Online Incorporation MaxBlog

Naming your new business is probably the biggest decision you will make about your budding enterprise…it’s what the world will know and remember you as so you want it to be practical and memorable too.

And you will want to spend some time thinking about this too – don’t simply go with the first thing that pops into your head or your gut instinct. Chat it over with friends, do some research and come up with several ideas before making a decision.

Before doing any of this though you may want to do a trademark/name search to find if there are any other businesses out there using that name. You would hate to go through this arduous process just to find out that someone already has that name and has trademarked it.

Incorporating a business with a trademarked can be a costly mistake – at minimum you will be forced to change names and incur all expenses with doing that.  Next, you could be sued by the trademark owner and if you use a federally registered trademark improperly, you could really be in trouble. In this instance, a court will assume you knew the name was federally registered and consider you a “willful infringer,” meaning you could be put on the hook for large damages and the owner’s attorney fees.

If you choose to incorporate a business online with MaxFilings, we do a preliminary name check as part of our online incorporation process.

However, save yourself the trouble before hand when you’re deciding on what to call your new venture and do a quick trademark/name search (U.S. Patent and Trade Office) for your new business or products and also do some general searches on the Internet to see how the name is being used. You can also use a fee-based service like Thomson’s SAEGIS database.

Whatever you do, look into it…it will save you in the long run.

Once you decide to incorporate a small business online and depending on your particular needs, you need to consider how you’re going to finance the new venture. This is one of the biggest challenges business startups face – finding funding.

You can go to investor conferences and pitch your idea. However, a casual atmosphere to discuss things with potential investors is lacking to say the least.

And if you’re asking people for money, they probably want to get to know you a little bit unless your business plan just wows them from the start.

In comes Venture Café, an idea hatched by Cambridge Innovation Center founder and CEO Tim Rowe. The café opened March 1st in Boston to provide area entrepreneurs and investors a place to interact in a casual atmosphere and talk business. Currently housed in a temporary location, the café is looking for a permanent location.

To get things started, organizers are holding a series of “office hours” sponsored by the New England Venture Capital Association where entrepreneurs can hold 25-minute pitch sessions at the café. Organizers invite investors to attend and encourage them to come a little early and stay a little later – all in the hopes of them making more random, casual connections.

It’s especially nice to see innovative techniques like this being put into action. Nothing can take the place of one-on-one relationships so it’s nice to see ideas like this put people together. Not only does it serve as a wonderful way to meet prospective business partners, its casual nature will help those entrepreneurs who may be nervous about approaching some large venture capital firm.

Incorporating a business and running it successfully requires a lot more than simply completing some forms. But places like Venture Café in Boston help make the journey more fulfilling.

One question that may come to mind for businesses wanting to incorporate is how many “founders” they should have. By “founders”, we mean individuals who have collaborated together to establish a new company.

It really depends on how you structure it as to whether there should be one or two founders or five or more as expressed in the video below.

Simply having several people who come together and say – “We want to start a company that will be successful in the future” – isn’t enough. In this case, having more than one or two founders could be huge mistake. Progress will be elusive and chances are, the venture won’t succeed.

On the other hand though, if each person has their own area of responsibility like one in charge of marketing, another in charge of development and another in charge of fundraising for example, several founders for a company could be a plus.

Watch this quick interview of venture capitalist David Hornik for more. And if you’re ready to incorporate a business, turn to the online incorporation experts at MaxFilings to quick and reliable service.

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.

Online marketing, specifically blogs and other forms of social media marketing, are becoming the primary vehicle for small business owners to advertise their products and services. As the recession keeps dragging on, consumers are more meticulous when it comes to their shopping…and they’re turning to online sources more and more to carefully research products and see what others are saying about particular products or services before making a purchasing decision.

Therefore, blogs and other social media sites like Facebook and Twitter have become powerful marketing engines and have helped many businesses maintain their position in this rough economy.

But the Internet has hardly any regulation – consumers have to judge for themselves whether the reviews they see are legitimate, which is usually gauged through the quality of the site.

In an anticipated move Monday, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission voted 4-0 to issue new rules to update the longstanding principle of disclosing “material connections” between advertisers and endorsers. Decisions will be reached on a case-by-case basis according to the new rules. But now, the FTC will consider the payment a blogger may receive from a company for writing about a product an endorsement.

So, bloggers will now have to disclose any “material connections” (i.e. payment or free product) they have with the seller or face up to an $11,000 fine by the FTC.

