How To Guide: Forming Your Business Entity

When I started Visit With Joe, the first order of business was to create an entity.  I decided to create an LLC.  By the way, we can discuss types of corporate entities if that would be of help to you.

In the past, I had used a CPA or an attorney to help me establish the entity.  This time, I decided to use LegalZoom, and share the experience in a blog.  Overall, it was a good experience.

Here's how to do it. Go to legalzoom.com. Under the business tab, register your business, it's all right there.  There is also good information about LLCs, Corporations, and other entities.  

I clicked on Register Your Business, then LLC. I bought the Pro Package. It took about 15 minutes. LegalZoom tried to upsell me on everything. The only thing I went for was that I ordered the corporate notebook. I did it for convenience.  If you are trying to conserve money, you can do the notebook yourself. The total cost was $615, which included the state and federal fees, which were about half of the total.

A day later I got an email from LegalZoom asking some questions to finish the LLC creation. They were pretty simple and took about another 15 minutes.

In 2 weeks, I got the corporate book with my Federal Tax ID and Texas LLC application number. It also came with the LLC formation documents and several helpful templates to be an official LLC.  

Here's a picture of my fancy notebook.

Once you have your Federal Tax ID number, you can open your company bank account.

Overall, I found LegalZoom to be very helpful. I wouldn't hesitate to use them again for some cookie-cutter type of legal work.  It is also worth noting that some of their services include an up-sale where you can consult with an attorney one-on-one. You might need that in certain circumstances.

By the way, I don't get any referral fees or compensation from any company or organization that I plug. I doubt that will ever change, but if it does, I will be very transparent about it.