Online Incorporation MaxBlog

There are countless reasons why having a registered agent is an essential component in forming an LLC. The first being it is legally required in most states. It doesn’t get much more necessary than that.

However, the what a registered agent does for a company is what really makes them valuable when starting your own business, and choosing an agent that is professional and experienced can mean the difference between the success and failure of your business venture.

Services offered by Registered Agents

When searching for a registered agent for your corporation or LLC, keep in mind these basic services they should offer:

• Legitimate Work Office. It’s important that your registered agent has an office that is staffed from 8am to 5pm, Monday through Friday. Why? Because a lawsuit can be served any time during regular business hours, and if your agent isn’t there to sign the document you may lose the case by default.
• Mail Forwarding. Make sure your registered agent includes unlimited forwarding of government and legal paperwork in their services. Most legal documents related to your business will first be sent to your registered agent, including correspondence from the federal government and IRS, so ask your agent if there are any restrictions or fees involved in having these important files sent to you.
• Information Shielding. A registered agent is also there to be a security buffer by using their address as the director’s and managing members’ address. Besides being a shield against piles of unwanted junk mail, this service offers business owners much needed privacy, especially from attorneys seeking a lawsuit who can use information like addresses and names to attach your personal assets to the case.
• Compliance Management. If you’ve ever formed an LLC, or incorporated, then you are painfully aware of the many loops you have to jump through to make sure your business is in accordance with federal and state laws. A quality registered agent will be deeply knowledgeable about the proper filing procedure in their state, and make sure that your company is in full compliance with the law.
• Document Organization. The more your business grows, the less you will want to spend your valuable time sorting through troublesome paperwork—Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws, Operating Agreement, company minutes, state reports, etc. A registered agent’s job is to keep secure copies of these important documents for when you need them. Some agencies even scan them into a computer, so you can access them online via a secure server in a matter of minutes.  

Particular procedures for appointing a registered agent vary. In some states, you can even serve as your own registered agent. However, this is not recommended because in the event that you are served, the lawsuit can be presented directly to you at your place of business, in front customers and employees.

Also, depending on the state you are incorporating in, a registered agent may go by a different name, such as: Resident Agent, Statutory Agent, or Agent for Service of Process.

Find a professional registered agent that offers all of these benefits and more by signing up for Max Filings’ business incorporation services.

If you aren’t already using SEO marketing in your business, you have probably at least heard of the term. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, and successful SEO marketing makes sure that your business shows up on the first few pages of search results when an individual types in certain keywords or phrases.

In addition to taking care of online marketing so you can focus on other important things like incorporating your business, SEO marketing firms handle many aspects of business’s online presence, including:

• Amplified online traffic and sales
• Website design
• Fresh and updated web content
• Sitemapping and indexing
• Constant website monitoring
• Linking and off-site optimization

The Fishing Analogy

A helpful analogy of why SEO is important is to think of a potential customer as a fisherman on a small boat in a vast ocean. Businesses are the fish, and keywords, or key phrases, are the net the fisherman uses to get the right catch.

Unfortunately, when a customer casts out a search they capture not just one hit, but thousands, or even hundreds of thousands. The odds that the customer will find your business out of the mountains of other options is small, like finding a needle in a haystack—or to stick with our analogy, like catching one particular fish in an ocean full of them.

One of the things SEO marketing does is to increase the odds that the customer will pick your business out of a sea of options by making sure it is one of the first options they find.

Not even a couple decades ago, passing out fliers, increasing signage, or listing your business in a phonebook were some of the best ways to increase your public visibility. Nowadays, in this digital age, that’s about as effective as casting out a fishing line with no bait. It’s virtually invisible to a passersby.

Search engines are the new phonebooks, which has its advantages and disadvantages. The good side is that search sites make it easier for a customer to find exactly what they’re looking for in just a matter of seconds. The bad side is that there can be hundreds of thousands of results from one search, making it challenging for one business to stand apart.

