Podcasts about llc limited liability company

Do you know the risks of not having an LLC in real estate?Make sure to tune in and gain valuable insights from our conversation with Barbara Schreihans. Don't miss out on this enlightening discussion! In this critical episode, we delve into the often-overlooked dangers that real estate professionals face by not establishing an LLC (Limited Liability Company). Join us as tax expert Barbara unpacks the legal nightmares you could encounter and how to effectively shield your assets and future.Subscribe to our channel and hit the notification bell to stay updated with the latest episodes.

In this episode, we dive deep into the world of private sports coaching and discuss whether starting an LLC (Limited Liability Company) is the right move for you. From the potential benefits to the legal considerations, we've got you covered!

Dieses Video erklärt 3 wichtige steuerliche Risiken, die deutsche Unternehmen kennen sollten, bevor sie in den USA eine LLC (Limited Liability Company) gründen. Die erste Steuerfalle ist die doppelte Besteuerung , die entstehen kann, wenn die Gesellschaft in Deutschland als Kapitalgesellschaft von den Behörden eingestuft wird, in den USA aber als Personengesellschaft behandelt wird. Bei der LLC werden dann die Gewinne auf Gesellschaftsebene  in den USA besteuert. In Deutschland gelten die (bereits versteuerten Ausschüttungen) als Dividenden und unterliegen nochmals der Besteuerung in Deutschland. Das zweite Risiko ist die sogenannte Zweigniederlassungs-Steuer (Branch Profit Tax). Diese Steuer muss gezahlt werden, wenn Gewinne aus den USA nach Deutschland transferiert werden und wird wiederum dann zum Problem, wenn die Gesellschaft in Deutschland und den USA jeweils als andere Rechtsform eingestuft wird. Schließlich kann bei einer LLC auch der Ort der Geschäftsleitung zum Steuerproblem werden. Wird die Geschäftsführung faktisch aus Deutschland geführt, kann dies zu einer unerwarteten doppelten Besteuerung führen. Wer also in die USA expandiert, sollte besser eine C-Corporation oder eine Limited Partnership gründen.

