How to choose the right business structure

When deciding to embark on the road to being an entrepreneur, it is crucial to take some time to decide what type of structure you are going to organize under. There are three main types of business structures common among entrepreneurs: Sole Proprietor, Corporation, LLC (Limited Liability Corporation or Company).

Sole Proprietorship is a business structure that many entrepreneurs choose. There are two main reasons of which they do so:

•  It's inexpensive to form (in Michigan, the fee is only $10.00)
• There's less paperwork involved

While forming a sole proprietorship may prove to be the least expensive and simple to form, there are three major reasons why I suggest you don't go this route:

• You are personally liable for everything
• If someone decides to sue your company, they are actually suing you, because you are liable for all of the business debts as well as your own. If the person is awarded a judgment against you, that judgement will appear on your personal credit report.
• Sole proprietors often find it more difficult to borrow money to start or grow their businesses because lenders fear that if something were to happen to the business owner, the debt will not be repaid.

Corporations are often expensive to form, however, the major reason people form them is because these business owners can enjoy limited liability. In other words, they are only responsible for their own personal debts and not those of the business.

• Corporations are heavily regulated by the state, and owners face double taxation. Double taxation means that the profits of corporations are taxed twice.

The LLC, or Limited Liability Corporation (Company) is fairly simple to form. LLC owners are taxed like partnerships, which means you only pay taxes on your own personal income. A big plus of the LLC is that its owners enjoy the benefits of limited liability as does the corporation.
So, which structure is for you?
To sum it all up:

• The sole proprietorship is the easiest and least expensive to form but the owner is responsible for all debt.
• The corporation is the most expensive to form, but the owners are only responsible for their personal debts. Corporations are also heavily regulated and double taxed.
• LLC's are fairly simply to form, are taxed only on personal income and owners enjoy some of the same benefits of a corporation.

4 keys to get your business life in order

By Sandra Peoples
http://www.buildsuccess.info/

One of the important things any business owner must do is to put things in order. Prioritizing is the key to success. Knowing what to give the most importance to may take some creativity, but it must be done. Here are a few keys to help you take control over your business and get organized.

1. Create a file. I would suggest purchasing an expandable file that has slots and tabs for you to label things. This way, you can file things in order of importance and finally get certain daunting tasks done.

2.Label your files accordingly. Make a section for each project that you are working on so that when you come across something that belongs in that section, you can file it away and know where it is at.

3. Do high priority tasks first. Let's face it, the things of most importance must be done first. High priority items may be the most tedious to perform, so the most allowable amount of time should be spent on seeing these tasks through to completion. For writers, formatting your book may be the most tedious task you may ever find yourself doing, but because it can be done, you should do it first.


4. Label tasks of less importance in order from least to highest priority. Maybe you still need to choose between writing that first draft of your business plan, or putting the finishing touches on that new article you've been working on. Whatever the case may be, you have to figure out which things MUST be done, and which ones could stand to wait a day or two. Do the things that must be done first, and the others once the high priority projects are done.


Hopefully these four keys  can help you to get your business life in order.

Two ways to save your business big bucks

By Sandra Peoples
http://www.buildsuccess.info/



Are you, like many other small business owners, searching for ways to keep your business afloat? These days it seems as if everyone is looking for ways to save a few dollars. Entrepreneurs are the hardest hit, since most do not have a few dollars to save. But what if you were told that you could actually save money while consistently gaining new clients?



One way entrepreneurs can save money is to look at how much they are spending on excess. Here are a few things you may be spending too much money on and not even realize it:



1. Your website. Let’s face it. While it is virtually a necessity for your business to have an online presence, having that presence should not be costing your business an arm and a leg unless you are bringing in two or three. Instead, consider putting up a free site. Sites such as webs.com (formerly freewebs) and weebly.com offer free websites and hosting packages that include templates to help building your site a breeze, and have a professional look to it. For a small monthly fee, you have the option of upgrading from a sub domain (yoursite.webs.com) to your own domain altogether, (www.yoursite.com).

If you just have to have a fancy site, consider having a graphic design student design the site for you and simply pay for the domain name. You can still have the site hosted for free.



2. Advertising. With so many people flocking to the information super highway, better known as the World Wide Web, there is really no reason why you shouldn’t be able to cut back on your advertising budget by taking advantage of some of the free opportunities available to you on the web. There is blogger.com, where you can set up a free account and write ‘blogs’ or articles about your field of expertise. You can also write for associated content.com, and many other sites. You should also be collecting the emails of those that visit your website. You can set up your webs.com account to collect information from your subscribers, and inexpensive services such as aweber, that allow you to create opt-in subscription boxes for your websites.



Remember, nobody starts a business to see it fail. Be wise in your endeavors and watch your business blossom.





Like this article? Would you like to use it in your ezine or website? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Business and Success Coach Sandra Peoples is devoted to changing the lives of entrepreneurs by helping them to take their businesses to new heights while getting them to think outside of the box and harness their own creativity. Check out her blog at www.coachsand.blogspot.com

Are you truly ready to be an entrepreneur?

An entrepreneur is an individual who is in a class all be his or her self. There have been no how to guides written that breaks down what you really need to do to be an entrepreneur. Even if you take a business class, or get a degree in business, you are not really prepared to be an entrepreneur. Why? Because being an entrepreneur is not taught: it is learned and experienced. When you decide to make the leap to go into business for yourself, you are really jumping off into uncharted territory. You don't know if the idea you have will prove to be a success or failure. You don't know if your marketing techniques will work, or if they will prove to be a complete and utter waste of time. So, let me ask you this: Are you a risk taker or are you afraid of risk?  If you are afraid to take risks and venture out into the unknown, chances are you are not ready to be an entrepreneur and be in business for yourself. Entrepreneurs take risks every single day. They have to have confidence. They have to negotiate contracts, obtain new clients, balance checkbooks, etc. Ask yourself this tough question: Am I a risk taker? If you cannot truly say yes then please don't quit your day job. And if you happen to be unemployed, I suggest you embark on a quest to find work.

Until next time,

~Sandra~

Welcome

Hello my fellow entrepreneurs. I would like to welcome you to my new blog,  "It's Just Business". I created this blog with you in mind. Being in business for yourself  can be quite the task. I mean, let's face it, we all have lives. Some of us still have to work a 9 to 5 in addition to our own business. We have children, husbands, wives, mortgages, rent, car notes, and the list goes on. But what if I told you that being in business could be easy with the right help? That's where I come in. My name is Coach Sandra. I am a business coach for the new entrepreneur with the goal of not only getting into business, but staying in business and being successful at it. No one starts a business with the hope of seeing it fail. No, we start our businesses to live a life free from bosses, deadlines, and time clocks. Working with me can bring you to a level you never thought you could reach in your business ventures. I will be posting helpful hints, information, and advice to help you along on this complicated road called entrepreneurship. It's a road most often traveled alone, but isn't it great to know that now you have someone that can travel it with you?

Until next time,

~Coach Sandra~

P.S. I would love to hear from you. Send your thoughts, questions, and comments to coachsand@gmail.com