SEO in Small Businesses Today

If you doubt that high search engine rankings can really bring in more business to your company, consider these stats:

• Nearly 250 million searches are performed per day on Google alone, and the explosive growth of laptops, web browsing smartphones, and tablets is increasing this number even higher
• 85% of web browser clicks come from organic search engine results, as opposed to only 15% for sponsored Pay Per Click (PPC) ads
• 8-10 people use the internet to find a product or service

SEO is a new industry, but a rapidly expanding one as business owners realize that without a solid online presence, visibility is severely limited in this digital sea of search results.

Learn more about how SEO can grow your business by visiting Search Engine Optimization eBlog.

One of the biggest stories to make headline news in recent weeks was about Yahoo’s controversial new work-from-home policy, or better said, their new work-from-home ban.

In late February, Marissa Mayer, the CEO of Yahoo, sent out a memo to all employees stating that they would no longer be permitted to work from home, but would have to come into the main office in Sunnyvale, California, if they wished to continue working at Yahoo.

Mayer’s reason for abolishing remote working was that face-to-face interaction among colleagues encourages better communications and overall teamwork. Mayer’s goal is probably to mirror the business model of her rival, Google, to create growth in her company. However, Mayer’s policy brings to light a debated issue in American small business.

Is working from home good for business?

Thousands of companies around the country, large and small, hire workers who gain the benefits of working from the comfort of their own living room couch or office. But the question business owners are asking themselves now is whether or not allowing employees to stay at home rather than come into work is helping or hurting their bottom line.

For Mayer and other business owners, the answer is no. Here’s why:

• Productivity. Those on the side against allowing work-from-home employment argue that at home, or in a coffee shop, employees only function at 75% of what they could do in an office. Any number of distractions—TV, radio, children, pet, the UPS guy, you name it—significantly decreases attention and focus while working.
• Shared space. Anti work-from-home employers insist that serious companies need a third space to think, plan, brainstorm, strategize, and meet. Virtual tools are useful, but should only be used as a necessary alternative to working together in the same place.
• Motivation. Lastly, opponents of working from home say that creating an exciting working space motivates employees to want to come to work, and worker harder when they are there. Motivation, as well as socialization, is lost when workers stay at home.

But not everyone agrees with these reasons to ban all employees from working at home, as is obvious from the backlash of criticism directed toward Yahoo’s policy. According to a Forbes survey, when employees were asked what the benefits of working from home were, the top ten responses were:

10. Environmentally friendly

9. More family time

8. Less stressful work space

7. Quieter atmosphere

6. No long commute

5. Less distractions

4. More productive

3. Avoid traffic

2. Save gas

1. Good work/home balance

As you can see, some of the answers contradicted what those against work-from-home had to say, leading to the unsatisfying conclusion that nobody actually knows if work-from-home really works.

All a business owner can do is to decide what they think works best for their company and give it a try. Each company operates differently and is uniquely affected by work-from-home policies. For Yahoo, Mayer decided it was time for a change—a policy she still stands strong behind.

With the debate of work-from-home employment now on the table again, undoubtedly more and more companies will be reevaluating their own work-from-home policies – besides forming a company, this may be one the most critical questions to address.

It kind of sounds underhanded and sneaky—coming up with a fake name to be the public face of your company. Perhaps, it’s because the thought of a fictitious name produces images of high-stakes cons, or depositing laundered and swindled cash into off-shore bank accounts.

But the reality is that filing for a fictitious name, or a doing business as (DBA) name, is perfectly honest and extremely common amongst small business owners.

There are literally hundreds of reasons why business owners decide to get a DBA name. Here are five of the most common ones:

1. Privacy. If you are the sole proprietor and owner of a business, then your legal and business names are the same. For instance, if a graphic designer named Jane Doe starts her own freelance business, the name of her company will be Jane Doe, unless she specifies a different title by filing for a DBA. For some business owners, they prefer not to have their legal name be public information, so changing the business name to a fictitious one protects their privacy.

2. A bank requires DBA name to open a business account. In many cases, banks require a DBA name if an owner wants to open a business account. So, before you are even able to finance your business, you may have to establish a name for your company.

