So I tried Legal Zoom...

**CaliWowie** · 06-17-2010 11:19 AM

Hello again

So last week I asked about getting a LLC..

Well thanks to positive feed back from this site I achieved that with legal zoom (not promoting them) but it was to easy..

You start by typing in what ever it is you want to do. Then it shows you all the things you have to file and ask you if you want them to do it. Typically you can file some documents yourself and they coast up to like 30 dollars, but you can have them do it for about 55 dollars. Its up to you to decide if you want to save money or cut hassle.

Theres four membership packages and I chose the cheapest one. The other three offered things I didn't desire but some I might need in the future. So again use your judgement.

So I spent 364.00...and now I have a few papers with the state iI have to file on my own for like 25 bucks times 3. 75 dollars. And if I had them do it, it would have been 55 times 3. 165 dollars...in all honesty I did save money but id rather cut the hassle....I would have spent about 600 max...and double that for a lawyer.

But there are some questions they ask that I had no clue what they were talking about...so I called and the guy was very helpful. And told me to finish the process and at the end theres a review page and had suggested I call him directly when I reach that point to make it easier...and I did and he was right. It was easier. I asked all kinds of questions and got a great answer for all of them.

So if you want to start a business and discover your biggest road block is the legal aspect. fear not and try legalzoom. it help me get over my obstacle.

**KyleXY** · 06-17-2010 04:59 PM

Personally I would prefer consulting an attorney that specializes in this area. There are greater benefits to having an attorney doing it rather than doing it yourself on legalzoom. Things such as whether or not an LLC is really the best entity for your type of business or not rather than base on what you assume, especially on the tax side. Other things such as properly setting up the structure so that you have a real LLC versus a pass through structure that is considered part of an individual for liability protection. Many states do not recognize single member LLCs by default and there are measures you can take to separate the entity in such a way that if the situation ever arises, it will provide the liability protection you seek in having such an entity. These things include but are not limited to making sure you actually completed an articles of organization, K1 schedules, bylaws written for the business, etc... These things are often not always done correctly simply because an entrepreneur fails to seek advice and assume an LLC is the best structure and then goes on to file the LLC with a certain state and doesn't actually finish the process properly.

An attorney can actually advise you base on your business, the expected volume you intend to make, whether you are looking to raise capital in the future or not, etc... what the right structure is, set up everything properly, and even register in the correct state (picking your home state isn't always the best route). While I agree there are a lot of information out there, as you stated, it is much easier to seek an attorney and in my opinion, much safer to getting things done right.

**CaliWowie** · 06-18-2010 09:18 AM

I agree with you some areas..

I didn't just wake up one day a decide LLC.. Ive been talking face to face with people and researching on the internet, for about 6 months. LLC was the majority vote and the best option to start my business. It all came down to how much start up money you have and I'm in the military and well you can look up the military pay chart if you like and you can laugh at me earnings. My goal was to get legal and ready to sell. I got it. I'm confident everything is in place. I wouldn't mind a lawyer looking over it. I'm already planing on getting my LLC revised once my company is my primary source of income.

So for all the just starting guys out there. If you do legal zoom you'll thank yourself for trying it and making your business idea an actuality.

**LSnyder** · 06-18-2010 09:25 AM

KyleXY,

I completely agree with you. Our offices does many business formations and have seen instances where people have used this LZ for their formations and did not choose the one most beneficial to their needs. However, on the other hand we have also seen many benefits with them as well.

Our office does charge a little more, usually around $500 plus the states fees so it is a little cheaper but again there is not someone there to truly reinforce your best interests.

Good luck to all!

Lisa

**KyleXY** · 06-18-2010 02:43 PM

Originally Posted by CaliWowie

I agree with you some areas..

I didn't just wake up one day a decide LLC.. Ive been talking face to face with people and researching on the internet, for about 6 months. LLC was the majority vote and the best option to start my business. It all came down to how much start up money you have and I'm in the military and well you can look up the military pay chart if you like and you can laugh at me earnings. My goal was to get legal and ready to sell. I got it. I'm confident everything is in place. I wouldn't mind a lawyer looking over it. I'm already planing on getting my LLC revised once my company is my primary source of income.

So for all the just starting guys out there. If you do legal zoom you'll thank yourself for trying it and making your business idea an actuality.

To each his own. I wouldn't laugh at your pay regardless of what it is. I actually wish you the best of luck in pursuing your business. I just think it's generally a safer bet. Unfortunately I disagree with you in regards to creating a poll from people and going with their advice. I don't mean any disrespect to people in general but typically speaking, not many of them know what they're doing when it comes to business. Some have even created biases base on what experience they do have. Every business is different.

With that, if you've already gone through everything and decided on the LLC already, that's great. Again, I wasn't writing to deter you specifically to change your mind and I do wish you the best. I was just responding to provide an opinion on what I think would be the best course of action for anyone here looking to do this.

**broyaz** · 06-19-2010 11:44 PM

I too used LegalZoom for our LLC and am very happy with the results!

**tommccann** · 08-17-2010 04:38 AM

Many lawyers actually get excited when a young entrepreneur approaches them. I am not a lawyer but in my earlier days of deciding whether a C-corp or an S-corp would be the best choice for my company, I talked with a couple of lawyers who were eager to give me advice, tips and references free of charge. If you do your homework, know the differences between the different formations and show enthusiasm, you'll be surprised by how much support you may receive!