Online Incorporation MaxBlog

Now that we’re into the New Year, it’s time to think about your tax strategy for 2010. And this could be one of the craziest years to try and plan a workable strategy – but no matter what Congress does, you can take some useful precautions to minimize the impact of your tax bill on the bottom line.

One highlight of this year – the estate tax is supposed to go to 0% for this year. President Obama though is opposed to this move and is pushing for the rates to be set to levels comparable to recent years.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provided some great tax breaks for small businesses in 2009 such as larger first-year and bonus depreciation tax write-offs. Expect some of these to be extended into 2010.

Bonnie Lee, a tax expert with Entrepreneur.com says “who knows what’s going to happen” but added that taxes are likely to rise, especially if the proposed healthcare legislation passes.

In spite of the uncertainty, Lee suggests a few prudent steps you can take to minimize your tax bill. These include:

• Do what you can to reduce taxable income – contribute to a health savings account or make charitable donations. Contribute the maximum allowance into your IRA or 401k.
• Develop better strategies to track your expenses. Buy a mileage log and develop company-wide strategies to track all expenses. You’ll need all the deductions you can get.
• As stay on top of all the changes that go on from year to year so if you haven’t used one in the past, consider hiring one.
• Set aside money each month for your tax bill that will be due in 2011. You can probably bet your 2010 taxes will be higher than 2009 so be prepared.

Taxes for small businesses are unfortunately a fact of life so we need to stay proactive so we don’t end up paying more than we should.

Learn more about some of the federal taxes small businesses are subject to in our online incorporation knowledge center article on the subject. And if you’re thinking about making the switch to entrepreneurship in 2010, consider incorporating your small business online with MaxFilings.

While perusing online the other day in my daily ritual to find out what’s happening in the world, I came across this article in Foreign Policy about a topic we recently wrote extensively about in the online incorporation knowledge center at MaxFilings.com regarding microloans.

President Barack Obama recently awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, to the pioneer of microloans Muhammad Yunus. In the ceremony at the White House, the president commended Yunus for “[unleashing] new avenues of creativity and [inspiring] millions worldwide to imagine their own potential.”

Establishing a micro-bank in Bangladesh, Yunus demonstrated how very small loans to the poor can not only be repaid, but generate new entrepreneurial ventures and create jobs, etc.

But critically looking at Yunus indicates some shortcomings with his ideas…not that they are bad, but they do not deliver the results, as is often claimed, to lift the world’s poorest out of poverty.

First, implementing something this massive would be tremendous. Approximately 4 billion people in the world live in poverty – $17 billion was loaned through microfinance in 2004, which is peanuts when considering how to end poverty.

Another problem is that microfinance is generally heavily subsidized – private micro-banks and finance organizations generally charge very high rates of interest. A micro-bank in Mexico charges 100% for example, which makes it not feasible for the poor.

The article goes on to suggest other ways to alleviate poverty and provide the financing for someone with limited means to form a corporation. The author’s uses the best of both Yunus’ and economist Hernando deSoto, who proposed in his book “Mystery of Capital” that poor people across the world have close to $9 trillion in frozen assets.

Read a $9 Trillion Question at Foreign Policy for more.

Sadly, many business owners fail to protect inventions or trade secrets. Down the road, they may find an unexpected competitor who is using methods you crafted or offers a product very similar to yours. Business owners often don’t think their company name, product or service is an asset but it is.

Obtaining a trademark is one way to protect these assets. A type of “intellectual property”, trademark’s basic concept is to prevent unfair competition. Patents and copyrights are the other types of intellectual property that mainly protect inventors, artists and literary writers.

While it isn’t mandatory to register a trademark to receive protection, registering with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Principal Register means more protection than the generic “common-law” designations.

Advantages of USPTO protections include:

• Notice to the general public of the registrant’s claim of ownership
• Registrant’s exclusive right to use the signature ® symbol nationwide on all goods and/or services listed in the registration
• Ability to bring legal action regarding the trademark in federal court
• Use a basis to obtain trademark registration in other countries
• Ability to file registration with the U.S. Customs Service to prevent foreign goods from being imported into the U.S.

The USPTO application process takes 10-12 months. While the application is processing, you may use the ™ symbol for trademarks and the symbol for service marks. You are not permitted to use the ® symbol until your product is listed as “registered” with the USPTO.

Current regulations require a trademark be renewed every 10 years.