3. A client may require a DBA name to hire you for a job. Some lines of work require the owner of a business to have a DBA name in order to be considered for a job. For example, consider our graphic designer Jane. If she is a freelance artist, and is seeking out projects from different companies, then she may be required to have a DBA name for her company (herself) in order to be contracted to do the work. Different industries have varying rules when it comes to DBA names.

4. Your company is getting involved in other areas of industry. If your company is entering into a new area or focus of business that is not represented by the name of your company currently, then getting a DBA name may be a good solution. Having a descriptive business name is important for attracting potential customers. For example, let’s say you own a lawn care business called The Yard Guys, Inc., but would also like to do backyard planning during the slower winter months. In this case, you can file for another fictitious name, such as The Yard Architects, to describe the other facet of your company.

5. Your company operates another business or website. For business owners who manage one or more companies or websites on top of their primary existing business, having two DBA names may be simpler. For instance, if you own a marketing company, but also run a business incorporation website, filing for a DBA name for the incorporation business will help keep the two separate and make it easier for customers to determine what your companies do. Also, if you own two companies that aim for two different audiences, you may want specific names that reflect the target customers.

How to File a DBA

You can file for a fictitious business name in a couple of ways. The first is by filling out the appropriate paperwork and paying the fees for your state (and sometimes your county) by visiting a local or county agency.

By far the easiest way for a small business owner to file for a DBA name is to consult the incorporation specialists at Max Filings. We can save you precious time and money. All it takes is a quick email for a price quote to get started filing for a DBA name, so visit our website today.

Taking the next step by incorporating your business can be about as tedious, tricky, and tiresome as solving a difficult puzzle (not to mention just as unexciting). But if you put in the hard work and long hours, the final result can make all the effort worth the hassle.

Unfortunately, mistakes and errors can delay the progression of forming your own LLC, and increase the duration of time that you are unable to begin making profit—time that you may not have.

To make the process easier, here are ten items you will need to have in order to successfully incorporate your small business.

1. Business Name

The legal name of your business is required to fill out the necessary government documents, such as the Articles of Organization. Make sure there is not already a business with the name of your choice in your state before deciding on a name. (Check your state government’s website.) Your final legal business name must also include a corporate identifier—LLC, inc., corporation, incorporated, etc.—when you fill out the necessary documents.

2. Address

State laws vary on whether or not an address for your business is required, so review your own state’s regulation on this issue, or ask your incorporator (the agent or company helping you incorporate).

3. List of Directors

You must include a list of people who are involved in forming your business. Their names, addresses, and contact information will all be necessary for your company to be registered by the state.

4. List of Officers

Other officials involved in incorporating your small business may also need to be documented. However, laws on this list vary around the country, so check your own state’s rules.

5. Incorporator

The person or incorporation company who is responsible for helping you form your business by preparing documents and acting as an adviser must also be included in state registration. You will need their legal name, address, phone number, email, signature, and any other contact information.

6. Business Purpose Statement

The state must have an accurate description of what services or goods your business will sell. Write a purpose statement by asking yourself what your business will offer consumers. This description will need to be either general or specific, depending on your state’s requirements.

7. Registered Agent

A registered or statutory agent is responsible for receiving all letters, packages, and official correspondence related to the business. The agent must have a physical address in the state where your business is to be incorporated.

8. Authorized Shares of Stock

In order to register your business, you will need to authorize a specific amount of shares that can be potentially held by your owners or stake holders, if you should choose to award them in the future. Not all shares have to be authorized, but you are required to set a limit, even if you aren’t offering public stock trading.

9. Par Value of Shares

You must also specify the par value of the shares authorized for reward. Par value can be different than actual value.

10. Preferred Shares

Most small business don’t offer preferred shares, but if you chose to do so you must determine the number of shares available, as well as the voting rights for different levels of ownership. Consult your incorporator if you have questions about shares.

Making certain that you have completed these 10 steps will get you well on your way to completing the arduous puzzle of business incorporation. And if you are feeling weary from the hassles of starting your own business, just keep the final picture in mind.

Visit the U.S. Small Business Administrations website to learn more about incorporating your small business.