Today I want to tell you about our sponsor for this episode,  Olsen  Dental  Chairs!‍‍Imagine you're a dentist and you spend your whole day around the chair...   Well, Olsen has over  40 years of experience in making those long hours as comfortable as possible for both the dentist  and the patient! ‍If you're a dental professional looking for high quality, cost effective, dental equipment, check out Olson dental chairs!Click this link and mention this episode for a limited time FREE installation with your purchase!‍Guest: Rhonda KalashoPractice Name: TruGlow Mordern DentalCheck out Rhonda's Media:Practice Website: https://glomoderndental.com/Email: rhondakalasho@glomoderndental.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.rhondakalasho/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dr.rhondakalasho‍Other Mentions and Links:‍Tools/Resources:HubSpotHubSpothttps://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwjjuryZn42DAxXKB60GHWZzBfYYABAAGgJwdg&ase=2&gclid=Cj0KCQiAyeWrBhDDARIsAGP1mWSmA-wnuIpk3AgrP6Q4LOTx7tZpTWkt9X_vnRvjxA6TpHggzdgGerIaAoxFEALw_wcB&ei=6xJ6ZaSIDeGC0PEP-5GPaA&ohost=www.google.com&cid=CAESV-D2LJrATp36pfi4qgGRCTKgaEIqiHzgIfDNWGIzDXafM7fx84q8a9o3MfxOBrhzqXvVlJtKltzCsaJOIqike632B7HWKepVIukxm2wCNCtob28pZUpKag&sig=AOD64_0lSViVPzY6D95mLKOsmbn2Bwj18A&q&sqi=2&nis=4&adurl&ved=2ahUKEwjkqbaZn42DAxVhATQIHfvIAw0Q0Qx6BAgJEAETrainualPearl (AI software)TurboTaxGoogle AdsCompanies/Brands:BBCMSNBCForbesZocDocInvisalignTerms:HMOMedi-CalROI - Return on InvestmentEBITDA - Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and AmortizationWet DentistryOL - Oral LeukoplakiaAI - Artificial IntelligenceSEO - Search Engine OptimizationPPC AdsLLC - Limited Liability CompanyS CorporationC CorporationW-2CavitronPiezoLocations/Establishments:UCLAUCSD‍Host: Michael Arias‍Website: The Dental Marketer Join my newsletter: https://thedentalmarketer.lpages.co/newsletter/‍Join this podcast's Facebook Group: The Dental Marketer Society‍‍What You'll Learn in This Episode:Dr. Kalasho's journey from graduate to successful entrepreneur owning multiple dental practices.Understanding contracts and the importance of developing sound business acumen.Insights into partnerships and dental practice acquisitions.Using dental insurance as a financial safeguard while maintaining quality care.Implementing AI in dental practices: from patient care to insurance dealings.The role of tax planning and smart investments in building wealth.Please don't forget to share with us on Instagram when you are listening to the podcast AND if you are really wanting to show us love, then please leave a 5 star review on iTunes! [Click here to leave a review on iTunes]‍p.s. Some links are affiliate links, which means that if you choose to make a purchase, I will earn a commission. This commission comes at no additional cost to you. Please understand that we have experience with these products/ company, and I recommend them because they are helpful and useful, not because of the small commissions we make if you decide to buy something. Please do not spend any money unless you feel you need them or that they will help you with your goals.‍Episode Transcript (Auto-Generated - Please Excuse Errors)Michael: All right. It's time to talk with our featured guest, Dr. Rhonda Kalasho. How's it Rhonda: going? Great. Excellent. I'm in Los Angeles. How can I, how can I fight this weather? We got sun. Michael: I know we got, sun yesterday Rhonda: Yeah. Oh yeah. You're, You're not far. got rain ever. There was car accidents everywhere. Cause nobody knows what to do. Yeah. Car accidents everywhere. Exactly. There's traffic. There's like a little splatter of rain and suddenly we don't have driver's license. Did it rain a lot in San Diego or no?Yeah. It rained a lot. It rained a lot. My parents live out there. I live in Los Angeles, but I mean, we had a lot of rain yesterday, but we love it. I love it. I eat it Michael: up. like a nice change of pace of everything. We all feel like we, what do we do? We got to shut down and everything like Rhonda: that.I'm that person that puts up the Christmas decorations the day after Halloween. So now it matches the weather. Michael: That's awesome. So if you can tell us a little bit about your past, your present, how'd you get to where you are Rhonda: today? Yeah, absolutely. I own, uh, multiple practices under one brand called True Glow Modern Dental.Uh, I did end up owning, uh, an HMO practice straight out of residency, which I loved a lot, but, uh, I ended up, it was a partnership that didn't go well. And it's because I didn't really understand contracts at the time and, So I ended up, uh, just selling my shares of that and then purchasing my first office in Hollywood, in 2018, in 2020 I opened up my, uh, Beverly Hills location and now I'm opening up my Calabasas location. I'm pretty busy right now. I have two little ones at home. But what got me into practice ownership is, uh, I really thought that there was a market deficit in dentistry where it's essentially affordable care, but also at the same time, high quality. and I wanted to utilize some of my business background because I was an undergrad as an undergrad major, I was a business administration, major.And then I picked up some of the prereqs before UCLA to finish up. To get into dental school, but I had a good business acumen before I began my dental journey. And I knew that there was, a really great market for potential of membership style dental offices, which don't operate like an insurance, but more like how you would see traditional memberships, businesses operating where you have a fixed monthly amount, and then you are given, Reduce fees or whatever for a service.And so we were able to do that. Um, I also own my own dental laboratory. So my costs are, fixed in a way where I can produce high quality care, but at the same time, affordably for my patients as well. so we're, uh, kind of a niche brand of dentistry. we do have patients that still come in with insurance.We concierge bill their insurance and the patient gets billed or gets paid directly. Um, that's part of my brand. I just wanted to grow and develop this, business perspective that I had even as an undergrad. and now, lo and behold, I actually really love dentistry. I'm still a wet handed dentist, so I do practice all the time. and you can see that on my Instagram page. I do some, uh, pretty crazy video, full mouth rehab cases. I learned that at my residency, which I did at UCSD. And I recommend everybody actually do a residency. Super important. All my, colleagues and associates that work under our brand have done residencies. that's what got me here. I love. Not only the practice of dentistry, but the business, of dentistry as well. Michael: Nice. Okay. So it's good. Let's rewind a little bit. You said you immediately out of residency, you jumped into practice ownership. You owned HMO. Crazy me. Yeah. Why, Why did you do that?Well, I Rhonda: did go into, office kind of thing a little bit. I did that for like two months and it just didn't fit my style. I wanted certain equipment, I wanted certain things when I would work and it was just the bare bones. I remember being asked to do endo without a rubber dam and without all of a sudden it was just like, I was just kind of.Especially when you're out of dental school you're, you're kind of still into the standard of care and you're really wanting to make sure that you're practicing that as such. And I remember the corporate setting was very much a patient push and making sure that they finish the treatment, make sure that they get the treatment done, make sure that you hit your quotas and all that.And it's all respectable. That's fine. Everybody needs to be aware of numbers, but it became more of less. Quality of and more of just pushing dental treatment out. Um, I quickly ran away from that, but found a great office that I liked a lot. They did accept HMOs and HMO style Cal office. was nice and you can still be very profitable in that market. It's not like you need to be all fee for service to be profitable as a medical or HMO dental practice. It's just a different practice setting. but they're still very profitable practices. And so if people are out there looking at maybe buying in or buying, only a fee for service office.Fee for service offices are incredibly difficult to maintain and hold because as soon as a patient gets insurance, they may leave you, um, as opposed to an insurance based practice, even in the worst times of economic issues But for fee for service, you may find that if you're just collecting free for service, you'll have a lot of waxing and waning of the times and then you'll have these tides of Being really busy and then not being really busy.and that could be really detrimental, but I got into the HMO practice, and then I was offered a partnership, um, because I expressed actually my, my goal of practice ownership. So that's how I got in so quickly. Um, so I, expressed that during my business, meetings with them that I wanted to get involved in as being a practice owner.Um, so I quickly got into that. but the, the way that it was laid out was of course, I just kind of went and read the contract myself. I didn't have a lawyer read it over. I didn't. And so what ended up happening at the end is I put a lot of my own equity in it, but didn't get a good return.and that's a pro, I mean, I always. Call my career as a, constant trajectory of falling forward because I'm constantly making mistakes. And I don't know everything that I'm doing every day. That is a hundred percent. This is the right way of doing it, but a part of building yourself as a professional and an entrepreneur is making mistakes and being okay with that, but you have to learn and learn why it was done and not reproduce the same mistakes.Michael: Interesting. Okay. And it's interesting your, point on fee for service and insurance. I feel like right now, a lot of the practices we're trying to kind of transition out of insurance, right? We're saying, Hey, I want to drop all that because I can't, you know, they're, judging our, work, when we do that.But when it comes to the other way around, how you mentioned it, Hey, if you start off fee for, so what do you recommend Rhonda? lot of the times we want to just start off hitting the ground running fee for service, and a lot of the times. Some people recommend, hey, get some assurances, then slowly drop them off.And then completely go fee for service. Rhonda: Yeah. Absolutely. I think if you build it, they will come depending on how you're going to build it. If you want to build it as a fee for service practice, you may want to just stick to it. It does create a fire under your butt to make sure that you're keeping your practice going.Because if you kind of get into this. The cushion of insurance and insurance does offer cushion, although sometimes we deem them as being, subpar and they're not paying us or reimbursing as well at the end of the day. if it is an 800 crown, if you're taking two hours to do that, yeah, that's.And this is for the new dentists. your, your chair time should be a thousand dollars an hour. If that's what you want to see it as. And that's just basic, right? Like just if you think about how much you're going to have to spend in overhead, dental overhead is incredibly expensive because hygienists get paid a lot.Dental office managers get paid a lot. Dental assistants nowadays, especially in Los Angeles, their average salary is 23 an hour. That's average. So that's a lot. And by the way, they're very accustomed to getting, full benefits. So they do have our, in our practices, they have health insurance, they have gym memberships.They have a lot of stuff that, that is given. 401ks. They have dependents that can get health insurance in our practice. We run it like a corporation and people are very accustomed to that. Even if you're a small dental office, you have to offer these kinds of things. So to that, you have to say that the overhead clearly is very expensive and a lot of your, third party payers, like your dental laboratory is a cost.And the equipment and supplies is also a cost. So yeah, insurance paying you 800 is very low, but if you are, able to do a very nice quality prep, remove all the decay and all that in like 30 minutes, it's not that bad. And that's better than making, not making no money in that time.there is a misconception also that. being really busy means that you are making more money. And those sometimes those HMO practices who are super, super busy, they're pumping out patients left and right. At the end of the day, the fee for service person who saw two patients as opposed to 15 patients is still making the same amount.So it doesn't mean that you have to be very busy, but you just have to create this niche brand or a market for someone to want to pay a fee for service as opposed to going out with insurance. But if you're going to do insurance, a couple things it's good to build the practice, with insurance, if you have nothing there, but if your intention is to drop those insurances, then maybe not sign up for a lot of them because a lot of the times patients will.Leave you as much as you are a great dentist and all of us love to pat ourselves on the backs and they'll go, we're so amazing. No, one's going to leave us, but I'll tell you, they'll leave you so fast. So as soon as you tell them, okay, so your copay is not 300 anymore, you gotta pay 2, 500 for this crown.They're going to run like the wind, right? So like they're going to go to, they'll look to Yelp or something and try to get. Something better, but I'm saying that they're what you have to understand is if you're going to be a fee for service office, you have to provide a service that is very much, reflective of the amount you're asking this person to pay.So you have for every beck and call, you have to offer 24 hour concierge service. You have to talk to them. you have to understand these people, 2, 500 for a lot of people for many people is a lot of money. And that's one crown, right? So if you're going to offer this kind of service to them and your fee for service and not offering any other benefits to them, even if it's payments that you're offering, they are paying this whole dollar amount rather than going through their insurance, which may be paid through their employer.So you have to create your business models are completely different. So you have to be okay with it. You can meet the same bottom line. You can meet the same profits, but when your HMO got to go faster, you got to move faster. You can't just dilly dally, talk to the patients too long, blah, blah, blah. But you also need to treat them like people.It's very important. People also don't want to be treated like cattle, right? they're still paying whatever they're paying for that. So they're going to come in and they want to be respected in the time, but you have to be mindful of your time if you're doing HMO and even PPO.But even PPO insurances don't pay well either, some of them do, some of them pay well, but you still have to. Make sure that you are being aware of you almost have a calculator in your head that your should not be wasted because the overhead is too much and you'll find yourself in a very bad zone your PNL statements where you're seeing your profits kind of dwindle.So just making sure that you're aware of that and speed it up if you're HMO PPO fee for service you can kind of create a little bit more of a pampering effect. Yeah. Michael: Interesting. So then, fee for service, like you said, pampering effect, HMO, or like Medi Cal, right? You'd really, or not Medi Cal, you'd really have to hone in on your efficiency.Oh, yeah, Rhonda: especially when they're first out of dental school, like you got, I remember three hours to do a crown nowhere in private practice is three hours for a crown going to be efficient for anybody, like anybody, not the practice, not the patient. The patient's experience is going to suddenly start to, I remember numbing the patient so many times in dental school because it would fade.I would like, you know, and then they're like, ah, they're constantly moving. It's, It's just, you don't want to. You have to make sure that their experience and what they're feeling in that moment, all that is always in your mind. And this is, that's why dentistry is so hard. You're like a psychologist.You're like a business owner. You're like their friend, but then also their doctor. And then you're sitting with multiple hats and still trying to work. in a kind of a bloody messy environment and work at the millimeter, you know, like, so is a tough job, but it's a, it's also one of the best fields, to be in.Michael: Yeah. Yeah. Interesting. Okay. So then if we fast forward a little bit more, you talked about your partnership, how it did not go well. and you mentioned that you put a lot of equity, but you didn't get a good ROI out of it. Right. Specifically, where did you feel like you missed the mark? Where you're like, yeah, if I would have seen that and you want to kind of give us advice or warn us about that.Rhonda: Yeah. I think I wouldn't, what ended up happening is it was. I was the only one working there. Okay. So there was nobody else there. And so as I was building up this practice and bringing in all the things that I have done for my own brand, I was, buying dental equipment.And leasing it out under my name and doing all this others and not under the corporation and not under the partnership. It was only for me. I was putting in all this dollars, all this money marketing was spent through me. I started my own Instagram page. I started the own Facebook page. I was doing so much and then bringing up this practice and its value.And then when I was, uh, told to. Buy in, I was bought in at the practice value that I brought in. Right. so I put in the money and then bought myself back. Right. And so It didn't work when I got paid out because I got paid out before the money I put in.So it was, I had built it up to what it was and it was just the way that it was laid out. It was really laid out in an unfair way. definitely just kind of taking advantage of a person just. That is maybe not of the nuances of contracts, especially between partners, but just as a pearl to people is that you have to make sure that you have a lawyer reading any agreement that you sign and that they can kind of give you the ins and outs of that and understand that even, you know, you're going to Google and all that kind of stuff.it may be true because especially when you're first out of school, you don't have a lot of money to hire a lawyer or somebody to help you out with that. But even if you have maybe family member that may help you out for your charge to read some of the contracts is going to help. I just got a little, you know, I got a little too pompous and said, Oh, this is, it sounds great.I can have 40 percent ownership and you never get really majority, but, uh, no, I didn't have, I actually had 11%. but I'm saying that sometimes it could be offered You're never really going to be offered a majority. Anybody who owns a practice should not give actually majority.To a colleague or an associate, this is still your baby. This is still your brand and your corporation. you don't want to give a majority because you still want to hold, a lot of the, um, the voting rights and all that would fall ultimately onto you. You don't want your brand to be carried on by someone else, if you want somebody invested.Into your practice because you never wash rental car, right? And you never put glass in a rental car. You kind of just give it to them as all beat up. But if somebody is going to invest in your practice and they've been with you for many years, giving them some sort of equity or practice ownership in the practice itself or in the corporation is actually a great idea. but, uh, they have to also be vested with you, uh, financially and in time, both monetarily and in time. Michael: Okay. Gotcha. Interesting. So then right after that, you decided, all right, let's see, I'm going to start my own thing or were you, you worked for a private, right? You worked for a private practice?I worked for Rhonda: a private practice, uh, for a little bit, maybe like two months. And then I did for like another three, all together, maybe six months after graduating, I, uh, ended up getting into this partnership. but then as soon as my partnership was settled out and I got whatever I could get out of it, I used that money to buy a practice that wasn't doing well at all.It was actually a bankrupt practice, a beautiful location, what I noticed about that practice is they had a really. Robust hygiene department, their patients were coming in regularly. They were seeing about, you know, six patients a day in hygiene and they had four hygiene days. but I noticed the doctor's schedule was dead because the doctor wasn't there.So they had this essentially just a sitting body of water it's like, well, if you have a good hygiene department, there's no reason why a restorative. section of that practice should not be thriving as well because those patients are coming in regularly. You should be doing exams.You should be following up with their care, but they were just coming in for cleanings and then just being off on their way and coming back in another six months. But was no doctor to sometimes even treatment plan them in that day. It's because that just that doctor does. Felt like dentistry was not for them.they didn't like practice ownership at all. And, um, I, at that time had met a broker at a convention at the CDA conference. And he was, uh, like, you know, kind of kept in contact with me, gave me all these, uh, potential offices. This one was just cheap because of its, uh, you know, annual, salary that it was receiving and it's was very low.Or even it wasn't, wasn't good at all, but it was a practice that I could buy relatively dirt cheap. And, but when I got in there, they had carpet, hate carpet in a dental office. If you guys have it, maybe get rid of it, but. it's so gross.Okay. But, but the, the lobby, I remember the chairs are like these dental, these like not dental school. They were like school, like schoolyard chairs. And then they were like propped up by magazines and, um, the front desk person didn't even acknowledge when I walked in there and it was like, just like the walls were blue.It was just like such a. ugly thing. But I, had a vision and I had a goal in mind. I wanted to buy a practice. So this was for all intents and purposes, a great find. It had a great hygiene department. It needed a pick me up. and it's slowly, but surely over the years. And I went from, uh, that office 2018 to 2020 in the middle of a pandemic opening another one.So it's fully doable to ramp up even a shitty practice, but you can still ramp it up if you have the vision in mind there. But so it was considered an acquisition, there's build outs and there's an acquisition. that one was an acquisition because it was still owned by someone.But When I got in there, you have an option of actually keeping on the staff or you can, find new ones, right? Or you don't have to keep everybody on when you actually find yourself on the first day of an acquisition, you present everybody there with a letter. And generally they're not knowledgeable that the practice was even being sold. that's common practice, uh, that. we don't spook people out, right? When sometimes when even patients hear that there is a new practice that's coming in or owner that's coming in, they may leave you're acquiring a practice, a lot of the times they don't inform them until the practice is acquired and then you can send out a bunch of, emails or letters out to the patient and then to the staff.So in my case, when I came in, I was not in love with the staff. I didn't like. That the front person didn't acknowledge that I was there, didn't even look up from her computer. I didn't like that the hygienist, uh, was not using cavitrons or was just basically using prophy cups. It wasn't like scaling or any of that.I ended up just firing everybody and starting fresh. again I had a vision of someone when you walk the room, they're bubbly, they're happy. They are the first introduction to your practice before they even, even on the phone, you can hear them. You know, you want somebody that is going to drive in patients and that.really somber person in the front plays a damper on the mood everywhere. It's like, try to DMV. Do you, everyone look happy? No, it's like you just, everyone's pissed because the person in the front is not the Walmart reader. Like I walk in and I love it. Right. I'm like, yeah, we're here. Okay. Like