When it comes to the survival of humanity, being born is, well, essential. And as any entrepreneur can tell you, when it comes to the survival of a business, proper incorporation is just as essential. It is the “birth” of a business after all. And as much as I hate to beat this analogy to death... I will. Forming a corporation can be as painful as giving natural childbirth, albeit forming a corporation often has more screaming.
I have been involved in incorporating at least seven businesses, probably more (I blocked some of them out). I used to do it the old-school way. Drive over to my lawyer's office, get a suggestion on what type of corporation to form (e.g., LLC, S-Corp, C-Corp, etc.), and then spend a gazillion dollars hiring him to set it up. My lawyer charges a fat $350/hour, so at the end of the day, I'd have a $1,000+ legal bill, plus and the normal state fees – at which point my labor pains would commence (sorry, had to do it). Quite frankly, his mongo bills were justified. It does take up a lot of his time. Scratch that. It used to take up a lot of his time.
I am here to tell you, I have found a better way, people. A better way! It is online incorporation. (I recommend BizFilings.com - deets on them in a sec.) At first I was skeptical. Was this thing legit? But then I figured there was a good chance my attorney was using their service anyway, so I dug a little deeper.
I struck up a conversation with the folks over at BizFilings.com about a month ago. I am looking to incorporate a new company (still kinda secret) and thought they would be the perfect solution. The conversation turned into, “BizFilings.com should become part of the TPE community!” (as a Sponsor of Pure Awesomeness – yes that is the official title). So they have, and now that we're practically best buds, they let me poke and prod them about the inner workings of their company and their process.
If you know anything about me, I love to get into the inner workings of businesses. Karen Kobelski, the General Manager at BizFilings.com, was more than willing to answer everything I wanted to know. Oh, and talk about a personal touch, I could only call in the evening so she let me call her house while she was changing out an old drier vent. She is my kind of people.
And so, after much poking and prodding and lifting of rocks, I am convinced that BizFilings.com is the way to go when forming a new company, filing a dba, amending ownership, dissolving a corporation or any of the other legal rigmarole entrepreneurs need to go through to keep their company in compliance wherever they are.
“So what did you find out?” you ask. Probably more then you need to know actually, but here is the meaty, essential stuff:
1. It's Cheaper – My first discovery was that in most cases, online corporation is cheaper than any of the alternatives. Use a lawyer and you need to pay for her time. Do it yourself and you need to spend your time (which is worth real money, folks). But do it online and after just a few minutes and something like $97 bucks, you're done.
2. A Call. A Click. Done. – I spoke with Jill Felska, the co-founder of DreamChamps.com along with co-founder Jenn Krenn. We talked about the challenges of starting a business and all the raw demand on an entrepreneur’s time to simply get the business off the ground and sales rolling in. Incorporating was just another task, albeit with tons of minute details, that was a necessary step to launching a business. Jill loved the fact that after a quick call to BizFilings.com, a click here and there, and her S-Corp was setup. Done once, done right.
3. Friggin' Fast – I didn't even know you could do this, but apparently you can set up a corporation in any state, no matter where you live. Check this out. Karen told me that BizFilings.com has a physical presence in all fifty states. This means that if I live in Wyoming and I want to set up a business in Delaware, for example, BizFilings.com can get me set up practically overnight. They tie directly into the Secretary of State system in each state. So when you apply for your corporation, it is up and in the Delaware system, faster then, well... it's friggin' fast.
4. Small Guys Rule! - My favorite part is that BizFilings.com has 45 employees and their leaders have no problem talking with you while changing drier vents. They are their own little company that is owned by a bigger one that let's them be, well, them. They get small business. And I am not just saying that. I placed a surprise call to their customer service department; they had no idea I was doing it. I spoke with April, a customer service rep, and asked her a million questions and she answered them all. No need to “ask a manager” or put me on hold for hours. And when I pulled the “what kind of corporation do you suggest I form?” card, April suggested that I seek legal counsel (BizFilings.com is a processing service, not lawyers, after all) and that I could call them back when I was ready or we could all (April, my lawyer and me) get on the phone together. It was just a one-on-one conversation with a person who works in a small business talking to me, a guy who runs a small business. I like that.
You know, industry norms change on a dime, especially when someone comes up with a faster, better, cheaper way to get the job done. Airline ticketing has gone that way. Paper tickets have been replaced with electronic smart phone tickets. Faster (the ticket is emailed to your hand held), better (no more fumbling for tickets) and cheaper (no more money spent on cutting down trees, and if you order online, you save money).
Well, BizFilings.com has done the exact same thing for incorporating business. It is now available to you and me faster, better and cheaper. The winning formula. If only someone could figure that out for making babies. Well, at 7 billion people and counting, maybe not.
By Mike Michalowicz, Author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur
