How Legit are your businesses?

[Surge Digital Design 0]

I originally got into this as just a hobby basically, but am noticing a real interest from people and am wondering exactly how legitimate I should make my business?  I live in Ohio and believe I should look into getting a vendors license (25$ fee).  What route are most of you guys taking?  Please give some insight about how your "shop" or "business" is run, if you have a store etc.

Just wondering how far I should take this and if anyone has any tips or advice.

Thanks again, and sorry if I'm not being very descriptive, not sure what all to include in my question I guess.

[Guest YHC]

I originally got into this as just a hobby basically, but am noticing a real interest from people and am wondering exactly how legitimate I should make my business?  I live in Ohio and believe I should look into getting a vendors license (25$ fee).  What route are most of you guys taking?  Please give some insight about how your "shop" or "business" is run, if you have a store etc.

Just wondering how far I should take this and if anyone has any tips or advice.

Thanks again, and sorry if I'm not being very descriptive, not sure what all to include in my question I guess.

My advise is if you are just doing things for friends and family you don't need to file a business. But, if you plan on doing jobs for other companies you should file as a business. Most business you do work for are going to right the work you do for them off in their taxes. This in return leaves a paper trail leading back to you. I would talk with your accountant and have them help you setup your records.

[Surge Digital Design 0]

Ok, I assume this would mean setting up a vendors license as well as an LLC correct?  (not down with the biz lingo )

[Guest kenya]

I'm totally licensed & insured here in Florida, running my company as an L.L.C.

If this is just a hobby, then don't do anything. But if it's something that you feel that you want to move forward in & make a business, by all means, go through all the needed legalities. It's only going to get harder & more expensive filing & paying all the different fees.

[Guest YHC]

Ok, I assume this would mean setting up a vendors license as well as an LLC correct?  (not down with the biz lingo )

Yep, I'm not sure what your requirements are in your state, but here I just needed to file for the LLC and file a Doing Business As in my local county building. Here is a link that will provide the information you need.

http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=99336,00.html

[Foghorn12 0]

Talk to your accountant about it. That's actually something we're going to do today to make sure everything is in good standing.

Where in Ohio are you located?

[mabscotthandyman 1,410]

In West Virginia if you are going to install your signs you will need a contractors license . For a store front just selling rta vinyl a state tax permit and a city or municipality license also if you employee one employee you must have workers comp. also for installs you need  liability insurance . ( I carry a half million policy not much higher than min. requirements by the city here) you must collect tax on all sales and file with the state tax dept. so as you see here unless you sell a lot  of jobs it is not worth the hassle .  But here an unlicensed  business can be fined up to 300.00 per day operating without proper license.

The laws are different in each state so check with state and local government .

Dan

[lynnpromotions 0]

We are a C-Corp with a storefront in a retail area.

if your company name has your name like Mike Dow Industries then you don't need to do anything for fileing.

Sole Prop with a biz name, file a dba with your county and post notice in local paper

LLC, LLP, S corp, C corp, register with your secretary of state

Other things to do:

Get an EIN from the IRS (free)

Register with your county if required

Register with your city if required

Get a separate bank account if not a sole prop although you could if you want

Get insurance

Before you do any of this, find a tax guy (CPA) and buy an hour or 2 of time to discuss what you want to do.

You might want to keep doing it as a hobby until you are making a profit.

[lwsimon 1]

I live in rural Arkansas, and we have no such requirements.  My business goes by "Gadsden Graphics" these days, and I have a PayPal account in that name, and my locally-owned bank lets me cash checks in that name as well.  I don't have business license, DBA, or an EIN. There is no such thing as a business license here, and my wife has a dance studio, so I've been through this before.

A DBA - Doing Business As - certificate is usually needed to get a bank account and cash checks in the name of your business.  An EIN is technically only needed if you plan to hire employees. 

As for structure, I'm an SP - Sole Proprietorship.  That's by far the simplest, but you don't get a lot of the benefits.  I keep up with all my sales, and feed them into a simple spreadsheet.  Come tax time, I file a Schedule C with my normal federal tax returns, and declare how much money I've made via sales and pay income taxes on it - well, if you want to be pedantic, I'm assessed income taxes on it, then offset that with depreciation of equipment and mileage, and the fact that my wife's business is losing money on paper and is in my name.

I don't deal with state sales tax, though I should.  I do 90%+ of my sales online, where tax is the responsibility of the buyer.  For the other few things I sell, I am technically liable, but haven't bothered with it yet.

Once I get enough cash flow to open up a storefront, I'll transition to LLC and hire a high school kid for an employee.

[th31d10t 4]

I am in South Carolina.  I do not have a store front as I do the work out of my home however I have to get a local county business license and a retail sales tax license.  My business is ran as a sole-propietorship (one owner, no employees) and I opted to become an LLC to limit my liabilities.  Also, I got an EIN (employer identification number) so that I can use it to make tax free purchases from suppliers for resale items.

[CyberChuck 4]

    I am in South Louisiana. When I decided to start doing this as a source of income (rather than a paying hobby), the first thing I did was to separate my business from my personal assets. I filed the necessary paperwork to form an LLC. I also obtained an EIN from the Infernal Revenue Service. I obtained all of the required sales tax permits (city, parish - we don't have counties, and state). I also opened a business checking account (since my company's name is nothing remotely close to my own - makes depositing checks easier).

Charlie