that's right.Yeah. You're at a shop. Like That's what you want. And what I felt like this is definitely a branding issue. And when you're building a brand, this is stuff that you have to think about. You have to think about the smell. You have to think about the sights. You have to think about the colors.These are all very much, uh, part of even dentistry, because dentistry is a small little business. So you have to know, you can't just pop in with ugly carpet and propped up, uh, chairs. Michael: Yeah, it's interesting that you did that though, because I guess like advise, it's like, yeah, you know, here's the thing.When you do an acquisition, a lot of the times the team may feel betrayed by their original doctor and saying, how come you didn't let us know this, we've been with you forever. We would have understood this. Right. so there's that trust that kind of like deteriorates. Then they kind of start having the fear, like, oh my gosh.Who's this doctor? Who's this young doctor? I know more than her, right? Especially those older office managers. Like they're like, Oh no, no, no, no, sweetie, please can tell you how to do this. Right. And then they try to run it. But letting go everybody at once, how'd you do that? or could you have coached anybody like, cause the hygienist sounded like they were still really good cause they were keeping people on.Rhonda: Yeah. so, for the front person, honestly, I just felt like she didn't even their AR reports cause you do a due diligence on the practice when you're acquiring it their. AR, which is accounts receivable, was very high. So they were collecting zero copay and just kind of letting the person know.I mean, I did, I'll say this, I did give them a chance, right? Like talking to them, um, about maybe collecting copays before the patient comes in, talking about deposits and immediately they shut it down. If someone is not on. your same mindscape and they're not, actually thinking on your level and that they want to build this practice, they're going to be a plague on the practice.So you should immediately just squash it, right? Because if that person is not like. Excited. Oh yeah. There's a new person here with all this energy wants to ramp it up and they're feeling it. They're like, yeah, okay, let's do it. Yeah, we definitely. there, and when you bring up, a report to someone cause I remember sitting next to this, the front office person was also there.It wasn't, she didn't have an office manager. It was a very small skeleton practice. Actually it had no dental assistant. Um, so the person in the front actually, uh, worked as the dental assistant and the person in the front. So I wouldn't say I fired, but everybody, I mean, there wasn't really much of anybody.There was an associate that popped up and did like an OL every 10 months, right? Um, like, which is a. You guys all know dental ever. You're on. Well, like a little tiny filling like every day and then didn't even take out all the amalgam. It was just like, I don't know what the hell I was looking at, but it didn't have a huge, practice.It wasn't like I fired 11 people. I fired three people that were unnecessary. Right. That didn't meet the. And then when I, if I talked to the hygienist and I told, you know, look at the, there are studies on. arrest in their studies on laser. Do you? I'm going to pay for you to take some of these courses. I want you to learn how to do a laser debridement.I want you to use the air polisher or whatever, all these other things that you can provide rather than a prophy cup. Maybe just learn how to scale a little bit, right? Because there's all this plasma this person's tooth. Use the cabotron, use the piezo. And oh, you know, I don't know, you know, I'm really good with this tool and literally how it holds one tool for every surface of the tooth.And it's like, okay, if you're not ready, To change and be part of this, essentially look at where we are now. I had a goal in mind, right? If you weren't ready to hop on my back and I, and fly with me, I'm going to leave you on the ground. You're done. Right? Because then you're going to be a plague on my practice.You're going to be a splinter and I can't move on. Right. I can't get to where I need to be. if you're trying to get from here to there with the same people it's not going to happen. And even when you get to there, you grow, you get more people So my practice has grown significantly from those three people I fired.I now I'm 50 employees deep, right? And every one of them is very much attuned to our mission and our practice philosophy. And we, we really spend a lot of time in making sure that everyone is on the same page. Michael: Okay. So that's interesting. That's really, really good then. So. I know you mentioned that, oh, how long have you been in practice Rhonda: ownership for?Uh, 2018. Michael: How many years? 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25. Five? Five years. Five years. Man, how many practices do you have currently? Like working and running? Rhonda: Uh, now three. Yeah. Three. Los Angeles. Los Angeles. No. Oh, well, Beverly Hills. They're all in Los Angeles. So I just stick in this area. Um, they're Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and Calabasas.Jeez. Michael: And that's such a saturated. So how did you do it? Why? here? Like Rhonda: why? I like torture. It's nice. It was, It was terrible. Yes. You said saturated. Absolutely. In my building alone on the same floor, I have four dentists. Michael: Yeah. It was great. So then me ask you, why did you decide to do that? How did you make it grow so much so fast to where you're like, we're three and I think you're on another build out, you said, right?Rhonda: I'm on another build out and then, yeah, I'm on a build out right now. I'm actually in the middle. I got permits for it yesterday, so I'm super excited. So that I have a team that's going to come in and just do our same look. We have a systems always we try to reproduce it and then I have a projection for 2025 is an acquisition.So I'm currently just looking at potential acquisitions as well. Michael: these aren't build outs like ground Rhonda: up. No, they're not The next one is going to be an acquisition because, uh, these buildouts in Los Angeles, the thing is that you can't really own buildings in Los Angeles. They're either grandfathered in, they're incredibly expensive.Like we're not talking about like, I'm sure Nebraska parts of it is expensive, but like, you know, there's some parts like Arkansas, whatever people are going to buy these massive buildings. Right. And that's amazing. I love that. I'm married to this city. Okay. Because I married my husband's out here.My family's out here. I would love to get into more of a less saturated environment. I bet you, I can kill it somewhere else. Right. But I am now getting tortured and killed here, but I've grown to realize, um, what is needed in this kind of market and facilitate a growth.Um, and a lot of it has to do with. front loading, a lot of marketing right off the bat and then getting a good SEO, doing PPC ads, um, doing even mail marketing campaigns. You're kind of just throwing everything out there and then seeing what sticks because a lot of times you may have mail marketing not work out, but in some locations it works out because the demographics still checks her mail in Hollywood.Mail marketing for me does not work. Right. But PPC campaigns and local ad campaigns with Google works out for me, having my, website, really honed in on keywords and all that kind of stuff and having good SEO that's going to manage. the traffic that's coming in is really important for Hollywood for Beverly Hills.There's an older demographic there's a bunch of homes around there. these male marketing campaigns and even being in magazines or whatever it is, those tend to actually work. we still, of course, run our Google. Everybody still uses Google or we're going to, uh, aside that we're talking about other things.Facebook. It's still working with that. Calabasas is the same. These locations are, if they're mostly have homes around you rather than apartments and stuff like that, because I think the apartments, it's a very transient, uh, living situation. You may have some people coming in for a couple of months and leaving mail marketing campaigns don't always work out. these, uh, physical, uh, news articles and whatever it is, may not be working out, but, uh, I also have found, um, being in Hollywood, I was reached out a couple of times by magazines, right? And so like our lure, BBC, MSNBC, I was on Forbes for Hollywood's, they called me the most stylish dentist.I don't know. Okay. But I think it sounds like I was a stylish dentist, but I think they were talking about practice when you were getting into the article, but like the style, the brand was there and it was recognized by Forbes, um, as being a nice office, a nice dental office, and then offering some services to patients that were.Really high tech. But anyhow, we digress on that. But I'm saying that these are some things that I was reached out to. And then my online presence grew because they put me in online articles, right? So they kind of all just fueled each other. And it, and sometimes some people Are not as lucky in that area to find out what works right away.But you want to try different marketing strategies. Um, not every practice is going to feel a good strategy with one as opposed to another. I remember when I was in Orange County. So my first, uh, practice location was up there. HMO one, but That one did really well with like those, but this was a couple of years ago.I don't know, but those apps where you can kind of make your own appointment like ZocDoc and, Oh yeah. Uh huh. Uh huh. Yeah. So they were doing really well there with that. Same with Hollywood because there's are like techie, uh, younger generations, right? Like, so you may want to look, put yourself on one of those platforms where they can get onto your, appointment scheduler and put themselves in there because people don't want to call.Some demographics don't want to call you. Right. And so like there's a younger generation who completely functions a hundred percent on their phone. They emailed a text. They don't even have laptops, right? They're all, everything's on their phone. So even optimizing your website to look good on a cell phone is also incredibly important.You can hop onto different dental offices and you'll see that maybe their website for the phone is not easy. It's like a mess. You have to shrink it really low, move it up this way. It's like, you can't find their number because it hasn't been optimized for mobile. these are some things that you definitely want to look into your practice to make sure that you are marketing to the right group.Who's your demographic that you're trying to aim for? And, uh, what keywords are you using for your SEO? If you're doing primarily Invisalign, where do you rank on the Invisalign when somebody puts Invisalign in? I'm picking on Arkansas. I don't know, but there's a line Arkansas, right?Like I want to go to Arkansas too. Michael: You're like, man. Okay. So that's interesting. When it comes to this, you said you front load a lot at the beginning of marketing. I guess specifically, how much did you front? Rhonda: Yeah. A lot, uh, 15, 000, um, in marketing the first month. Michael: Uh, every month for or just the first month, Rhonda: every month for almost like a year.But now in terms of marketing, we're way past that. We're at like 30, 000. It's still going to grow. It's not going to get smaller, but you have to think about it as your ROI. You're spending that much and you have to think, okay, how much am I spending per patient to come in? if you spent a 15, 000 and let's say that the person, the patient came in and the price on their head was 150, but they came in.And they spent 2000, they spend a thousand, whatever it is, you have to be able to know your, your numbers of the practice and, and be able to decipher if some of those marketing campaigns are helpful. And you have to also make sure you train your staff and be part of your systems to ask the patient, whoever is calling, how did you hear about us?Because that is going to be key for you not to overspend marketing. Oh, Google. Okay. Well, let's put a tick on Google. website referrals. At this juncture, I'm actually now, this is what also people need to understand. You can get really high in marketing, but you don't need to spend that amount every single month.Right? There's some points where you're noticing you're getting 50 new patients. Okay. That's amazing. A month for practice is great. 50 new patients is wonderful. Should I fall back on my marketing? Maybe not. Just don't spend more. Okay. And then what we found is we're getting new patients, but mostly now it's referrals.So I'm actually haven't spent more on marketing in the last year. It's just been kind of the same. So over time, when your brand develops and your practice develops, you may not need to spend this money all the time. You may not need to add more fuel to the fire. it can carry on in itself by creating the environment that a patient will want to come back and see you guys and maybe refer a family member because referrals are above all the best.They are the best. That's why reviews. You always want to make sure your reviews are very good. you really want to get everyone involved and gamify your reviews and gamify your practice so that everybody in the practice is aiming towards making sure that your ratings online is always at its best.and it's because this unfortunately in our society will hurt you the most. And it doesn't matter who you are, what your name is, blah, blah, blah. one time I referred, I know he's an excellent doctor. He's amazing actually. he's on a study club with me and does all this stuff. I was referring him over to someone and I went on his Yelp and I'm like, Oh no. I know. He's really good. What are these on there? Right. And then like, I was like, Oh my God, that's his reviews. And then it makes you even question if this guy is good. Right.And you're like, no, he's awesome. What is that? And then, uh, you know, that's going to make your practice suffer. And it's also going to, uh, definitely create a taste in someone's mouth when they come into your practice that they immediately think you're going to be bad, but have to always maintain those reviews.You always have to put a positive, self out there, even if you're having super crappy day, which a lot of us do, obviously we, this is why also this practice lifestyle is stressful because you can have a crappy day, but you have to walk in and be all smiles. It is good. No one is dying next door. You know, like, Oh, like, you know, you want to be really, I didn't come inand, and give that kind of persona.And it really helps build up those reviews and just make sure that you are constantly also asking for them. You don't want to just assume they're going to leave you a review because the person who's going to leave you the reviews that when you don't want leaving a review, but the person who was like, you guys are awesome.You should ask them. Even as the dentist, I don't know why we think we're above that. We're not above that. This is still, this is your practice, right? this is what you spent your money and your time and your blood and your self, your all that on. And if someone is, saying, wow, and giving you some credence on your practice, they love it.Then ask them, you know, I know it's going to take a lot of time out of your day. I really appreciate if you just do that. Um, if you don't want to, no problem, but I just like, it really helps us out and humble yourself. you should always humble yourself in life and in your practice and in your chair is nothing that glorified you above anybody else.You know, stoop down to always look at the patient when they're talking to you, not at their mouth, but in their eyes. sit at their level. Don't stand above them, bring them up when you're talking to them, not lay them down. You, these, this is never have a opinion of yourself.You certainly just always to just level yourself up with your staff and with your patient. And I parent promise you, these reviews are going to read for themselves because now you are. You're real. you're not fakely asking, Hey, you want to leave us a review?And like you were just a dick to them the whole time. Now you're asking for, right? so make sure you keep up with that the whole time. Michael: Yeah, I like that authenticity, right? So then when it comes to, you mentioned there's something, you do, you have a system that you like to reproduce. When it comes to these practices, what is it? Rhonda: Yeah, so the systems are and they can vary between different offices, but systems it's such a word that's so loaded because a lot of times like we have systems and what does that mean? Right? What is the system? So a systems is. the time a patient calls your office and even before that, how did you get that call?How did that call get intercepted? how did the person answering the phone answer that phone? How are they put into your scheduler? How are they followed up with? These are systems. So the step by step by step by step of getting a patient ultimately in the chair in your office.going over your treatment plan and now appointing them for the treatment because you have to appoint them. You can't just say, I got you in the chair. I did a profi and now you're gone. That's not how you need to reappoint them. an order for that patient to be successful and in your chair and having, and I don't want to, I'm going to just divert a little bit, a patient. value comes from their recare and recall and reemergence of them back into your system. One person comes in and you never see them again. That was not a successful new patient encounter. That patient goes on an inactive list. That patient is essentially Lost. You spent marketing dollars on them.You spent all the time on them. You paid the hygienists to see them. You did saw the assistant. You spent the time with them and it's lost, right? You need to create a systems. where a patient that sits in the chair reappoints themselves for either follow up cleaning or follow up care or whatever it is and stays within your practice, right?And so they stay within your active patient pool. Uh, we consider like active patients, someone who's been at least in within the year or 18 months or whatever it is. So keep mindful of that. This patient needs to be seen for recare. don't call it recall because recall sounds like something's wrong with you, right?So I would recommend that you say recare appointment rather than a recall appointment. and then I give that that's credit to UCLA's Dr. Goldstein practice management class, because I remember that was a, one of the slides on his, uh, I never appreciated that until practice where I remember saying, we'll see you on recall.And then the patient was like, Is it like, wrong, like something is wrong, like it's recalled, like, right? So, like, no, no, we just need to re carry, right? And so it's re carrying, the vocabulary is also important. Anyways, these are all part of systems, right? The vocabulary, the way you speak, the way you point them, the way you follow up with them.And it needs to be laid out. in a way where it's not printed and in a binder and put somewhere collecting dust. Welcome to 2023. Everything is online, right? Everything is online. Choose whatever system you want to do, but make sure it's accessible to everyone and that everybody knows your systems from the front office to the back office.Everyone needs to be aware of the way that your practice runs and how you would handle certain situations. Because once you, as a business owner, Leaves or moves away or whatever not leaves like physically leaves this practice and now comes into a perspective where I'm at where I'm mostly Managing I need to make sure people are aware of how to handle a situation without calling me a hundred times, Michael: right?Yeah, gotcha. So you created this systems how like you just record every single thing you're doing and you're like, what's working? And then pivot To do better and better and better, or? Rhonda: Absolutely. And how many times I've been asked, like, can I have a layout of your manual?And I would say, honestly you need to look at your practice, from a specific, It's, not subjective, it's really objective the way that you should be looking at your, practice. Like, so you need to handle each and every practice needs to be done differently. And so if one thing works in one practice may not work in another, but make sure you are understanding what worked.What marketing tactics worked, uh, how your systems are, the way that you walk a patient to the back, do you have a routing slip, because that's part of our system. Some people don't have routing slips, where it says next visit, where it says when the last cleaning was. These are part of systems.Does a routing slip work for you? Do you want your assistant to write your notes? If they want to write your notes, you have templates for them. These are specific things that may work for practice to practice, but see what works for you and get that written down somewhere. That's accessible. And not only in your head, it needs to be transcribed because it's going to be ultimately in order to scale and not only to scale, you can remain in your own practice, but maybe over a couple of years, add more dental chairs, maybe by the building, whatever it is, you don't have to go into multiple practices.There is some dentists. that are very near and dear to me, which I love, and they're killing it with one practice, giant location, like one location. It's huge. Right there. They see as many patients as I do, but just in one location. And so they've scaled. their practice, their one practice to an extraordinary size and they have, worked their systems to what works for them.Michael: Gotcha. Interesting. Okay. So then the systems is tailored to like the practice, obviously, right. But at the same time. I guess it's more like we have to start documenting everything right now and then kind of continue to pivot and pivot. Yeah. Rhonda: There's a lot of like, HubSpot may have something, but like also there's something called training all that also has like an online app, um, that you can do.There's a lot of sites that you can actually create, uh, like leaderboards. For your practice, and that's really good because you can put quizzes on there, like when you're training someone, how do you train them? Do you physically have to train them? Like, because some people learn differently, you may need to, um, Train them, physically show them, show them pictures, show them video, and then maybe take a quiz at the end, like, you know, so yeah, there is a lot of systems that you can look into that may fit your practice, different pricing and all that kind of stuff, but I would recommend is online stuff, app, you can even right now, you can find a bunch of developers that can develop stuff just for you. I utilize a lot of AI in my practice. and, with the development of AI, I've utilized AI where a lot of people have never even thought to use AI, but I've gotten people who develop AI to specifically build stuff for my practice that I think that has helped. I've paid them out and it's just mine. It's not anybody else's. You can't actually go buy it, but I thought this is what I need. And with the cloud based systems, like, so I used to have All my practices were on a server and we were using, but they're now cloud based systems, like, I'll use a different word besides systems but practice management systems, So practice management systems, sometimes it used to be on a server. Now you'll find a lot of them on the cloud. The cloud based servers are a lot better because you can really build. softwares within them that can function for your practice and specifically for them. And you can get the coding and all that kind of stuff.You can find them on like squad help or whatever. Um, but you'll, you can find people who are really good in development and build stuff for your practice. Um, and then that goes into even apps. Maybe you can make an app for all your videos and your, web, information, like your employee handbook and stuff can be on there too.Michael: What have you created with, so far Rhonda: for your practice? So far I have a robot that calls all the dental insurances that are, because we're out of network and we still have concierge dental. So the concierge style. So even if they have dental insurance, we tell them, sure we'll get a breakdown for you and send it out.Ri

