Do It Right! How to Start a Company While Reducing Your Risks

In the middle of the night you shot upright in your bed, the light bulb over your head fully illuminated the room as you suddenly had the idea for the perfect business. Having an idea for a business is not rare. In fact, people have great business ideas all the time; the real question is will they act on it? Many people allow their fear and lack of understanding to prevent them from realizing their dream of owning their own company, but starting a business doesn’t have to be a pipe dream. With a lot of planning, a lot of effort, and the right kind of help your brilliant business idea may be your dream come true.

Setting up Shop

It’s true, you may have a great idea for a business, but it’s important to understand that a great idea is no guarantee. Starting your own company can be challenging and is not without some level of risk and a lot of unanswered questions. It is risky to leave a job to start a business. It is risky to back a new company financially. These and many other risks must be faced, but ensuring that your business is set up properly can reduce those risks and protect you and your assets.

There are many decisions that must be made from the type of business entity including sole proprietorship, Limited Liability Company, Corporation, cooperative, and others. You must properly secure a name with your state, register the company with your state, pay any fees, obtain a tax identification number, and complete a host of formation documents. Business permits and licenses must be applied for if necessary. And you must think about your method of accounting and all tax implications. If you are hiring employees, you will need to know the laws involved in that process. Finally, you must familiarize yourself with state and federal laws that regulate your business and the products or services you provide to make sure you are in full compliance. Furthermore, once all of this is tackled you have to consider ongoing compliance requirements as well.

Don’t Be Discouraged

Looking at that list can be disheartening, especially when you consider all the other things you need to think about such as marketing, accounting, sales, and all the other areas that many individuals starting a small business must tackle on their own. The key is that taking your time to research and plan can make the process much easier, and much safer. There are some excellent resources to help you including the Small Business Administration, your local Chamber of Commerce, even friends and other business owners. One of the best investments you can make is to partner with a business formation and compliance expert that can help you to skillfully navigate the process.

SafeShield: Protecting Your Business, Protecting You

SafeShield is dedicated to protecting new and existing small businesses by ensuring they are following the law,  adhering to corporate formalities, and meeting all compliance requirements. They work hard to ensuring you are not one of the more than 85% of U.S. businesses that fail to meet the most basic compliance standards. Visit our services page for more information, or contact us with any questions. Allow us to help you protect your business, and protect yourself.

Employee Empowerment

“Workin’ hard, or hardly workin’?”

“No one notices what I do around here until I don’t do it”

“I don’t mind coming to work, it’s the eight hours I wait to go home that I hate”

“I like my job best when I’m on vacation”

The workplace jokes go on and on. It seems commonplace for most people to dread going to work every day, but a comical statement may be a sign of a bigger problem. At Safe Shield, we know that low office morale can keep your company from running like a well-oiled machine. We’d like to offer you some tips to perk up the office and maintain (or bring back) your company’s morale:

·         Open communication

It is important to make your employees aware of certain operations inside the company. Employees that are kept in the dark see their higher-ups as less approachable. When the entire office is aware of a situation or problem, they are more likely to ask questions and have the opportunity to come up with solutions. Obviously not everything can be shared with everyone in the company, but well-informed employees respond better to management and become more loyal to the company.

·         Positive encouragement

Simply put, be a role model to the company. Be a coach, not a dictator. People are most creative when they enjoy their work, and part of enjoying work is knowing it is appreciated. Also, give them the opportunity to choose their own projects whenever possible. Studies show that employees with variation and choice in their career are far more productive and creative.

·         Recognize efforts

Even if they fail, recognize the efforts the members of your company put in. It is far better to have an employee who is taking risks than one who is complacent. Recognition gives your employees courage to keep trying new approaches and keeps your company moving and changing instead of staying in the same old routine.

·         Reward success

Rewarding successes around the workplace can be the most important and obvious way to improve morale. Rewards can be simple ideas- acknowledgement at a weekly meeting, having lunch with the CEO, or giving extra vacation days. Employees appreciate recognition for their work and will be more productive and eager to perform- not to mention the fact that they are being given an incentive to do well.

