Jim Wilson ⋅ Richmond, VA Wilson Law Group ⋅ 20 years experience

Walter, let me address just one thing you have asked, LLC or S corporation. I hear this question asked often and reveals a misunderstanding that many have. The first distinction to worry about is corporation or LLC. Simply put, the LLC is mush easier to work with, no required annual meetings, no levels of management, etc. The LLC also can have a great deal of easy flexibility to change as the business grows simply by changing its operating agreement without making changes to its Articles like a corporation needs to. S corporation status is a tax status. You select it by meeting the qualifications and filing with the IRS. Any type of organization can elect to be treated as an S corporation by the IRS, partnership, LLC, even sole proprietor, if one wanted to. So, in many cases, the answer is be both an LLC and an S corporation. The LLC give you ease of use and flexibility and the S corporation status gives you a way to save on the taxes you pay on profits. The owners of an entity that has selected S corporation status generally do not pay self-employment taxes on profits, they still pay it on wages and salary, just not on profits.

Alan J. Zell ⋅ Portland, OR Attitudes for Selling ⋅ 29 years experience

Walter, There is free help from SCORE which is the volunteer arm of the S Sm Bus Ad with 40 offices in the US Go to http://www.score.org/chapters-map and put in your zip code and you'll get contact info of the closest chapter.

Tim Rescigno ⋅ Lewisville, NC ⋅ 17 years experience

I can help you with retail store set-up, pricing, expense control, and top-line sales.

Tim

James Mingey ⋅ Oregon City, OR Veterans Business Services ⋅ 25 years experience

http://www.va.gov/osdbu/verification/