exist for one reason....yes, you solve problems, yes you meet needs, you satisfy desires, yes serve the needy child...and I agree 1000% that without a doubt you do all of those things.....but contained in the fine print of that is that it is done in a monetized manner. Next to making money, the next most important thing is keeping that money..b/c as the old adage we have all heard says-- it is not how much you make, but how much you keep that counts......so when you get down to it, a business or businesses serve to make money for the shareholders and to protect that money and those shareholders from liability (that is, someone from the "grubby group") taking it away.

When you have an LLC, one of the things you must do is disclose who the members of the LLC are... this alone will cause me to lay awake at night. Now, the more successful I am, the bigger the bullseye is on my forehead and the easier it is for those in the grubby group to find out who I am -- all they have to do is to go pull the LLC docs and *poof* in black and white, there are all the names you need to know....I've just served my head (well assets) on a silver platter to the grubby group. Now this would be an acceptable risk if an LLC was the best tool for asset protection.....but alas, poor Yorick it is not the best tool ....a C Corp if structured right, and especially if organized in NV can provide almost complete anonimity for the owner/shareholders...so if something goes wrong and the grubby group comes looking -- hey, I'm just an employee -- not a Founder, not CEO...just an employee -- fancy titles are targets ....so the grubby group is going to get bupkis.....and I like bupkis....alot.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[lookingahead]

That's a good point, I never thought about any of that before. I was just thinking about trying to stay legal and keep the govt. off my back.

 

[RE Taipan]

Looking...

Glad to have been able to provide another perspective on this. LLC's have their place, I just do not believe it is as the "top" rung in a corp/asset protection strategy.

 

[GlobalWealth]

one of the things you must do is disclose who the members of the LLC are...

This is not necessarily true. This can be shielded from public record. I do this every week for clients.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[sk24iam]

If you wait, you can write off the startup expenses you incurred before registering it as an LLC. You can write off up to $5,000 in business startup costs and another $5,000 in organizational expenses in the year that you start a business. Once you've written off that first $5,000, you can still get a tax benefit from other expenses. However, those startup costs will have to be written off, or amortized, over 15 years.