·         Clearly define roles

Those who do not understand what they are supposed to do, don’t do it well. Make sure your office has a firm grasp on the roles in the company. An efficient employee is one who knows exactly what is expected of them and what is not. Placing blame on others and misplaced excuses are reduced and become unneeded with well-defined company roles.

·         Require accountability

Employees need to know when they are meeting expectations and when they are not. If other employees see mistakes being made and no one being held accountable, they see little need to improve themselves. Be supportive and clear, but firm in requiring accountability in your employees, and others will take note.

Safe Shield wants to help you mold and build your business into the best that it can be. Try a few of these tips around your office, and soon you will see the talk around the water cooler turn from Monday complaints to excited ideas and eager responses. 

Tips for Young Entrepreneurs

Perhaps one of the most exciting endeavors a person can pursue is starting up a new business. The promise of success can be alluring, but the fear of failure can be incredibly stressful, especially for young entrepreneurs entering the business community for the first time. To build up confidence and market any new business, keep in mind these four tips:

1.      Network

Especially when you are first starting your business, it is important to connect with your community. One of the easiest things you can do is join your local chamber group and start networking. Mingle with other business professionals in your area to build awareness for your company, learn about other businesses, and refer business to others building reciprocity for them to refer business back your way. This is a great place to start your client base. Use convenient tools such as LinkedIn to stay in touch with your new connections.

2.                  Set goals for your business

Set realistic, achievable long term and short term goals for your business and plan for how to achieve these goals. Setting goals for your business is important to give focus and drive on what you are trying to accomplish. Write down and display your goals to give yourself a constant reminder for what you are striving towards. After you set your goals come up with a strategy on how you plan to follow through with those goals. As the famous quote says “A goal without a plan is just a wish.”

3.                  Get online; go social

In today's world it is extremely important to have a good website. For many businesses, a great website has become the face of the business. With basically everyone searching for information online, it is necessary to have a professional, easily navigable website for potential customers to find out information on your business. Use social media as an inexpensive way to bring traffic to your website. Social media connects online users to your business by building your brand and pushing customers to your website.

4.            Get your business set up right           

Start your business off on the right foot by getting it set up right. Talk with the professionals at Safe Shield about setting up your business entity and monitoring the ever changing regulations to keep your business compliant on an ongoing basis. They will help you keep your personal assets safe by creating a Corporate Veil for your business. While failure to preserve Corporate Formalities and meet Ongoing Compliance standards threatens the integrity of your Corporate Veil, ultimately leaving your personal assets exposed and at risk, the experts at Safe Shield will mitigate that risk.

The Desire to be an Entrepreneur - Part 2

Several months ago we shared The Desire to be an Entrepreneur with all of you and since new business filings continue to rise, the timing is right for some follow up on that topic. While our world is in a state of constant change, there is one simple fact that remains constant: Entrepreneurship is the lifeblood of our economy and we will always rely on individuals who desire to start, and operate, their own business.

Just as we need entrepreneurial-minded leaders who are constantly starting new business ventures, we also need good decision makers who will start, build and protect those businesses. Far too often highly motivated people are so eager to hit the ground running with their great ideas that they don't take proper steps to ensure that their business is set up properly, nor do they concern themselves with ongoing requirements that are necessary to protect the business.

The breakdown of many to follow the proper steps and do things correctly from the very beginning, all too often leads to destruction and ultimate failure. The challenges to building a successful business are many and ventures fail every day for a variety of reasons. Unfortunately, many businesses fail for reasons that are completely unnecessary.

At Safe Shield, we fully encourage and support entrepreneurship. So much so that we have made it our mission to ensure that every business we come into contact with is formed properly and remains fully compliant throughout the life-cycle of the business. Are you ready to pursue your entrepreneurial dream? Click here and let Safe Shield help you achieve your goal!

Client Profile: Fostering LLC

Here at Safe Shield we are proud to have a variety of clients ranging in many different businesses. Today we are excited to profile one of our clients, Matt Foster the owner of Fostering LLC.

Matt has made a name for himself in the St. Cloud area by customizing CRM solutions for the past 7 years. In February of 2014 Matt decided to go full time in the CRM business world and soon after sought out Safe Shield's services to make sure his LLC was set up properly.

