Getting a small business is incorporating is a big choice. Maybe you just opened your business, and things are going well. On the other hand, it’s possible that your small business hasn’t even started yet.
Incorporating is a good choice for most businesses, and it’s not just for those that have been around for a long time. There are many advantages to forming a U.S. corporation.
You should consider all of these factors carefully before making any business decisions. Consider these arguments in favor of forming a corporation before you go ahead and do it. Here are all the advantages of incorporating by NY Biennial Statement Online.
Advantages of Incorporating.
1. Keep your Assets Safe from People Who Owe you Money.
Starting your own business is definitely exciting. But along with that excitement comes the fact that accidents happen, and (unfortunately) businesses sometimes fail.
One of the best things about incorporating comes into play here. As an LLC, C-Corp, or S-Corp, your personal assets are shielded from corporate liabilities. If your business falls on hard times, collection agencies usually can’t get their hands on your personal property. For example, if you don’t pay back your business loan, you won’t lose your house.
Suppose you haven’t set up your business as a corporation. Your personal assets are automatically linked to your business. This could include your car, your house, your investment accounts, and even things you buy in the future.
Also, if you went bankrupt as a business, your personal assets could be utilize to pay off your debts. If you filed for personal bankruptcy, your business could be an asset that could be sell to pay off your debts. Incorporating your business protects it from all of these things.
2. Transferring Ownership is Easier.
Since a corporation exists in its own right under the law, its shareholders or owners do not have any claim to the business’s assets. Instead, they have stock in the company, which owns the assets. This makes it much easier to change who owns what.
Being able to change who owns something makes it easier to get investments. It’s important to be able to enter and exit investments on mutually agreeable terms and without unnecessary delays from a convoluted organizational structure for investors like venture capital firms and angel investors.
3. The Safety and Longevity of a Business.
The percentage of stock ownership is what determines who owns a corporation. This gives corporations a lot more flexibility than other types of entities when it comes to transferring ownership and keeping the business going for the long term.
There can be purchases and sales of ownership with relative ease. Despite any restrictions on doing so that may include in the bylaws or articles of incorporation. For instance, if a company owner wants to leave, all they have to do is sell their shares. Also, if an owner dies, it’s easy for someone else to take over their shares.
4. Access to Capital.
Since most companies sell ownership through stock that is exchange publicly, it is easy for them to get money by selling stock. Other types of entities don’t have the luxury of being able to get money. It is great for both growing a business and keeping a company from going bankrupt in hard times.
5. Tax Benefits.
Some corporations (C corporations) have to pay taxes twice. But other corporations (S corporations), depending on how their income managed, can get tax breaks.
For example, S corporations can split their income between the business and the shareholders. This means that there are different tax rates for the business and the shareholders.
There is a label on any income as an owner’s salary will be taxed as self-employment income. While the tax on the rest of the business’s dividends at their own rate (no self-employment tax).
6. Sharing the Money.
Corporations give their shareholders dividends, which come from the money the company makes. To get these dividends, a shareholder doesn’t have to be actively involved in the business of the corporation.
Your family members, including spouses and children, may become shareholders in your business. This would allow you to give money from the business to different members of your family. The goal of splitting income is to give money to people who pay less in taxes.
7. Income Control.
Forming a company allows business owners to control their own compensation and hence their tax liability. This could be a big tax benefit. One option is to delay receiving money from the company until a later date, when tax rates may be lower.
8. Make a Better Name for Yourself.
Your business’s reputation isn’t just based on how many positive reviews it gets on Yelp and Google or how much good it does in the community. By forming a corporation, you can show that you are a real business and build trust with potential customers. This is a huge plus for the brand of your business.
9. Keeps your brand safe.
You can’t reduce your brand to a catchy slogan or logo. It’s how you run your business, how your store looks and feels, and what kinds of goods you sell. When you form a corporation, you’re not just protecting the name of your business. You also keep the business’s image from being utilize in ways you don’t like or without your permission. By incorporating your business, you can protect:
- Consideration of how popular your product is (visual cues like logos, slogans, and colors that represent your brand).
- You have my permission to use your trademark (any words, phrase, symbol, or design that distinguishes your business from others.).
10. When You’re Not There, Your Business Can Still Grow.
When a company is incorporating, it’s treatment as a legal entity in its own right. Even after you are gone, it goes on as if nothing has changed. Your business will probably need a new leader, but it won’t stop running. You might be wondering if this is still true for people who want to leave their business to their children or grandchildren.
Yes, is the simple answer. When a person dies, their whole estate, including any businesses they owned, usually goes through a court called a “probate court.” Mortgages, loans, and medical expenses are paid from the estate’s assets. After all of this happens, only then does what’s left go to the heirs. That could be a lot less than what your business is worth. If your business is well-run, it might not have to go through probate proceedings.