It's Tax Tuesday again, and Toby Mathis, Esq., hosts, with special guest Eliot Thomas from Anderson Advisors, and they are here to help answer your questions. On today's episode, Eliot and Toby answer listener questions including what can be written off as far as expenses for the preparation costs of setting up an LLC, several questions (as usual) around short- and long-term rentals, real estate investments, passive vs. active income connected to your properties, and quite a bit of information about cost segregation – who to work with, what you can deduct, the timelines, etc. If you have a tax-related question for us, submit it to taxtuesday@andersonadvisors. Highlights/Topics: "If I put a short-term rental in operation in October or November, does the bonus depreciation get prorated accordingly?" We're looking at whether or not we prorate from October November for the rest of the year, or how do we handle that? – It doesn't matter whether you bought it in January or December, you put it into service before the end of the year, not prorated. "Useful strategies for pulling money out of a small business tax-free, not being double taxed?" - The only time you ever worry about a double tax is when you have a C-corp because they're taxed at the corporate level. "Mileage deduction in a partnership, does this go on a Schedule C?" - No, it doesn't. Number four, "Is the expense related to the preparation of your LLC tax deductible such as travel costs to go see a property, et cetera?" – The expense relating to the preparation of your LLC is absolutely deductible. It's going to be an organization expense up to $5000 for the year, and that includes the state fees, the registered agent fees, accounting fees, attorney's fees. "Please talk about the $25,000 deduction for real estate investing. Where does it apply and where doesn't it? I have only one rental single-family home at this time." - When you have passive losses, normally, they only offset passive income. One of the exceptions is this $25,000 active participation. "How should I set up my taxes on my properties?” – We're looking at an LLC (Limited Liability Company), probably one that's what we call disregarded. Disregarded means it just doesn't file a tax return. “I have two rental properties in California I've been managing full-time since 2021. I have been working more than 700 hours per year. Do I qualify for real estate professional status? If so, what is the process at the time of filing the 2022 taxes?" – It's 26 USC 469(c)(7). You can go straight to it. You need to aggregate those two properties as one activity. Otherwise, you have to meet that test for each property. "What is cost segregation?" - Cost segregation is a fancy way of saying you're breaking a piece of property that's real estate into its pieces, as opposed to just treating it as one uniform structure. (Picket fence, sidewalk, driveway pavers, new carpet, new appliances, etc.)...you need to do what's called a cost segregation test or report, which is what cost segregation refers to, which means having an accountant pop out to the house, and break these down into their pieces. "Is it more beneficial as an LLC owner to pay myself as a W-2 or 1099 employee?" - There's no such thing as a 1099 employee, The correct term is a W-2 employee or a 1099 independent contractor. I would say it depends on how that LLC is taxed. If you are an LLC that's disregarded and your sole proprietorship, you cannot pay yourself a salary. "What are some creative ways to save money on the gains from real estate investing?" - Here are some cool ones - (1) The low-lying fruit, 1031 Exchange and you defer the gain. (2) You can also still do this thing called a qualified opportunity zone. Lastly, "Hi. How are crypto gains taxed? When? At the time of selling the crypto to convert back to cash? I have been doing short-term trading with my own account. Please advise the best strategies to minimize taxes. My hubby is W-2 and I'm a real estate professional with three rentals. Thank you." – Once you own the crypto, it's when you sell it or when you convert it, or trade it for something else of value. Protect it with a partnership LLC, or put it in a Roth, or deferred retirement account. Rapid-fire chat questions answered at the end of the show Resources: Cost Seg Authority Website https://costsegauthority.com/ Email us at Tax Tuesday taxtuesday@andersonadvisors.com Tax and Asset Protection Events https://andersonadvisors.com/real-estate-asset-protection-workshop-training/ Anderson Advisors https://andersonadvisors.com/ Toby Mathis YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@TobyMathis Toby Mathis TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@tobymathisesq  

Muchas personas desean saber cómo formar una Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada o LLC - Limited Liability Company fácil. Por este motivo, he preparado este podcast para explicarle en 10 sencillos pasos cómo usted deberá hacerlo. Si desea saber todos los detalles, no se despegue. Bienvenidos! ¡Que tenga un excelente Día! ✅VISITE MI PÁGINA WEB DE SERVICIO DE PREPARACIÓN DE IMPUESTOS

Muchas personas desean saber cómo formar una Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada o LLC - Limited Liability Company fácil. Por este motivo, he preparado este podcast para explicarle cómo usted deberá hacerlo. Si desea saber todos los detalles, no se despegue. Bienvenidos! ¡Que tenga un excelente Día! ✅VISITE MI PÁGINA WEB DE SERVICIO DE PREPARACIÓN DE IMPUESTOS

Tax Deductions for Business Trips (Watch This Before You Travel) ► $5 of Bitcoin from Coinbase http://coinbase-consumer.sjv.io/x9OGm3 ► Schedule a FREE Consultation with My Team https://go.karladennis.com/consultation-application1597858391406 ► Schedule A Call With Me https://bit.ly/3ml1953 ► To Join My Mentorship Through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/karltondennis ►My Forbes articles for more tax tips: https://bit.ly/3dss8Yu ► Follow for more tax tips: https://www.instagram.com/karltondennis/ Recommended Video For You https://youtu.be/IVAtbduc4ec Running a business, paying employees, paying yourself... Here are Tax Deductions for Business Trips (Watch This Before You Travel) This video will be beneficial for Sole Proprietors, LLC (Limited Liability Company), S Corporation and C Corporation. In this video we discuss: How To Pay Yourself As An LLC in 2022 as a multi-member and single member LLC, Moving money over via Check and Payroll. When to receive a tax deduction, as well as the benefits of switching to the S-Corp for a Payroll Deduction! *Disclaimer: I am not a financial advisor nor am I an attorney. This information is for entertainment purposes only. It is highly recommended that you speak with a tax professional or tax attorney before performing any of the strategies mentioned in this video. Thank you.

On today's episode we go over basic entity structure in commercial real estate and how to form a LLC (Limited Liability Company). We have our hosts Brian Duck and Braden Cheek from The Criterion Fund, & Joel Thompson from Precision Equity going over how we structure our CRE entities. Topics discussed: Why do you need a LLC? Why is a LLC our preferred entity vs. a S-Corp or a C-Corp. How to form a LLC? How to get your FEIN? how is your LLC taxed? *Be Sure to check us out on Spotify and Apple Podcasts for the Audio version of today's episode!** https://open.spotify.com/show/08KmNvqGV5HjmHUC8fLuce https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-invest-in-commercial-real-estate/id1543470290?itsct=podcast_box&itscg=30200 Links mentioned in this episode: Invest.HowToInvestInCRE.com www.TheCriterionFund.com www.HowToInvestInCRE.com To sign up for our exclusive investor list, click below. https://thecriterionfund.appfolio.com/im/investor/contact-us

EPISODE SUMMARY: Anybody in business faces the risk of litigation and liabilities including those in the real estate industry. So if you are a property owner,  it is best to get your substantial assets protected the earliest time possible!  How? Look no further and listen to this episode as Bob Bluhm shares his expertise in asset protection. He is also a lawyer for over 3 decades and started his career in the legal world as a trial attorney. Now Bob Bluhm is also tagged as one of the renowned national speakers.   WHAT YOU’LL LEARN FROM THIS EPISODE                  What is an “Asset Protection”? Who should be concerned about asset protection? How important is asset protection in real estate? What is an LLC (Limited Liability Company) and how does it work? How important is the structure of LLC? What happens if you get the other aspects of the structure wrong? Does fake LLC usually happen? If you mess this piece up, how does it allow some litigator to tear your LLC to shred? What does it mean by “piercing the corporate veil”? How do we look at structuring for someone with a substantial amount of assets to be protected? How essential is an overall plan or a visual structure of the company for the protection? When to use a Family Limited Partnership, Trust and LLC? What does another entity in place of LLC do? What level of asset should a person step over insurance and start doing entity structure? Offense and defense in acquiring a property Getting the best people in your team to help you with both the offense and the defense in keeping your assets   RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE If you need help with anything in real estate, please email: invest@rpcinvest.com   CONNECT WITH US Reach Ron: RP Capital Leave podcast reviews and topic suggestions: iTunes Subscribe and get additional info: Get Real Estate Success

Quick-Show Notes:In this episode of The Millionaire's Lawyer, JP and Greg Sullivan discuss:The Financial Planning industry has changed in the following ways since COVID-19:A higher level of uncertaintyLargest Financial deficit the Government has been inNumbers are the easy part, it is the client's emotions that are the hard part. The best investment portfolios are the ones that are diversified. The more diverse the portfolio, the more return you should see.Over the next 10 years, the top 10 will have changes, and only two may stay.Real Estate:Great AssetHow would you want to own?If you have numerous Rental Properties you may want to look into incorporation an LLC (Limited Liability Company).Greg had created a corporation based on what he would want in a financial planner, and has defined a new way of doing things that is now the norm!Greg Sullivan 's business has been built of referrals, and client retention is astronomical. SBSB really takes on the clients and all the clients financial needs.Wealth PlanningTaxesEstateRetirementAnd much more!Make sure you have done your correct due diligence. Do due diligence even on the financial advisor you are going to see, you want to be sure and know you are making the right choice.Things to think about:Set up a proper portfolioChildren - make them still have to earn things; do not allow them to feel entitled to be on the payroll for their lifetime,Banks are strapped with regulation and compliance and are way more complicated than working with an independent advisor.Harder to make decisions within the bank since there are more staff to consider and more parties needing to be involved.Independent planners have more freedom  and fewer hoops to jump through.Connect with Greg Sullivan:WebsiteLinkedInBook: Retirement Fail Connect with your host, JP:TwitterInstagramFacebookWebsiteShow:LinkedInEmail: jpmcavoy@conductlaw.comPhone: 1-833-890-8878THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSOR:Conduct LawWebsite

