Now that you have been through the previous six steps, assuming that everything still looks good and you have your resources ready to go, and you have a Name, and you know what you are going to sell first, and you know what structure makes sense for you, you are ready to jump into the pool.  These instructions are for an S Corporation, the LLC is slightly different.  Get ready, here we go…

“Inc.” in 10 minutes!

You can use one of the online services like LegalZoom, but it isn’t that hard to do it yourself.

My last incorporation earlier this year took ten minutes on-line with the GA Secratary of State and I charged the $100 registration fee to my credit card.  I had to fill in a form to tell them the name of my corporation, who was incorporating it (me), the legal address, how many shares of stock were authorized, and my official Registered Agent (me again). 

After hitting SUBMIT, I got the ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION back approved with a receipt in just a few minutes…  Different states might be different.  If you are doing this yourself, you should order a Corporate Record Kit (I like www.fastkit.com) and you should order CorporateVeil Pro Step-By-Step Corporate Records system…  These things together will give you the necessary information to keep your corporation legal and proper from the start.  Just take my word on it, and do it.

You are now the proud owner of a brand spankin’ new corporation! One with an unlimited future that you will create and control…Now on to a few housekeeping matters, you need to get a Federal Employee Identification Number (EIN, it’s like a Social Security number for your business) using the SS-4 form.  You can call and get the EIN over the phone to eliminate a wait for the paperwork to be mailed back. 

The Gavel Drops… Initial Meetings of Shareholders and Directors

Once incorporated, you need to hold your first shareholders meeting and authorize the Bylaws and elected director(s), and hold your first directors meeting, and appoint officers. You also need to open a bank account and deposit the initial equity into it. 

VERY IMPORTANT:  Most small businesses should become an S corp, and this is very easy.  You have a short amount of time to fill out the IRS 2553 form electing this S Corporation status.  This form must be unanimously agreed to by all the owners, and this is how you will avoid double taxation on your profits. 

Sounds like a lot, but it isn’t really.   Total time expended less than two hours- start to finish.

You can use your receipt from the Secretary of State declaring you to be an actual, honest to goodness corporation to open your corporate checking account, and to secure a Post Office box in the company’s name. You are now open for business.  Just don’t forget to spend a half hour a quarter on those corporate records.

Finally, Should you Inc. without consulting an attorney?

I am not going to answer that.  It’s up to each person to decide for themselves.  I do think everyone should have an attorney they can talk to.  You don’t have to have a lawyer fill out the forms for you if you are comfortable doing it yourself.  If you are entering a high-liability business area, you will be inclined to seek more legal advice and there might be better ways to set up stronger asset protection than just a corporation. 

There are a lot of books on this subject, I will put together a short list in a future post.  And I be discussing how to select and  use an attorney effectively in the very near future. (Hint: preparation!) 

That’s it for this seven part series on Corporation Startups, let me know if there are questions…

Rob Northrup

President, Basecamp Publishing Inc.

Is Your Corporation Protecting You?