This new rule will certainly affect fledgling new businesses such as yours but it’s nothing too major. Complying shouldn’t be a big deal but to think the FTC is going to monitor 133 million plus blogs and growing is almost laughable. These new rules will go into effect December 1st.

Nevertheless being honest about your products and services is good business anyway no matter the regulation. Operating with integrity will build your long-term business much better.

If you’re running into roadblocks in trying to figure out how to market your small business online, we invite you to take a look at our sister company SEO Advantage. This premier search engine optimization firm helps businesses grow their revenues by reaching more customers through online searches.

And it’s easy to incorporate online with MaxFilings’ online incorporation system where you can easily incorporate a business online in all 50 states in 10 minutes or less.

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.

Over the next 10 years, healthcare reform could save America’s small businesses $855 million according to a report released by the nonpartisan Small Business Majority and featured in this Daily Dose blog post.

Healthcare reform is a hot topic in Washington right now. Increasing costs have forced entrepreneurs and small businesses to make tough choices about whether to cover their employees or not.

The study, entitled The Economic Impact of Healthcare Reform on Small Businesses, noted that successful reform will require shared responsibility among the healthcare industry, businesses, government and individuals.

In an interview with Entrepreneur.com, Small Business Majority CEO John Arensmeyer commented “Not enacting healthcare reform is going to be an unmitigated disaster, but implementing a system based on the framework Congress is working on right now–even with the [controversial] mandates for employee coverage–will be a tremendous benefit to small business. Even the most conservative versions of reform will produce better results.”

Data from the study also concluded that without reform, up to 178,000 jobs could be lost by 2018 and that small business employees will see $12 billion in lost wages this year alone.

Arensmeyer is confident reform will be completed this year.

Looking for some simple explanation of federal small business taxes? Click over to the online incorporation knowledge center at MaxFilings.com for an overview of the next most certain thing in life next to death.

Federal taxes a small business may be subject to depend a lot on its structure (i.e. C corporation, S corporation, LLC, etc.) along with many other factors.

Four different types of taxes a small business could be exposed to include

1. Income taxes – required for all individuals and businesses (except partnerships, who file an informational return).
2. Self-Employment taxes – primarily affects the self-employed
3. Employment taxes – small businesses with employees
4. Excise taxes – required depending on various conditions, usually for businesses who manufacture certain things or are in a certain industry.

Read Four Types of Federal Taxes Small Businesses Should Know About – And Where to Find Information from the IRS today in the business incorporation knowledge center at MaxFilings.com for more insight and links to further information about this complex subject.

A bill to allow entrepreneurs a one-time income tax deferment was introduced in the House of Representatives by Representative Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) on May 19^th.

Formally known as the Generating Reinvestment Opportunities with America’s Small Businesses Act of 2009 or H.R. 2490, the GROW Act would allow entrepreneurs to defer their current income taxes for two years so they can invest more in their small businesses.

Rep. Kennedy characterized his proposal as “interest-free, short-term loans” that “would strengthen small businesses at a minimal cost to the federal government.”

The GROW Act allows deferred taxes to go unpaid for two years. Repayment would be spread out in equal installments for four years thereafter.

Read more about the bill at this Daily Dose blog post and on Rep. Kennedy’s website.

And check back with the online incorporation blog Incorporation-e.com again for updates on the progression of this bill through Congress.

When forming a corporation, you want to have all the knowledge you can to make the right decisions…but finding the right ones that will be helpful can be very time consuming.

An article in Entrepreneur Magazine’s April, 2009 issues – Best Resources for Startups – lists 4 resources every aspiring entrepreneur, and even those who are well established, should be familiar with.

1. SCORE – A nonprofit organization with over 400 chapters that provides free mentoring online and in-person. Consists of nearly 12,000 working and retired entrepreneurs and business people.

2. Small Business Development Centers – Located across the country and usually connected to a university, these organizations provide consulting for just about any facet of managing a small business.

3. Small Business Administration – Federal government agency that provides an array tools to help new and aspiring entrepreneurs succeed. It’s recommended you start with their Start-up Assessment Tool to help find the right resources.

4. U.S. Chamber of Commerce Small Business Center – An arm of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that provides comprehensive assistance for startups through web-based tools and resources.

These are just a few of the many resources out there…but, they’re most likely the most reliable for accuracy and impartiality.

In addition to these, online incorporation service MaxFilings.com has an expansive online incorporation knowledge center that has many helpful articles that make sense of incorporating a business– check it out and then use MaxFilings’ online system and form your corporation in just minutes.