Advice from my attorney: was that he recommended an LLC, or a sub-S Corporation or even a Limited Partnership. he, of course, really didn’t want to influence my decision. But, he assured me that “[he] could take care of all the paperwork for whatever I decided.”
It may have a been a slip of the tongue, but when he mentioned that most people were now doing LLCs; although he called it a Limited-Liability Corporation– NOT a Limited Liability Company.
But, when he said that, I jumped to the conclusion that he didn’t know the difference. I have talked to other business owners who report about the same advice from their attorneys.
When I think that I am dealing with incompetence, I just leave. I firmly believe that you can’t fix “stupid” or “incompetence”.
Advice from my accountant: well, he gave me pretty much the same advice as the attorney. His first choice was an LLC. If the business fails, I could write off all of the investment against future investment income. He also advised me that If I insisted on a corporation, it should be a sub-S corp for the same reason. I kept mentioning C-corporations and he finally advised me that C-corps require too much paperwork and they are costly and are subject to double-taxation.
Advice from the Brother-in-law: In my case, he happened to be a banker and knows just about everything. But, I asked anyway. He fell into lock-step with the attorney and the accountant. He did get a little personal though; he questioned my sanity for being willing to take such a step and risk my family’s financial future on a business. Oh well, I didn’t expect much so I wasn’t that disappointed.
Advice from my Neighbor: He’s a retired business owner, in his 80s. He gave me mostly cautionary advice. ” Be careful of the economy.” “Be extra careful of my location” (after all- location, location, location…) He stressed, try not to go into debt. “Interest is evil– a tool of the devil!” But he at least wished me good luck.
Advice from my college: I thought back to my college business courses and I talked to some relatives that were currently attending college. I asked them what the professors were teaching regarding business. I was surprised that two of them actually knew (with a little prodding and interpreting) that:
1. Business is bad is bad for our country. They upset the economic balance and the business owners get rewarded way too handsomely. Also, taxes on dividends should be RAISED– not LOWERED.
2. “Capitalism is evil, a tool of the devil”, or something very similar.
3. Business courses seem to be aimed primarily– at making you a better and more skilled “employee”. All the better in the race for promotions and raises!! I think I used to refer to that as the “rat-race”.
4. I got the deer-in-the-headlights look when I asked what was being taught about starting or operating you own business. A complete BLANK!!! I guess the subject is not important enough for the “academia” to address. As you know by now, I like old things– are you familiar with:
“Those who can, DO”
“Those who can’t, TEACH” &
“Those who can’t teach, ADMINISTRATE”
Enough said, for the advice from Business Schools, Colleges and Universities.
Advice from the on-line gurus: Boy, these guys are all over the chart. As I mentioned in my critique of motives, they are all selling the solutions to our problems. They just can’t agree as to what that solution is. In my opinion, too many are anti-one thing and too pro-something else. The bottom line? They all seem to have the obvious, simple and to-the-point fix.
For me, business always got complex, quickly, and stayed that way. Even though the gurus claim they have the best mouse-trap, I always seem to have more problems to solve and more decisions to make than to just catch a few mice.
The sad part for me is to read from the thousands , if not millions, of commenters (users of the advice) and to see how little and how under-served they’ve been by following the simple advice they’ve received on-line.
If I take a small step back and re-look at the on-line responders, there seems to be an awful lot of people who’ve accessed the advice, put it to work and are now frustrated. Have you searched the internet and felt the same? If you have, I promise you that when we finish here; you will know where to go, to get the answers you need– if your goal is to own a prosperous and successful business.