Business Formation & Structure
Essential guides to help you choose the right structure and set up your business for success
Choose Your Foundation Wisely
Your business structure affects everything from taxes to liability to fundraising. These articles break down the complex decisions into clear, actionable guidance.
Should Your Startup Be an LLC or Corporation? A Simple Decision Guide
Navigate the fundamental choice between LLC and corporation structures with a clear framework tailored to your goals.
5 Business Structure Mistakes Founders Make (And How to Avoid Them)
Learn from common pitfalls that can cost you time, money, and opportunities down the road.
What Really Happens When You Form Your Business. Beyond the Paperwork.
What really happens after you form a business? Learn what filing does and doesn’t do, plus the essential post-formation steps most founders must complete in the first 30 days.
Maintaining Your Business & Common Post-Formation Mistakes
Forming a business is only the beginning. Learn about ongoing compliance requirements, annual filings, and common post-formation mistakes that put businesses at risk.
Costs, Lifecycle, & Founder Reflections After Formation
Business formation involves more than filing fees. Explore the hidden costs, lifecycle stages, structural changes, and lessons many founders wish they knew earlier.
Operating Agreements: Why Your LLC Needs More Than a Template
Discover why a customized operating agreement protects your interests and prevents future disputes.
Single-Member LLC vs. Multi-Member LLC: Differences in Taxes, Liability, and Structure
Learn the key differences between single-member and multi-member LLCs, including taxes, liability protection, compliance, and when each structure makes sense.
Single-Member vs. Multi-Member LLC: Audits, Growth, Conversions, and Long-Term Risks
Understand audit risk, capital raising, estate planning, costs, and how to convert between single-member and multi-member LLC structures.
How to Choose Your Business Structure When You Plan to Raise Money
Learn how founders choose the right business structure when planning to raise capital, including investor expectations, entity trade-offs, and timing considerations.
C-Corporations, LLCs, and S-Corporations: What Works for Fundraising (And What Doesn’t)
Understand why C-Corporations dominate venture-backed startups and why LLCs and S-Corps often fail to meet investor and fundraising requirements.
Converting an LLC to a C-Corporation and Preparing for Fundraising
Learn when and how startups typically convert an LLC to a C-Corporation before fundraising, including legal steps, costs, and common mistakes.
Registering Your Business: Planning & Entity Formation Checklist
A practical checklist covering entity selection, naming, registered agents, and formation filings when registering a business in the United States.
Registering Your Business: Federal, State & Local Registration Checklist
A step-by-step guide to EINs, tax registrations, business licenses, zoning rules, and industry-specific permits for new businesses.
Registering Your Business: Banking, Hiring & Ongoing Compliance Checklist
Learn how to set up business banking, payroll, insurance, and maintain ongoing compliance after registering your business.
When to Consider Changing Your Business Structure: Early Signals & Founder Scenarios
Learn the early signs that your business structure may no longer fit - from fundraising and profit growth to partner changes - and when founders commonly consider restructuring.
When to Consider Changing Your Business Structure: Expansion, Sales & Strategic Planning
Discover how multi-state expansion, preparing for a business sale, and asset protection planning can drive the need for a business structure change.
When to Consider Changing Your Business Structure: Conversion Process, Pitfalls & Final Considerations
Understand the business structure conversion process, common legal and tax pitfalls, timelines, and compliance risks founders should plan for before restructuring.
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