Legal Issues about Starting an Online Business

17 replies
Hi Forum,

I'm new to the internet marketing game and I need to know who to go to for advice on tow to set up my company as a legal entity. I know which niche i am going to venture into, but I don't know how to legally set it up into a company.

After I start making my millions, I don't want to run into problems with the IRS, the State tax people, OSHA or whoever. Advice on how to do this will be greatly appreciated.
#business #issues #legal #online #starting
  • Profile picture of the author Steve B
    If you want legal advise, it's best to hire an attorney who specializes in small business startups.

    If you want some help with a company that can do everything for you, go to a place like MyCorporation. There are many similar sites online that will help you for a fee.

    If you just want to purchase some reading material on how to do-it-yourself, start at a place like Nolo.

    Another great site for learning how to be legal in your business is Entrepreneur dot com.

    The very best to you,

    Steve
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    Steve Browne, online business strategies, tips, guidance, and resources
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  • Profile picture of the author gsinfovision
    Banned
    Originally Posted by Walkerburgesses View Post

    Hi Forum,

    I'm new to the internet marketing game and I need to know who to go to for advice on tow to set up my company as a legal entity. I know which niche i am going to venture into, but I don't know how to legally set it up into a company.

    After I start making my millions, I don't want to run into problems with the IRS, the State tax people, OSHA or whoever. Advice on how to do this will be greatly appreciated.
    Thats a very good approach. There are many with money, but very few form companies. That builds up trust too.
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  • Profile picture of the author Hugh
    How I started.

    Find a dot com available pertinent to the intended niche.
    Get a local (city/county) business license in the same name.
    Open a business bank account in the same name.
    Have ALL business income deposited th that biz bank.
    Keep good records.
    Pay your taxes.

    Hope this helps,

    Hugh
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    "Never make someone a priority in your life who makes you an option in theirs." Anon.
    "Some see private enterprise as a predatory target to be shot, others as a cow to be milked, but few are those who see it as a sturdy horse pulling the wagon." -- Winston Churchill

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  • Profile picture of the author Tsnyder
    If you need help deciding on the type of entity
    you want to create it's best to start with a good
    CPA who can advise you of the tax consequences
    of each type of entity.

    Once you've settled on that see an attorney.

    Internet forums are not the place to seek professional
    advice on tax and legal matters.
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    If you knew what I know you'd be doing what I do...
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  • Profile picture of the author Walkerburgesses
    Thanks to all! You have been very helpful.
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  • Profile picture of the author ryanbiddulph
    WB, agreed on Steve's advice

    Hire a lawyer. Warrior members are helpful but if you carry these deep fears/concerns as a newbie, they will follow you around like a little puppy throughout your career until you gain full confidence in legal counsel. Pay for a pro to invest in your present and future peace of mind.

    Here's another free tip: karma protects you against legal problems if you follow your conscience. Multi-millionaire finance guru John Templeton was never sued during his reign over his famed financial company. Imagine that? A finance guy whose massive, successful company was never sued once under his watch? The man generated awesome karma, did people right, prayed and was thankful.

    You can look for every example of people that ran into trouble when they followed greed or fear, instead of their conscience, and you can also check out successful folks who avoided legal entanglements by doing the right thing every step of the way, generating good karma.

    All the best!
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    Ryan Biddulph helps you to be a successful blogger with his courses, manuals and blog at Blogging From Paradise
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  • Profile picture of the author pewpewpewmonkeys
    After I start making my millions...
    It's smart to make things "official", but not before you're even making a profit or doing tings more than just as a side hobby.

    Time is money and you will be wasting both if you pursue being "official" too soon. You can always go back and change things later. If you're making "millions" then the first $40k you made being "unofficial"/sole pro won't be scrutinized as much as you think.
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    Some cause-oriented hackers recently hacked one of my websites. So I researched what they're about and then donated a large sum of money to the entity they hate the most.

    The next time they hack one of my websites I'm going to donate DOUBLE.
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  • Profile picture of the author pewpewpewmonkeys
    After I start making my millions...
    It's smart to make things "official", but not before you're even making a profit or doing tings more than just as a side hobby.

    Time is money and you will be wasting both if you pursue being "official" too soon. You can always go back and change things later. If you're making "millions" then the first $40k you made being "unofficial"/sole pro won't be scrutinized as much as you think.
    Signature
    Some cause-oriented hackers recently hacked one of my websites. So I researched what they're about and then donated a large sum of money to the entity they hate the most.

    The next time they hack one of my websites I'm going to donate DOUBLE.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9088689].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Walkerburgesses
      Sounds reasonable. I'm in the process of getting things up and running. After my ventures become profitable, I will make them into official companies. In the mean time, I will look into the information you guys have given to me.
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      • Profile picture of the author Tsnyder
        Originally Posted by Walkerburgesses View Post

        Sounds reasonable. I'm in the process of getting things up and running. After my ventures become profitable, I will make them into official companies. In the mean time, I will look into the information you guys have given to me.
        If you're referring to the advice to put it off for later
        it is not reasonable... it is not good advice.

        Part of running a successful business is having a plan
        for both the short term and long term. The task of creating
        the proper business entity should be one of the first items on
        your short term planning list if you're serious about running a
        long term profitable business.

        Don't start your business career by putting off one of the most
        important tasks you'll need to accomplish. That attitude will carry
        over into other areas of decision making and set a pattern that will
        likely lead to failure.

        Do what needs to be done... don't put it off.
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        If you knew what I know you'd be doing what I do...
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  • Profile picture of the author ial49ryder
    There aren't many laws you need to comply just some simple ones to remember and they are don't end up not giving what you are offering if you can't give what you promise then it's a scam. Don't have a business that is a pyramid scheme this is bad if you are caught and one more thing is don't state things that isn't back up with facts you must give factual statistics about a product or a business.

