Tim Hudak ⋅ Alexandria, VA U.S. Marine Corps, Sergeant ⋅ 5 years served

Hey Nicholas,

John sent me here. I have a similar business. I filed my LLC online at my state website. It cost about $100. You can also get your IRS tax number and county licenses online as well, at least in Virginia. The 'veteran' stuff comes later. Filing for your veteran business owner status and other Government related veteran associations happens after your legal filings.

Feel free to e-mail me at tim@focasocial.com

Mitchel Durfee ⋅ South Burlington, VT U.S. Army, Specialist ⋅ 3 years served

For everyone else reading this. registering an LLC or S corp is not difficult at all. http://www.rocketlawyer.com/center/incorporation.rl ... use the free service also getting your EIN number http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/How-to-Apply-for-an-EIN ...dont use the EIN Companies online that charge you. Now that you have these two documents you can get a Business bank account.

Susanne Scholz ⋅ Conway, AR Hewlett Packard ⋅ 8 years experience

Legal Zoom is also good and inexpensive to get your paperwork in order.

John Stevens ⋅ Middletown, MD ⋅ 20 years experience

Nicholas,
LCCs are licensed via state government. Ohio's Secretary of State's Business Services handles this. (http://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/upload/business/filingformsfeeschedule.aspx?page=251). A local resource might be a Rotary Club in your area. These clubs are usually made up of business leaders and are willing to help. A national resource is the Institute for Veteran and Military Families (IVMF) at the University of Syracuse (vets.syr.edu/). The IVMF officers a entrepreneurs boot camp for veterans.

Hope this helps.

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

Good advice here for forming an LLC. The important thing is using it properly so it does indeed protect your personal assets. Always, always use the full exact name, including the LLC or Inc. at the end unless and until you file a certificate of assumed name that says you will use the name without the LLC or Inc or that you will use some other name. Document that you are the Manager for the LLC or President for a corporation and use that title religiously whenever you are acting for the LLC or the corporation. Get comfortable with the difference between being a member of an LLC and being the Manager or a shareholder, a Director or an officer of a corporation. Never exceed your authority in whatever role you are acting. That can become a personal liability. If your Operating Agreement says, for example, that any decision affecting the LLC in excess of $1,000 has to be approved by the Members, then don't sign a $2,000 contract with another company unless you document that the members - even if the "members" are you alone - approved the act.

Tom Cal, CFA ⋅ San Francisco, CA Army Veteran, Investment Manager ⋅ 25 years experience

Also utilize the services of score.org, the Service Corp of retried Executives. The counselors are volunteers and are often under-utilized, and are eager to help. They can advise on various legal structures and many others aspects of starting a business.

see also:
https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Ascore.org+llc+formation

Nicholas Jerkovich ⋅ Dayton, OH U.S. Marine Corps, Corporal ⋅ 4 years served

Thank you for all of your responses. Paperwork is filed and @Tim, I will get in contact with you about the 'veteran' stuff after everything is finalized.

Jason Zheng ⋅ El Paso, TX ⋅ 2 years experience

You can look at the sba website for resources
http://www.sba.gov/category/navigation-structure/starting-managing-business/starting-business