Matt has always been familiar with entrepreneurship being around his father's successful business growing up. “The Entrepreneurial spirit is in my blood. My father owned his own business for over 50 years. I get energized knowing I can service my clients the right way and made decisions to move in that manner.”

Foster credits flexibility, freedom to carve his own path, and creating viable solutions for others as the most rewarding parts of owning his own company. He says Safe Shield has been a no-brainer for the service and the peace of mind. “Some of the beginning challenges are the “sideline” work just to get incorporated, business banking accounts, filings and insurance. I started my LLC over 6 years ago all by myself and realized that I wasn’t properly covered.”

In March of 2014 Safe Shield went to work researching the filings Matt had previously done, making the necessary changes and updating all the records for Fostering LLC. “I appreciate having someone trustworthy to call if I have questions and have all my documents online whenever I need them.”

For the future Matt plans to continue to grow Fostering LLC. “I truly enjoy serving other local business, knowing they are more efficient and profitable after our interactions.”

If you are looking into making some CRM improvements and would like to learn more about Fostering LLC, visit their website here:http://fosteringllc.com/

Safe Shield Keeps Filing Easy With it's Online Interface

At Safe Shield we make small business owners' lives a lot easier by monitoring their ever changing compliance standards, initiating regular compliance reviews, generating detailed documentation, and managing all of their business records. Continuing with this trend Safe Shield developed an online corporate record book for its clients to keep all of their business documents in one easy place.

Business owners no longer need to deal with the hassle of updating a stack of physical business records. Safe Shield manages all of your business records in a secure online environment allowing you convenient, any time access as well as the ability to share access with business associates and any of your other trusted advisors.

Caryn Stadther of Falcon National Bank explains that their company has greatly benefited from Safe Shield's easy online corporate record book. “We really are able to help our customers better by using Safe Shield's online record keeping. With the systems Safe Shield has in place, we can easily gather the documents we need to help our customers with their deposit accounts or loan needs.”

 

If you own multiple businesses, Safe Shield's online corporate record book also gives you access to all of the businesses you own in one convenient location.

 

Trust Safe Shield to manage your business documents and experience the Safe Shield difference! 

Safe Shield website

Benefits of an LLC

Limited Liability Companies, or LLCs, have seen a surge in popularity in recent years. There’s a good reason for it; the business model is incredibly flexible, and highly effective, if properly created and maintained. At Safe Shield, we have the expertise to get your LLC off the ground - here are a few features that make it worth considering.

A limited liability company, or LLC, is succinctly described by the U.S. Small Business Association as “a hybrid type of legal structure that provides the limited liability features of a corporation and the tax efficiencies and operational flexibility of a partnership.”

Sounds a little complicated? Probably. Still, all of this amounts to a very solid business model…but only if properly maintained.

What else do you need to know about LLCs?

Benefits of an LLC:

Flexibility

The owner or owners of an LLC are referred to as "members." Depending on the state, the members can consist of a single individual (one owner), two or more individuals, corporations or even other LLCs. In an LLC, percentage of ownership can be divided up in any way; all that matters is that the ownership totals up to 100%.

Taxation

LLCs are not taxed as separate entities, like corporations. Instead, these profits or losses pass through the business over to each member of the LLC. In turn, LLC members report financial happenings on their personal federal tax returns - just like the owners of a partnership would. However, an LLC also has the flexibility to elect S-Corp status with the IRS. This means that the legal structure is still that of an LLC, but the IRS treats the LLC as an S-Corporation for tax purposes.

Assets are Protected

By properly establishing and maintaining an LLC, small business owners gain a layer of protection. For example, if someone files a lawsuit against the LLC, the individual officers and members are typically not held personally liable on the judgment. This is a major bonus; a major financial situation such as a lawsuit can sink a small company. This means that LLCs can function as a huge security measure.

An LLC is only as strong as it’s structure; as we mentioned, if your LLC is not set up and regulated with care, it is doomed to fail. So, if you’re planning on establishing a business, and are contemplating the LLC structure, give us a ring at Safe Shield and we’ll help you navigate!