    This is part of the compliance course that you get to learn if start a business online which is what I got told to learn from this home business that I am part with for as my full time job.

    Hope this helps. : )
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  • Profile picture of the author BradVert2013
    A lot of it depends on what state your in. This is where a lawyer can save you A LOT of hassle and possible legal trouble. When I started my LLC I had the help of a lawyer who specialized in start-ups, plus an accountant for the financial side.
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  • Profile picture of the author vikash_kumar
    I feel legal issues can be entirely different in various countries. Hence, You need to take help of legal experts in your own area or country to get exact as well as precise advice before taking any step in setting up your legal business entity.

    You can not afford to be at the wrong side in this aspect of the business.
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  • Profile picture of the author pewpewpewmonkeys
    If you're referring to the advice to put it off for later
    it is not reasonable... it is not good advice.
    Based on what, exactly?

    Mowing your lawn is a good thing. But not during a thunderstorm.
    Sleep is wonderful and important. But not while driving.


    It's all relative. Running a business is all about making the correct moves at the correct time. For example, having an LLC as a legal barrier is a great thing, but it would be silly to spend tons of money on getting an LLC when your little blog on $5 hosting and a free wordpress theme hasn't made a single cent. The govment isn't going to suddenly swoop down out of nowhere to draw and quarter you just because you made $4k on a blog as an "unofficial" business.
    Signature
    Some cause-oriented hackers recently hacked one of my websites. So I researched what they're about and then donated a large sum of money to the entity they hate the most.

    The next time they hack one of my websites I'm going to donate DOUBLE.
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    • Profile picture of the author Tsnyder
      Originally Posted by pewpewpewmonkeys View Post

      Based on what, exactly?

      Mowing your lawn is a good thing. But not during a thunderstorm.
      Sleep is wonderful and important. But not while driving.


      It's all relative. Running a business is all about making the correct moves at the correct time. For example, having an LLC as a legal barrier is a great thing, but it would be silly to spend tons of money on getting an LLC when your little blog on $5 hosting and a free wordpress theme hasn't made a single cent. The govment isn't going to suddenly swoop down out of nowhere to draw and quarter you just because you made $4k on a blog as an "unofficial" business.
      No point in debating someone who offers silly analogies. You told me
      all I need to know about your level of expertise when you tossed out
      LLCs... very few people need an LLC but it seems to be the hot "buzz
      word" around here.

      The point is you will never build a sustainable long term business if you
      don't take the time to lay the proper foundation... period. Leaving that
      to the day you feel like doing it or when it seems like a good idea is simply
      an error in judgement that will show up in everything you do.

      I know 98% of the people on this forum aren't business people... they're
      hobbyists hoping to make a profit from their hobby. They may not think
      that's true but every real business person knows it is. Just as every real
      business person knows that when you start a real business you take the
      time to set it up properly before charging into the marketplace.

      Now, a person believe that a sole proprietorship is the right foundation and
      it may be. But if you're the least bit smart about it you will take the time to
      make that decision before jumping into action.

      Simply put... the decision is too important to put off for whenever the
      spirit moves you. Anything else is just plain bad advice.
      Signature
      If you knew what I know you'd be doing what I do...
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  • Profile picture of the author pewpewpewmonkeys
    No point in debating someone who offers silly analogies.
    Says the guy who then types out 5 debating paragraphs.

    You told me all I need to know about your level of expertise when you tossed out LLCs...
    Yes, the fact that I mentioned LLCs in an example automatically means I know absolutely nothing about business. You got me. Secret is out.

    The point is you will never build a sustainable long term business if you don't take the time to lay the proper foundation... period.
    1. No, that wasn't the point at all. That may have been your point. Which I clearly explained why is wrong.

    2. Plenty of people have built stable, long-term businesses without laying "the proper (according to you) foundation." Saying it could never happen is being melodramatic.

    Leaving that to the day you feel like doing it or when it seems like a good idea is simply an error in judgement that will show up in everything you do.
    So far, no one has suggested becoming an official legal entity when "someone feels like it."

    *My* point was that it is needed at the *correct* time. I made this point very clear in my silly analogies you didn't like/understand.

    I know 98% of the people on this forum aren't business people... they're hobbyists hoping to make a profit from their hobby.
    Thank you for further proving my point. It would be absurd for a hobbyist to jump through massive hoops wasting both time and money to achieve a status that does not truly effect them.
    They may not think that's true but every real business person knows it is.
    I agree. Thus my point.

    Just as every real business person knows that when you start a real business you take the time to set it up properly before charging into the marketplace.
    Pfff. Businessmen come in all different varieties. You act as if every successful business of-all-time has always started out with an amazingly perfect foundation. Which is a laughable notion. I'm not sure about "every real business person", but I know that every clever businessman knows how to properly allocate both time and resources. THUS MY POINT.

    Now, a person believe that a sole proprietorship is the right foundation and it may be. But if you're the least bit smart about it you will take the time to make that decision before jumping into action.
    Maybe from a perfectionist point of view. However, there are plenty of businesses that have slowly evolved into what they are today. They took care of what they needed when they were ready for it.

    Simply put... the decision is too important to put off for whenever the spirit moves you.
    Which no one suggested.
    Anything else is just plain bad advice.
    Like, the worst ever.
    Signature
    Some cause-oriented hackers recently hacked one of my websites. So I researched what they're about and then donated a large sum of money to the entity they hate the most.

    The next time they hack one of my websites I'm going to donate DOUBLE.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tsnyder
    Horse = kicked to death. Wise people will read and make their own choice.

    The smart ones will set the foundation before trying to build the house.

    Next...
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    If you knew what I know you'd be doing what I do...
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