Should you file an LLC (limited liability company) as an inventor? What are the benefits of forming an LLC as an inventor? How do you form an LLC? What's the best state to file an LLC in? Product licensing expert Stephen Key interviews Matt Horwitz, founder of LLC University®. Matt empowers entrepreneurs by showing them how to form an LLC. In fact, he maintains free, step-by-step courses on how to form an LLC in every state on his website! Incredible. https://www.llcuniversity.com/ Matt also has a popular YouTube channel where he educates entrepreneurs about how to form an LLC. Subscribe here: https://www.youtube.com/user/llcuniversity Matt founded LLC University in 2010 to help other entrepreneurs like himself. As a young person, he became a real estate agent and then taught himself how to form his own LLC. He's passionate about education and research and realized he could help other entrepreneurs do the same thing he had done and leapt into the digital space. Like us, Matt is a big fan of DIY coupled with the proper guidance! Stephen Key and Andrew Krauss are the world's leading experts on how to license a product idea. If you have an invention idea, this is the show to watch. Steve and Andrew are the cofounders of inventRight, a coaching program that has helped people from more than 60 countries license their ideas for new products. Visit http://www.inventright.com for more information and to join the one-one-one coaching program. If you have questions about how to invent, how to be creative, design, how to do market research, prototyping, manufacturing, negotiating, pitching, how to sell, how to cold call, how to reach out to open innovation companies, licensing agreements, non-disclosure agreements, patents, copyright, trademarks, and intellectual property in general — subscribe to inventRightTV! New videos every week, including tons of entrepreneur success stories. Inventing can be lonely, but you don't have to go it alone! Join the inventRight community for priceless inventor education, mentorship, support, accountability, hand-holding, honesty about the invention industry, and so much more. Contact us at #1-800-701-7993 or https://www.inventright.com/contact. This is the book you need to license your product idea: “One Simple Idea: Turn Your Dreams Into a Licensing Goldmine While Letting Others Do the Work.” Find it here: http://amzn.to/1LGotjB. This is the book you need to file a well-written provisional patent application: “Sell Your Ideas With or Without a Patent.” Find it here: http://amzn.to/1T1dOU2. Determined to become a professional inventor? Read Stephen's new book "Become a Professional Inventor: The Insider's Guide to Companies Looking For Ideas": https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1653786256/ inventRight, LLC. is not a law firm and does not provide legal, patent, trademark, or copyright advice. Please exercise caution when evaluating any information, including but not limited to business opportunities; links to news stories; links to services, products, or other websites. No endorsements are issued by inventRight, LLC., expressed or implied. Depiction of any trademarks/logos does not represent endorsement of inventRight, LLC, its services, or products by the trademark owner. All trademarks are registered trademarks of their respective companies. Reference on this video to any specific commercial products, process, service, manufacturer, company, or trademark does not constitute its endorsement or recommendation by inventRight, LLC or its hosts. This video may contain links to external websites that are not provided or maintained by or in any way affiliated with inventRight, LLC. Please note that the inventRight LLC. does not guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of any information on these external websites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.

Luke and Darren dive into the details of a "LLC" (Limited Liability Company) and how this simple step in the process of setting up your business can save you troubles down the road. They discuss: Why the LLC election is important How to obtain your LLC election The IRS standards for electing to become a single-member LLC versus electing to become a multi-member LLC. For more information about Harrison Tax & Accounting - visit: https://www.harrisontaxandaccounting.com/

“... if they come and ask you, ‘Hey, do you think I can use this stuff?’ I think you got to say, ‘Hey, I'm not a lawyer’.” - Gordon P. FiremarkWhat are my legal rights as a podcast editor? What are my legal responsibilities? How do I protect myself? How much do I need to protect myself? Is it common for things to go wrong? Who can I turn to if I get sued?... The legal ramifications of a disgruntled client or a contract gone wrong are almost enough to make any podcast editor quit before ever starting!  But don’t give up your editing dreams too quickly. Hit pause on that panic button and take a deep breath. Now hit play on this podcast with https://firemark.com/ (Gordon P. Firemark), The Podcast Lawyer™ for some practical advice and peace of mind. Gordon Firemark, Lawyer for Theatre, Film, Television and New Media, is more than just a lawyer. He’s also the producer and host of the podcast http://entertainmentlawupdate.com/ (Entertainment Law Update), so he knows firsthand about podcasting. Within his law practice, he helps professionals and artists across the entertainment industries with intellectual property and business/corporate matters. Beyond that, he represents and helps protect clients working within the vast disciplines housed under the terms cyberspace and new media.  Sharing his expertise in an easy to comprehend, nuts and bolts fashion, Gordon is also the author of http://podcastlawbook.com/ (The Podcast, Blog and New Media Producer's Legal Survival Guide.) He’s created forms and templates needed by podcasters, editors, and production companies alike. Gordon may be a lawyer and duty-bound to censor what he shares but he’s also a giver and we weren’t shy to be the recipients of his generosity. In this episode, he answers several general questions and even addresses some issues and scenarios you likely didn’t think could come up in your editing business. You won’t want to miss a minute! Highlights:I know I need signed contracts as a podcast editor but how detailed should they be?  How can I protect myself against a client submitting work to me that infringes on the rights of others or defames someone or causes a similar bad situation?  How much editing is too much? Can I be held liable for over-editing? How can I make sure I’m held legally harmless for the edits requested by a client? What do I do if a client refuses to pay? Who owns the rights to a project a client refused to pay me for? When might I need a trademark or service mark for my business? Do I need to register as an LLC (Limited Liability Company) or am I okay as a sole proprietor?  Who do I talk to if I’m thinking an LLC is right for me and my business? What types of documents do I need to prepare to become an LLC? How do I make sure I’m covered for situations where I have clients (or my clients have guests on their show) that are overseas? What about the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)? Should I be concerned as an editor about things like the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) or the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)? What about sound effects and music I use in my editing process or my client uses in their show? Can I rely on “Fair Use” to protect me? Errors and Omissions Insurance? What’s that? How do I cover ensuring show guests have given their consent to be recorded and edited? Where can I get Gordon’s podcast release form, his eBook and other resources? Resources:https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/data-protection_en (GDPA (General Data Protection Act - for the European Union)) https://oag.ca.gov/privacy/ccpa#:~:text=The%20California%20Consumer%20Privacy%20Act,rights%20for%20California%20consumers%2C%20including%3A&text=The%20right%20to%20delete%20personal,them%20(with%20some%20exceptions)%3B (CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act)) https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/rules/rulemaking-regulatory-reform-proceedings/childrens-online-privacy-protection-rule (COPPA...

The answer to the question the title of this episode bears is not as simple as you might think. Would I want to be finding loads for a brand new trucking company today? No, but timing is important and things change quickly and everyone’s situation is different. This episode is being released as the United States is in the thick of the coronavirus pandemic. The topics we touch on during this episode will apply to this situation and many others. In this episode I want to give listeners some things to think about and consider if they are thinking about starting a trucking company anytime soon. What To Expect From Episode 46 The freight situation right now is tough and not ideal for starting a trucking company. Even though you don’t want to actually be hitting the road under these circumstances, it might be a good time to set the process in motion so the ground work is done and you’re ready to hit the ground running when the market turns and the timing is right. How Long Does It Take To Start a Trucking Company? It takes time to start a business and trucking is no exception. On top of the time it takes to actually set up an LLC (Limited Liability Company) or a corporation, trucking companies also have to get federal licensing to haul property for hire. That process takes at least 21 days. In my experience, most people take around 2 months from the time they decide to pull the trigger until they are ready to haul their first load. Those two things can be completed without too much risk or a huge expense. As long as you are able to hit the road within a year, you won’t waste your money on those items. One important thing Craig and I dive deep into is what steps you want to take immediately versus what ones you want to put off until you’re actually ready to hit the road. In this kind of a situation, it is more important than ever to limit your costs to only what is necessary and hold off on making expenses that can wait until you are closer to being ready to run. The majority of your big expenses don’t need to be made until you are very close to hitting the road. Here is a list of additional things you will need to do, but don’t need to actually spend money on until you are closer to being ready to run. You can do your research and homework on them now so when you are ready you can complete the tasks quickly and start running when the timing is right. Shop for a truck and/or trailer Shop for insurance Find the right ELD Decide if you want to use Prepass Decide between Worker’s Compensation Insurance and Occupational Accident Insurance Plates for truck and trailer Graphics and lettering for your truck One of the major keys to being successful in this is to have a good plan with a timeline you understand. If developing the plan and timeline seems overwhelming, feel free to give one of the coaches at Motor Carrier HQ a call. They can help you customize a game plan for free over the phone. Learn how to get started with your motor carrier authority.

If you’re running a business, you have to view the business as a separate entity and a new legal being. Whether you work with a partner or are venturing out solo, you will most likely be advised to form an LLC (Limited Liability Company). Forming an LLC is a relatively inexpensive process, but there is some basic hygiene that has to be done, especially if you have shareholders. Today Joe and Jack wrap up their series on complying with the new laws enacted in California this year.   If you wish to contact Joe Cucchiara email him at Joe@RERadioLive.com, call (408)-838-9060 or simply visit www.RERadioLive.com. We also provide additional information to help you make smart decisions in and around your real estate venture. All the information in this podcast is broadcast in good faith and for general information purpose only. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, reliability and accuracy of this information. Any action you take upon the information on our website is strictly at your own risk. We will not be liable for any losses and damages in connection with the use of associated information. www.reradiolive.com All Rights Reserved. Copyright 2015. Joe Cucchiara MLO 273084 This is not a commitment to lend. Our team fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. For more information, please visit: http://portal.hud.gov/. Read more at http://radiolive.rerl.libsynpro.com/#xhDOuqiFWVEfL1qw.99

On this episode of ENDS Podcast we cover the benefits of operating your business or entity as a LLC. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/ends-media-llc/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/ends-media-llc/support

