When starting up a business, one of the most important things you will need to do is organize it into a legal entity. There are a few legal entities in which you can organize your business. These include sole proprietorships, partnerships and corporations. In incredibly popular business entity is the limited liability company. There's many reasons for this popularity. This is a type of entity that provides businesses with the ease of a sole proprietorship and the legal protection of a corporation.
The main steps of forming a limited liability company are filing articles of incorporation, getting a business license, getting an employer identification number and then publishing the business information of the limited liability company. Following these three fundamental steps will make becoming a limited liability company quick and easy. With a limited liability company, you will have the opportunity to take advantage of a number of benefits.
Steps To Applying To Become a LLC
- Starting a business
- Coming up with a business name
- Obtaining a business license
- Applying for an employer identification number
- Filling out the Articles of Organization documents
- Submitting the Articles of Organization documents
- Publishing the LLC information
- Begin operations
The Steps Explained
When looking to apply to make your business a limited liability company, the first step you will need to take is to start a business. During this process, you will look to start an organized for profit operation in something related to one of your hobbies or a past occupation that you were in You can also form a business that specializes in investment such as real estate or financial securities.
After coming up with a business idea and starting one, you will then need to come up with a business name. This will be the actual name of your limited liability company. It will be important to make sure that the business name you have in mind is available and is not used by some other entity. The state attorney general will let you know if your business name is available.
Once you have a business name, you will then need to obtain a business license. This is a document that officially declares your business as a legal entity. To get a business license, you will just need to go to the local city tax and licensing office and apply for one. You will also need to pay a fee. Once accepted, you will officially have a business that is legally recognized.
After getting your business license, you will then need to obtain and fill out a set of documents called the articles of organization. This is set of documents that need to be filled out to be officially recognized as a limited liability company. On these documents, you will need to provide information about the business such as the type of business, employer identification number, and information pertaining to the members/owners of the company.
The next thing you will need to do is draft and sign the Operating Agreement. This document provides the provisions and conditions on how the company is run. The provisions of the limited liability company may include the business plan, how profits will be divided up between the members and also what exact products and services that the business wants to provide to consumers. With the operating agreement, a business will also provide information about the general policies of the organization such as its specific rules and regulations. You will need to fill out this form and submit it to the state attorney general’s office along with the articles of incorporation.
Once the articles of organization and operating agreement have been submitted and accepted, you will then need to publish your LLC in a local publication. It will be required that you provide a listing of your limited liability company in a newspaper or local magazine. The publication of your limited liability company will need to be for three consecutive days. After the three days, your limited liability company will be legitimate and you will be eligible to operate your business with this particular entity right away.