Incorporating vs Not Incorporating

2 replies
Hi -

I was wondering who out there has incorporated themselves to run CPA offers vs remaining a Sole Proprietor.

From what I understand you can be liable for damages if you run someone ELSE'S offer that turns out to be a scam. Is this correct ?
Thus meaning possibly all your assets are on the line, and making incorporation (& legal protection) seem very necessary to protect your personal assets.

It would be awesome if some of you could chime in with your experiences in the area of incorporation & asset protection, because it has become a little bit of a mental hurdle for me . . .

I am an individual in California, and wondering about the best possible way to structure a venture into CPA marketing . . .

Also wondering about having a partner, and if it's possible to form a structure to work together & separate.

Any help or advice would be much appreciated.

- J~!
. . . . .
p.s. I searched the forum for a thread specifically pertaining to this and only came up with miscellaneous comments . .
#asset protection #incorporating
  • Profile picture of the author TE2
    My 2 cents...

    1. Incorporating comes with lots of reporting requrements
    2. It's not worth incorporating until you are achieving at least $35K or more annually
    3. Incorporating as a one man show may not protect you - google the term "Piercing the corporate veil"
    4. Also consider an LLC
    5. Don't have partners

    Regards,

    John
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  • Profile picture of the author Kenster
    As a disclaimer, I am not a professional and do not give professional advice. You should consult the appropriate professional.

    But, here are my thoughts...


    Like much of internet business, online commerce of any sort is still very much like the wild west. The rules and laws governing internet business have become more clarified in recent years, but there are still a lot of unknowns. For one, you are dealing with the complexities of cross border commerce. For example, an American citizen can be physically sitting at a computer in Africa running an internet company which is legally located in Australia, but does most of its internet commerce business in the UK.

    To make matters worse, there is a lot of garbage that goes on in the CPA business as I'm sure you are aware. Liability is very grey in the affiliate marketing space. The extent of your liability as an affiliate promoting a CPA offer is not very clear. If you are promoting a CPA offer by its terms but the actual offer violates some laws, it is not very clear the extent responsibility you as an affiliate have.


    Many people doing anything significant at all run as limited liabilities to protect personal assets because of the garbage and the very grey area. Pay the taxes, it stinks but it is what it is and protect yourself and your assets as much as possible. There is a lot of money to be made, so put the right safeguards in place.
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