Are there websites, software and systems which can free up your time and make things easy? (Sure!) That’s what today’s episode is all about…. The ‘internet’ has been around since the 1950’s. The ‘WWW’ (World Wide Web) was born in 1991. They are two different things. I know because I used to teach this stuff at the Institute for Public Administration in Ireland. But, who cares… (Right?) What really matters is that you are taking advantage of some great websites and software online which will save you money and simplify a lot of the tasks in running your own training business. *** DISCLAIMER: I am not an expert in matters of law, tax or business compliance. It is strongly advisable that you seek professional advice in these and ancillary areas as they are complex subjects in their own right, which require subject matter expertise *** Start off simple One of the ways in which online services can make your life easier is in the area of business formation. Sure, you can start out as a sole trader regardless of where you are heading on your journey. But, there are advantages to keeping things simple at the outset. Dip your toes If you are just ‘dipping your toes in the water’, you might want to trade for a while in your own name to establish whether you like running a training business and whether you want to – and can afford to – keep going. But – let’s say you do like working for yourself and that you have reason to believe your training consultancy / coaching business can survive the critical first two years in business. LLC or LTD? In that case, many training business owners consider setting up an LLC (Limited Liability Company) which is a US form of private limited company. An LLC and its counterparts in other jurisdictions, are created to allow a business owner to separate  personal assets and liabilities from those of the business. In the UK, business owners may opt to create a Limited Company (frequently abbreviated as ‘Ltd’). In Australia, the equivalent is referred to as a Proprietary Company (Pty Ltd). Many clients I work with, require that I have a limited company before they will do business with my brand. This is why I have to have a private company. So… is that the case for you? Save your money The formation of a legal entity requires that you get things right first time. The problem is that this expertise can be expensive to avail of. LegalZoom was created to make common business legal services both affordable and transparent. They can help you with the registration of a trademark, the filing of a patent, the filing of a DBA (Doing Business As) [USA], the creation of an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement), business licenses and much more. LegalZoom’s packages start at $79 plus filing fees  in the USA, or £34.99 in the UK. * PLEASE NOTE: None of the links on this page are affiliate links – which means I do not benefit financially from anything you click on or decide to sign up to. It is your choice to select your provider * Have you given any thought to which type of business formation suits you? If not….it’s time to go talk to a few people and find out. Find the money One of the most rewarding times in running your training business is the moment when you submit your invoice for a job well done. In the beginning, you might simply create invoices using a Microsoft Excel template. You might even be creating your invoices in Microsoft Word and send them via email. (But, that sounds so ‘1999’!) Make life easier Instead: Why not send your invoices automatically and receive notifications when the money is credited to your account? Why not give your accountant access to your online records so you s/he can file your taxes on your behalf? Why not run reports which instantly show spending patterns at the click of a button? These are just several of the many reasons why it makes sense to use online accounting software. Less time chasing expenses and filing claims. More time consulting and making money. For a modest fee, you can set up an account with one of a range of online accounting providers including Xero, Quickbooks, Zoho, Freshbooks and more. Xero has come in for special attention because of its ability to connect with many apps including your marketing software, your CRM (customer record database – listen to the episode) and of course, your bank account. Check your bank I’m definitely not a numbers and accounts kind of guy, so using online accounting software is designed to make my life easier. You can sign up for each of these for a free trial, which means that you can play around with the software before you decide to commit. Just remember that you do need to ensure that your bank can connect with the relevant online accounting software vendor! Now listen to the episode to get more information on the kinds of services which can help you. Biggest takeaways for you today:  Which online services can help you to create a winning brand Why you might need a landing-page rather than a web-page Why you need to understand SEO and Online advertising How a CRM can track every interaction you have with customers Where you can find free images and videos to use in your content Why you need both an offline and online marketing strategy How you can find local events and create sell tickets to your events Some helpful resources for you: LegalZoom – Avail of affordable legal and business services UpCounsel – Identify and hire legal experts in a range of areas [US] Xero – Connect bank accounts and manage accounts Freshbooks – Track your time and invoice for project work Zoho – Manage accounts and invoicing online QuickBooks – Online accounting & invoicing platform NameCheckr – Free service to check domain name and social media names 99Designs – Create design contest to attract designers GoDaddy – Buy domains and arrange website hosting Fiverr – Find and hire designers, coders, assistants online Moo – Create and order quality business cards Wix – Low-cost website builder using templates LeadPages – Create landing pages online Instapage –  Create landing pages online Unbounce – Create landing pages online Ontraport – CRM, landing page and marketing automation NeilPatel – Expert on Search Engine Marketing Amy Porterfield – Expert on Facebook marketing Hubspot – Marketing, Sales and CRM platform PipeDrive – Sales-focused CRM Zoho – Online CRM Salesforce – Small-business version of salesforce CRM Pexels – Find free photos and video footage for marketing Unsplash – Find free photos and video footage for marketing PiktoChart – Create infographics, presentations, reports online Beacon – Create ebooks and lead-magnets for marketing purposes EventBrite – FInd events and sell tickets to your own event MeetUp – Find groups and create your own group Zoom – Host webinars and video conferences online BigMarker – Host webinars, video conferences and webcasts online *** DISCLAIMER: I am not an expert in matters of law, tax or business compliance. It is strongly advisable that you seek professional advice in these and ancillary areas as they are complex subjects in their own right, which require subject matter expertise ***        

A Limited Liability Company, or an LLC, is a relatively new business structure, that first appeared in Wyoming in 1977, and is now recognized by every State's statute and the IRS. An LLC is neither a partnership nor a corporation, but a distinct type of business structure that offers an alternative to those two traditional entities by combining the corporate advantages of limited liability with the advantages of pass-through taxation usually associated with partnerships. Limited Liability Companies are becoming more and more popular, and it is easy to see why. In addition to combining the best features of partnerships and corporations, LLCs avoid the main disadvantages of both of those business structures. Limited liability companies are much more flexible and require less ongoing paperwork than corporations to maintain them, while avoiding the dangers of personal liability that come with the partnership. Some examples of famous LLCs may surprise you - both Amazon and Chrysler are organized as limited liability companies. https://www.myusacorporation.eu/llc.html MyUSACorporation is your reliable partner since 2009.

Con mucha pompiaera volvemos esta semana con el episodio 23 ;) En este episodio hablamos un poco sobre las legalidades de ser un artista independiente, la creación de un DBA(Doing Business As) o LLC(Limited Liability Company) y algunos tips muy buenos sobre los taxes. Esperamos les sea de su agrado y hasta la proxima! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/eradiomem/support

Do you run a small business, or have dreams to start one? Here are The Tidbit, we’ve got your back. Each week we talk through tidbits of knowledge around starting or running a small business with a food and beverage lens. On this Minisode: what are parts of the process to consider when registering a LLC (Limited Liability Company) in Washington DC.

Many entrepreneurs choose to structure their businesses as the ever-so-popular LLC (Limited Liability Company) or S Corporation. Business owners may struggle with the choice between the structures, but many times but don’t realize that the two aren’t mutually exclusive. It’s possible to have your cake and eat it too by forming an LLC and then electing S corporation status. Learn how and why this may benefit you on our next show. http://wfblegalconsulting.com/bottled-business-sense-show/ Bill Bernard – WFBLegalConsulting.com bill@wfblegalconsulting.com 949.698.6222 Rick Moscoso – Captivate365.com rick@captivate365.com 949.667.1182 The Bottled Business Sense Show provides practical business perspectives that uniquely emphasize both legal and media marketing strategies that protect and insure the longevity of your business. WFB LEGAL CONSULTING--LAWYER FOR BUSINESS--A BEST ASSET PROTECTION Services Group

Business entities. It’s a fancy way of talking about the types of companies that people can legally create in the United States. It sounds intimidating but it’s not, you just have to be careful about how you set them up and how you keep your records. Don’t follow my bad example when it comes to business entities. When I first got started in business I honestly didn’t know what I was doing. I simply needed to make some money to put food on the table. But that can only be an excuse for so long. I wound up having to pay far too much taxes the first year my Podcast Production business took off and learned the hard what that I needed to get a new business entity set up, pronto. Don’t be intimidated by the process. Determining and using the right business entity will yield great benefits. On this episode I’m diving into my understanding of these things - and why they are important. It’s more than simply having an impressive name for your business. There are legal protections that come with some of the types of companies you can create and there are tax benefits in some cases as well. This episode tells you what I’ve learned, how it’s impacted me (positively and negatively) and why I think you’d be better off to make a decision about the type of business you’re going to have sooner rather than later. I’m also very concerned that you not let the complications of this process deter you. It takes some very specific, careful steps to set up any type of company in a way that is legal - except for a sole proprietor company, that happens by default the minute you start doing business… and I’d NEVER recommend that anyone stick with that business type for long. But you CAN LEARN what it takes to set this up - you can get help from professionals if you need to. I just don’t want you to put it off because it sounds difficult. I’m not going to fool you - some of it IS difficult, but it’s worth it. And you can do it! Keep in mind, I’m not a tax attorney or accountant, so my advice is just that, MY advice. When it comes to making decisions about this kind of stuff, seek the advice of someone you trust who has gone through the educational steps needed to know what they’re talking about inside and out. Summary of This Episode About: TYPES OF COMPANIES [0:39] Today we’re going to talk about the types of companies, or business entities you have at your disposal. [3:28] The type of company you choose impacts how the government taxes you. [7:30] Sole proprietor: taxes reported through your personal return, no legal protection. [9:27] My basic warnings about partnership: Draw up a partnership agreement. [11:35] The LLC: Limited Liability Company. [14:16] What is a corporation? Should you set up a C-Corp or S-Corp? [16:30] Why I decided that the type of company for me to use was an S-Corporation. [18:50] How distributions or dividends are given to members of an S-Corp (and how you pay less in tax because of it). [24:31] Don’t let the difficulty of learning deter you from doing the best thing. What the IRS says about LLCs (Limited Liability Company) Here’s what the IRS says about setting up a C-Corporation Guidelines from the IRS about setting up an S-Corporation Here’s a link to tell you how to apply for an EIN (employer identification number) Gusto Payroll & HR Services Mark J. Kohler Youtube Channel (an accountant I’ve learned a lot from) Join the LBC Community On Facebook Follow Carey on Facebook Follow Carey on Twitter (@CareyNGreen)   SUBSCRIBE on iTunes   SUBSCRIBE on Google Play  

In this episode Juliet and Clinton answered the following questions: 1.  Renee Burke  - Salt Lake City, Utah "What are the + & -to using "my name, PhD" to form an LLC (Limited Liability Company) vs using a unique business name or 2 different business names (one for a therapy practice and one for an assessment only practice?)" 2. Jill Henry and Associates - Lane Cove, NSW, Australia "While using Facebook for marketing and business purposes only, how do you separate all the personal requests for friendship from purely business interest and relevance? " 3. Kat Love - Aagina Island, Greece “Hi Guys! I'm loving your podcast as usual. First of all, I have to say I'm a huge fan of your podcast. You both give out such valuable insights on marketing for healers and helpers. I'm a website designer and developer for psychotherapists and a lot of my clients are concerned that if they hire a copywriter to write their website copy, that the copywriter will erase their voice. So, to set the record straight, will a copywriter erase a therapist's voice in their website copy? And if not, how is this achieved? How can a copywriter both write the website copy and maintain the therapist's voice at the same time? Hope that makes sense. I get this question ALL THE TIME from my clients. They say, "I would hire a copywriter but I think it's better if I write it so that it sounds like me" or whatever. And I'm like, "Noooooo! Hire Juliet!" Haha. So if you do answer this question here or elsewhere, I will be forwarding it to clients regularly. Anyway. I hope you both are doing excellently! Peace, Kat”   Get the show notes with all the links and resources mentioned in this episode at http://askjulietandclinton.com/41

