Guess It's Time to get legal

**41haikuwarriors** · 07-10-2013, 07:29 AM

I chose Sole Proprietor over LLC purely based on initial costs. Registering this way in Oklahoma involved $0 up front. I do have to pay an annual license fee of $25 but not until the end of the year. Plus the added cost of incorporating isn't justifiable to me at this moment. If you "get in trouble" there have been many cases recently where the Prosecuting Attorney tore right through the "so-called" protection an LLC is supposed to provide. I would have to start dealing with much greater volume before I incorporate.

This is solely a part time, money making (SOMETIMES) hobby for me at the moment. I want it to grow, and i would love if i could do this full time, so I'm just taking the first baby steps that need to be taken in order for my "side job" to become more profitable. Don't want it to get too big that i get noticed doing business without a license so it made sense to protect myself a bit and hopefully it will lead to much more business.

**Electrowaste** · 07-11-2013, 06:07 AM

Originally Posted by 41haikuwarriors

there have been many cases recently where the Prosecuting Attorney tore right through the "so-called" protection an LLC is supposed to provide

This is absolutely true and folks should be aware of this when debating this. I did my incorporation through Legal Zoom and it did get me started but after a month I went to a local lawyer out of fear of this very situation and he re-wrote several aspects of my articles of incorporation. More importantly he gave me some advice about small behaviors which allow me to better protect myself and my personal assets. The biggest one for me was although I had a personal Checking and Savings account and a business Checking and Savings account I had them linked together so I could easily front my business some money from my personal savings here and there when I needed it which was a big no-no. I closed the linked accounts and opened different, unlinkable accounts. He suggested that I even bank at different banks (one bank for personal, one for business) but I really like my current bank.