Sole Prop. - LLC - Inc.

Limit my liability

[iJeep]

Well my e-business is starting to bloom and actually make me some money. With the raise in traffic and sales I get a raise in the illiterate & belligerent shoppers. [It amazes me how many people stop reading after the words free shipping and demand free overnight shipping outside the country on a 300lb item]

Anyway, I need to limit my liability in case one of these people decide to pursue me or worse yet one of the products I sell fails and causes a loss of life (worse case scenario, but possible). I have been thinking about going from a Sole Proprietorship to an LLC. From how I understand it this will run under pretty much the same structure, but with limited liability. I have also been told I should get insurance to cover my liability. I know that a corporation is a great way to limit liability, but like I just said I am just now starting to actually make a profit and I think that paying lawyers and accountants to keep the corporate accounting straight would be too much.

Is there anybody that is familiar with all/any of these structures that can give me some advice as to what I should start looking towards? I know that ultimately I will have to get a lawyer involved, but I want to go in informed.

TIA,
Kevin

[SEO practioner]

Hi there iJeep

Welcome to WW. I'm not as familiar with the corporate laws in the states as I am here. In Canada, all you have to do is incorporate a new company and your ok. They can only sue you for the value of some of the assets of the company and that's about it, unless they can prove in court that it's a serious case of terrific negligence or fraud... etc.

But I have heard (you will have to double-check that) that a LLC (Limited Liability Partnership) agreement or charter (I guess it would be a charter) has gone down in price in the US?

I am far from being a lawyer! I am just a simple webmaster... I know that laws can sometimes be tricky...
I never did a search on this but, are there "discount lawyer sites" on Google? In Canada, lawyers are governed by a set minimum limit on fees they can charge, but I think that such rules do not exist in the US? Again, I am not sure on that, so you better just check, just to be sure...

Would anybody on the board know more about this?

I hope this has been of help to you. Great site by the way!

:-)

[choster]

The applicable laws depend on the state in which you operate and the state in which you are incorporated (not necessarily the same). You may have an interest in reading [webmasterworld.com...] .

Now for the lecture (aw, dad...:) ). Lawyers and accountants exist for a reason. If a few hundred here and there for a proper incorporation and straightforward books is too much now, what's a botched job on either going to cost you? Your savings? Your house? Are you planning to tell the IRS, or the judge, you shouldn't be held responsible for something because you trusted the advice you got from an Internet message board?

[iJeep]

Thanks for the link, I didn't find that in my initial search.

I am no way looking for information to bypass a attourney here. I just do not trust them. I want to get information from an unbiased and experience source so that I can set a meeting and go in and talk like I know something about what direction I want to go with the company.

[sun818]

You can take a look here at SCORE:
[score.org...]

I took a small business class at a local community collge. And this was one of the resources recommended to me. Retired professionals give advice. And its free. :) I received some good tips... although I think it may be a challenge to find someone who is a "retired" ecommerce professional. ;)