BAM! You found it! Your perfect business idea, along with the best name, logo, and tagline to go with it! You're pumped! You're ready to get out there and make some sales! But despite your best efforts, you end up with one unhappy customer among the thousands you've served. They're convinced you've ruined their life... and they're going for broke! On top of that, you've noticed a similar business in your niche that has the same company name and tagline. What's a small business owner to do?! No worries. Nellie Akalp has you covered. While registering as an LLC or Trademarking aspects of your business may not be first on your to-do list, Nellie shares why they're important issues to consider as soon as you know you have a viable business on your hands. On the Podcast 01:15 - Nellie's Second Start-Up03:13 - Do you have a Fictitious Business Name (We hope not!)07:23 - What are the Benefits of an LLC or S-Corp?13:21 - What Good is a Trademark if there are Two Companies Called "Nike"?19:56 - The Benefits of Registering a Trademark23:10 - Is Obtaining a Trademark Complicated and Expensive?27:55 - The $100 Investment that Turned into Millions30:42 - Back to the Future34:07 - More than a Million Reasons to be Proud34:50 - Nellie's Hilarious Mom Moment Press Play on the Podcast Player Below to hear from Nellie Nellie's Second Start-Up CorpNet is actually Nellie Akalp's second start-up! Her first business began in 1997 with her husband, Philip. They were in law school together and saw a need for an online business that provided entrepreneurs with legal filing help so they could get their businesses off the ground. Intuit acquired the Akalp's company in 2005, and after their three-year non-compete clause was up, the Akalps were still so passionate about helping entrepreneurs in this way that they started from scratch once again and founded CorpNet. Nellie and Philip have helped over half a million corporations and LLCs to get started by assisting with their document filing and streamlining the process of business formation for them.In addition to being a brilliant start-up founder, Nellie is a mother of four. She has teenage twins, and 11 year-old, and a 4 year-old. Do you have a Fictitious Business Name (We hope not!) If you've never taken steps to become an LLC (Limited Liability Company) or S-Corp, and you're not in a partnership, then you have a fictitious business name. The default business structure for a solopreneur is called a Sole Propietorship. Many businesses start out this way, but it's not wise to continue with this structure for very long. Essentially, a Sole Proprietorship allows you to do business under you own name, or a "fictitious business name". Filing this business type is called a "Doing Business As Filing" or "Fictitious Business Name Filing."Although it's easy to get started as a Sole Proprietorship, this business structure offers you zero legal protection. If your business wrongs a third party, and that third party decides to sue, they can go after your personal assets such as your house, car, or personal savings accounts. So get rid of that fictitious business name, and structure your business as an LLC or S-Corp. (Note: You should always talk with an accountant and legal advisors. This article does not constitute either accounting or legal advice, but simply recommendations based on experience.) What are the Benefits of an LLC or S-Corp? The S-Corp or LLC are the best types of business entities for a small business owner to consider. Since laws vary from state-to-state, be sure to check with your accountant to determine which structure makes the most sense for you. The Benefits of an S-Corp The corporation gets treated as an individual entity. An S-Corp is treated as a pass-through tax entity, so this means, for example, that when a company pays out dividends to its stockholders, you no longer get taxed twice - once at the individual level and once at the corporate level for the small business owner. You are only taxed at the individual level when you receive your dividend, and in this way, an S-Corp avoids double taxation. May be entitled to more tax savings. There may be other additional tax benefits and savings related to being an S-Corp, but these vary on a case-by-case basis. Corporate shield between you and your business. You have far more protection for your personal assets when you are the owner of an S-Corp. Now, a wronged third party may go after the corporation's assets, but not your personal assets as the business owner. Added layer of privacy. Becoming an S-Corp means that the corporation is its own entity. You no longer have forms with your name all over it stating that you're simply "doing business as .......X Company" Higher credibility in the eyes of the consumer. Becoming a corporation means that you've taken steps to legitimize your business. You're official. What are the Benefits of an LLC? Here's the best news of all! An LLC provides all the benefits of an S-Corp without all of the formalities required to file as an S-Corp. With an LLC, you have have your cake and eat it too. You get added tax benefits, additional legal protection, more privacy, and appear more legitimate in the eyes of the consumer. The only formality required for an LLC is to have an operating agreement that's executed by all of the members of the LLC and to file a yearly compliance document. What Good is a Trademark if there are Two Companies Called "Nike"? What is a trademark and why does it matter to you as a small business owner? A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol, or design or a combination of any of these that identifies the source of a product or service and distinguishes it from its competitors. Trademarks can be given for product names, company names, logos, and taglines.However, trademarks apply only to a particular category of goods and services. For example, Nike Inc. owns the swoosh mark on shoes, clothing, andsporting goods along with the name Nike and the phrase "Just do it" within the sporting goods category. However, there is also a Nike Corporation (a completely different company) who sells hydraulic lifting jacks and machinery. These two companies, both called Nike, can both exist because each is clearly distinguished within a particular category of goods and services - one in sporting goods and the other in hydraulic machinery. So what's the point of a Trademark if there can be two Nikes? A trademark keeps your brand ID safe so that no one else in the marketplace can use your name, logo, tag line, or combination of those for a similar product. Trademarks are still powerful, even though they only apply to a specific category or just a few categories. When should you Trademark? If you have a viable business name and you're planning on using it in more than one state, then trademarking your brand name and possibly logo and tag line should be done during your start of business checklist. You don't want others to dilute your brand name or logo by using it on similar products that didn't come from you. The Benefits of Registering a Trademark You're eligible for damages if someone in your category infringes on your name, logo, or branding. You obtain the right to use the R symbol instead of just the TM symbol behind your company name and logo. You have a streamlined process for securing your domain and usernames on social sites if, for example, someone else is already using your brand name there. It's much easier for you to dispute this use and win the right to be the only person using that brand name. You receive stronger legal protection than that of "Common Law Rights of First Use" so it's easier to recover your property and dispute infringements on your brand. (Common Law Rights of First Use does say that if you've registered your business with your state with a given brand name and have done business with that brand name, then you have rights of first use, but this is not nearly as official as having a registered trademark.) Is Obtaining a Trademark Complicated and Expensive? Acquiring a Trademark can be a complicated process, but you don't have to have a lawyer to do it. However, a document filing service like CorpNet can help you along without all of the crazy expense that comes with hiring a lawyer. Below are the steps you'll go through to obtain a Trademark for your business. Make sure the name is available for you to register it as a trademark. You can do this by conducting a free Trademark search. Be really certain! Conduct a comprehensive nationwide search to make sure no other businesses have any common law rights to the name. File your Trademark with the USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office.) You can file your Trademark directly online. The cost for a Trademark application is $325 per class. You will register your Trademark under 1-3 classes. Filing classes can take 6-12 months, and you will be assigned a document examiner from the USPTO who will review your filing. This document examiner may submit an office action to request more information from the small business owner. This is where things may fall apart for the entrepreneur. If they're too busy and don't respond to requests for more information, the trademark application will expire and they will have wasted their application fees.Companies like Corpnet ease the stress and ensure the Trademark is processed by taking care of office actions and all correspondence with the USPTO. Grab more information and answers to commonly asked questions about Trademarks. The $100 Investment that Turned into Millions After snagging tons of technical advice from Nellie, we wanted to take things back a few years and find out what it was like to grow a start-up in 1997. Nellie was more than happy to share her story!She and her husband Philip were both attending law school in 1997. There were in a corporation class at the time, and in the real world, the internet era had begun. One of the hottest trends at the time was starting a business online because the internet was booming. However, these bright-eyed, enthusiastic internet entrepreneurs often had no clue about the tedious work of filing as an LLC or S-Corp or getting Trademarks for their business. Nellie and Philip came up with the idea to help all of these start-ups with the legal filing they would need to bring their businesses to fruition. With a $100 investment, the Akalps acquired a domain name and started their business out of their 2- bedroom apartment. They worked day and night until they reached a substantial amount of sales. They were able to purchase their first home with their business, and then they acquired their own office space.In 2005, they were approached the opportunity to be acquired by Intuit, and they said yes! At the time, they had 5 year-old twins and a two year old toddler. Selling made sense so they could spend more time with their family. The Akalps signed a non-compete clause that lasted for three years. But rather than get used to their (very!) early retirement, they decided to get right back into the business when their non-compete was up.Nellie and Philip realized that they were too young, too motivated, and too passionate to take on such an early retirement. They love small business so much and couldn't see themselves doing anything else. Back to the Future Clearly, starting a business in 1997 is much different than starting a business in 2009. We were curious about the challenges of starting again. Nellie was very open about several challenges that confronted CorpNet in 2009. But clearly, she's pushed past all of them! The Recession. 2009 was the height of the recession in the U.S. so this alone made growing a small business challenging.  Saturated marketplace. In the 12 years that had past between the two businesses, many companies very similar to the Akalps had sprung up. Fierce Competition. Not only were the Akalps competing with their old company, but with thousands of competitors offering similar services as them in the much busier online business space. The Benefits of Starting in 2009 No barrier to entry. With Google, social networks, and a plethora of online business tools, there's no barrier to entry to getting started with an online business. The landscape was much different in 1997 when just getting a website up was much more challenging and expensive. Clear Vision. Having already grown a similar business, the Akalps had a clear vision for where they wanted to go. They weren't distracted by shiny objects but stayed the course. Social Media. 2009 was around the birth of the social media era. The Akalps didn't have nearly as many tools to reach and connect with their audience online in 1997. Now, they can market their business in a variety of ways, and they've chosen to be very savvy with social media. Content Marketing. Nellie markets CorpNet primarily by putting out a ton of content around their niche. She's branded herself as a small business expert, and she continuously puts out extremely helpful content for her audience of potential customers. People being to know, like, and trust Nellie before they ever pick up the phone. Stand Out. Nellie believes that there's plenty of business to go around for everybody. Just because you're entering a saturated market doesn't mean you have a barrier to entry. Look at the market and figure out how you can differentiate yourself to stand out from everybody else. More than a Million Reasons to be Proud We love to get inside the heads of the mamapreneurs we interview to find out what makes them tick. Out of everything they've accomplished, what are they most proud of? Nellie found it difficult to pinpoint just one thing considering everything she's done over the past 18 years, but she cited more than a million great reasons to be proud. Her company was acquired at an early age - Nellie was just 31 years old at the time, and she and her husband had built that company to be so successful that they became multi-millionaires when they sold it. (Yep, I'd say building a company to that level - along with helping many entrepreneurs along the way is certainly something to be proud of!) Nellie's Hilarious Mom Moment Nellie's 4 year-old had us cracking up with one of her funny misunderstandings about how the world works. Seriously, this story is just too good! Tune in to hear it! Find Nellie's Business Online Corpnet.comCorpNet has live chat experts or you can email them: info@corpnet.com