Online Incorporation MaxBlog

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.

Many of the entrepreneur guides today recommend forming an advisory board…but a surprising number of entrepreneurs ignore this advice according to an interesting article by Mary Sullivan at the First Year blog.

It’s hard to know why entrepreneurs ignore this advice – perhaps they don’t understand the role of an advisory board or think they can find everything online. While there’s a lot of useful information on the Internet, nothing takes the place of advice specific to your situation.

At a minimum, an advisory board should include a legal and financial/tax advisor and any other area you lack the necessary experience to make your business run.

After incorporating online, you’re not likely going to have a large management team in place so a group of people to float ideas with and get their perspective. It’s best to meet as a group, usually each month.

In addition to advice, your advisors will pass your name along to their friends and business associates, giving you support at a critical time.

Read Mary’s article for more tips on forming an advisory board…and once you are ready to form a corporation, take care of it easily online in as short as 10 minutes at MaxFilings.com.

Online incorporation service MaxFilings.com just announced new partnership/alliance opportunities for law firms that want to offer business incorporation services with little investment OR continue offering these services more cost-effectively.

MaxFilings is offering two different partnership levels – flexible solutions to meet the needs of law firms. One level – a law firm’s their client can exclusively deal with the firm while business incorporation professionals at MaxFilings handle the required paperwork. Or, the law firm can simply refer people to where they can easily form their corporation online using MaxFilings’ proven system.

Law firms will also be able to offer additional services to their clients like foreign qualification and registered agent.

Active participants in the program will also benefit from promotion of their business and website through MaxFilings’ partner company SEO Advantage.

For more information, visit http://www.maxfilings.com/partner.php.

It’s not as intimidating as it may sound – when incorporating a small business online, the article of incorporation establishes the existence of your corporation in the particular state you are in and reveals identifying information and basic operating characteristics about your company.

Articles of Incorporation are typically filed with the Secretary of State’s office (or whichever agency handles business registration) in the particular state you are incorporating in.

It’s pretty easy to write one yourself, or a business attorney can easily prepare one for you…at a minimum, they must include:

• Name and address of corporation or primary location of business
• Corporate purpose (usually stated in broad language, like a mission statement)
• Name and address of Registered Agent
• Stock information – number, designation and value of any stock shares you are issuing or plan to        issue

Many states provide templates so incorporators can easily create their own articles – here’s an example of articles of incorporation courtesy of the Illinois Secretary of State – many other states have templates so simply refer to their Secretary of State’s website

Online incorporation service MaxFilings.com provides full services for incorporating a small business online – including the Articles of Incorporation. Form your incorporation in just a short time, or save your information and return later.

A code of ethics is a policy statement of sorts, a formal document that employees within a company must follow – along with specific sanctions if the code is violated. Unless a crime has been committed, the toughest sanction is dismissal from the job.

It’s easy though to confuse ethics with the law – obeying the law is the absolute minimum code of ethics and is enforced by society as a whole through law enforcement and the courts. For example, we all know it’s illeagal to steal. Lying is unethical, but it’s only illeagal in certain limited circumstances. Business ethics demand a higher standard, not merely obeying the law.

Code of ethics were born out of the social responsibility movements of the 1960’s as many people began to recognize the effects mass consumerism have on the environment.

After the Enron and Worldcom debacles earlier this decade, the Code of Ethics took on a whole new meaning. Current law, specifically the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, now requires a company to publicly disclose their code of ethics if their stock is traded under the auspices of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

After you incorporate your business online, you may be wondering if you need a code of ethics. It can’t hurt, even if you’re not a publicly traded firm – instill confidence in your customers and investors that your company adheres to a higher standard.

Check back soon for tips on what to include in a code of ethics…in the mean time, find great business incorporation and management tips in the MaxFilings Knowledge Center.