Advice Please...

[WearEco]

My wife & I are starting a company and I need a few questions I have on legal issues answered.

My company will consist of sub contractors working for me doing work for other companies in the healthcare field.

My questions are basically...

Should I get a DBA or should I incorporate?

Also what type of insurance would be the best for me? Considering that the liability factor could be high considering the sub contractors I am hiring will be working with other individuals hands on.

Basically I am just trying to figure out what would be the best way to protect myself if for some reason one of the sub contracters I sent to this job were to hurt one of the clients of the company that hired me.

Any information would be greatly appreciated

Thank You.

-Taylor

[WearEco]

47 views and not a single response... hmmmmm

Anyone, anyone?

[ewaste]

I previously had a cabin rental cleaning business (in gatlinburg, tn) where I subcontracted. I made sure my insurance covered both me and my employees in case of damages. My policy covered up to $1 million per occurrence. you never know, and it's better safe than sorry, but i'm not an attny or anything, just personal experience.

good luck,
ewaste

[LukePhillips]

If they are true "contractors" then your liability is contractual, and they are not your "employees".. However there's a number of occupational health and safety laws that may treat them as employees from a safety perspective.

I would always advise to incorporate if you are serious, it's cheap and good first layer of protection.

[kevanelkins]

i'd look into pre paid legal, cheap access to a lawyer if you need to ask their advice or anything look at my page or anything else i might be able to answer
prepaidlegal.com/hub/kevanelkins
you can email me directly from there

[andrewrichardgale]

you should start off with getting a divorce before you start the business or else she will get one down the road and take the company

[forchunet]

Wow andrewrichardgale, your comments are completely unnecessary and are only detracting other, more serious users from this forum.

[Visalus Sciences]

i'd look into pre paid legal, cheap access to a lawyer if you need to ask their advice or anything look at my page or anything else i might be able to answer
prepaidlegal.com/hub/kevanelkins
you can email me directly from there

You might want to look into pre-paid legal. I'm definitely an advocate of it having a business of my own I'm always turning to the lawyers for advice...for the price you cant beat it

[BusinessAdviser]

A few points:

Don't use a DBA. It opens you up to unlimited liability. Either go with a corporation (S-Corps are generally better for startups bc of they're pass-through entities) or even better, an LLC, which is simpler and provides the advantages of both a corp and a sole proprietorship.

Second, there are a number of different insurances you need. I can actually provide them for you if you'd like to speak about them. Let me know.

Third, you need to make sure that your subcontractors are actually classified as independent contractors rather than employees. Calling them such is not enough. You need to understand the difference.