Business

Hi - another Anoka mom here! I started a business this year and decided to go with an LLC. It cost $160 to register. If you are a sole member LLC, you can file your taxes using your SSN so you don't have to apply for a separate TIN. If you plan to have employees, or business partners, it starts to get more complicated and I would recommend consulting an attorney or accountant at the least.

You can also do your business as a sole proprietor, in which case you'd have to register your business name (DBA) with the state, which last I checked was $25. But then once you get the paperwork back, you have to file it with a newspaper in the legal section 2 issues in a row. When all is said and done, you'll be spending nearly the $160 anyway. An LLC gives you a little more legal protection than a DBA too.

If you plan to sell taxable goods, you will also need to apply for a sales tax ID number through taxes.state.mn.us. There is no cost for this.

A great resource site is SCORE (score.org) where you can even hook up with your own personal business mentor.

I also believe that if you are doing your business using your full name, for example, John G. Smith Painting, you don't event have to file a DBA.

Talk to a qualified CPA and legal counsel. There are many factors involved.

You need a solid business plan. Are you borrowing money? If so, the bank will "own" you and will specifiy quarterly meetings and "suggest" to you what to do to run your business more fluently.

For us, we did not want banks or investors involved... We intend to keep our business 100% us, therefore we have financially backed EVERYTHING personally. It is a huge job and yes it is very rewarding.

You do need solid plans. We started up a few years ago and did not have to put much into our LLC but in the last 2 yrs, we are doing multi million in business and it takes a lot of planning and forecasting to make things work.

Tread carefully, be aware and have professionals there to guide you with tax and legal laws.

Good luck.

It matters. LLC? Corporation? So many more...

I don't know about your state but after I did all the research I figured out that unless I had an employee it wasn't worth calling it a business and just called it a "hobby". It costs so much in fees and taxes that unless you see that you will be making more than 1000 a month it M. not be worth it to actually make a business.

I make free knit and crochet patterns and make money off the advertising off my blog. Yes we pay earning taxes on it, but we don't make more than 1000 a year right now so it is not worth the legal fees and mumbo jumbo to get it "official". Just use you own SS when you do taxes.

Talk to a business banker at any bank. They tell you what you need to get started fee of charge. They should have contact information.

It depends on exactly what you mean by a "business". I have a Career Coaching business, just me no employees, no fees. But other types of businesses could have large startup costs.

One local resource for small business start-up is an organization called WomenVenture.

www.WomenVenture.org

They may be able to answer your questions and help you get started. (They work with men, too :-)