Read some examples of trade secrets in the online incorporation knowledge center at MaxFilings.com. And once you are ready to form a corporation , do it easily online in 10 minutes or less, or fill out the forms, save and finish them at your convenience.

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.

It’s not a pleasant thing to think about, but what would your employees do in the event of a disaster? Are mechanisms in place to keep things going even if you’re gone?

No matter your age, continue reading for important tips from small business blogger Denise O’Berry.

First off, when you consult with an attorney and accountant before incorporating online, make sure your affairs are in order should something happen to you…don’t forget about your will!

Next, have a small business operations manual that’s easily accessible and includes all the information needed to make your business run.

Finally, don’t forget about all those online passwords – keep a running master username/password list of online subscriptions, blogs, business accounts, etc.

When you incorporate online at MaxFilings, have these things in order before you even begin.

Easily locate an accountant and attorney through MaxFilings’ affiliate program!

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.

But first, you have to identify what your trade secrets are in order to figure how safe they are and how to protect them.

Entrepreneurs who incorporate a small business online do not pay much attention a lot of the time to this necessary process – especially overlooking intangible assets that, understandbly so, may seem to not have much value but in the end can be exploited by competitors and ex-employees to their advantage.

A trade secret is secret information that can be considered intellectual capital and thus, protected under the law. Basically, any method, formula, device, process or any other information that is generally unknown and kept secret and gives a business a competitive edge qualifies as a trade secret.

Unfortunately, many business owners do not realize the value of these trade secrets until it’s too late and its use to their disadvantage by a competitor

The point is clear – small business owners need to recognize the value of their intangible assets  and take the steps to adequately protect trade secrets and prevent their unauthorized use as soon as possible.

Every successful business has intellectual property, or trade secrets, that should be closely guarded. These secrets can be anything from a method, formula, device, or any information that gives you a competitive advantage over your competition.

Trade secrets are not only important for your company’s growth, but its survival as well.

Examples of trade secrets include business plans, R & D information, inventions, manufacturing techniques to name a few. Each small business will need to sit down and identify their specific trade secrets they believe need to be protected.

Next, you should review the Uniform Trade Secrets Act and remember while every state recognizes some form of trade secret protection, the extent of that protection may vary from state to state.

Communication, as always, is vital to successfully guarding your trade secrets. Company policies need to be carefully outlined and access to trade secrets should be limited to those who “need to know”.

Online incorporation service MaxFilings recently added a series of informative articles on the subject. Start by looking at examples of trade secrets and if your small business has any, find out how to protect them.

Ever browse through online incorporation articles and blogs and get confused by all of the terms they use? Maintaining focus on your business is difficult enough so having to decipher what a particular word means can be a major headache.

This is one of the main reasons why MaxFilings maintains a handy list of business incorporation terms. In addition to providing online incorporation services across the nation, the business terms list provides concise explanation of many common phrases such as apostille, liquidity, quorum, and so on.

The glossary of business terms is a small but very helpful part of the Knowledge Center at MaxFilings, an extensive resource for small business incorporation.

So the next time you want to briefly know what “pass-through taxation” means, use the glossary of business terms as your first source!

Naming your business may be easier said than done. When considering what to name the business, keep in mind that it should be short, easy to remember, and related to what your business does.

The process of naming a business involves various steps depending upon the entity type, some of which require approval from local and state authorities. MaxFilings, the online incorporation service , assists entrepreneurs with this process.

Below is a brief summary of business name requirements for the various business entities:

Sole Proprietorships and Limited Partnerships

No formal process required. Each is considered to operate under the name of the owner or partners. If the business will operate under another name, a fictitious name or a “doing business as” (DBA) affidavit is required in most jurisdictions. This informs local government and the public that the business is operating under an assumed name and indicates who the owner(s) are.

Limited Liability Companies and Corporations

These entities require a more formal process. The name is established when articles of organization are filed with the secretary of state. If the name is already in use, the articles will be rejected. However, calling the secretary of state’s office beforehand or using an online incorporation service such as MaxFilings can prevent such a delay.

Similar rules exist for both LLC’s and corporations. The name for a LLC is required to include “Limited Liability Company”, “LLC”, or some phrase indicating the business is an LLC. Terms such as “Corporation”, “Incorporated”, “Corp.”, “Inc.” or some phrase to indicate the business is a corporation. State statutes identify which terms can be used.