LLC Formation

It's official, we are now legally WebGamut LLC! When I started this company nearly 10 years ago out of my dorm room at Nichols College, each year I would have a little line on my tax-return for DBA WebGamut earnings.

Though, cosmetically there is little difference, I will be saving money in taxes and my personal liability is now limited. When I decided to start WebGamut back up full-time, I should have just formed the LLC right away, but I kept it as a DBA as I was still working out of my house and there was just little old me.

When I went to get my business insurance that prompted the conversation about employees and interns. The insurance agent nearly insisted that I form an LLC if I was to hire employees (which we are planning to do in 2007).

So just after I moved into the new office space in August, I started the process of forming an LLC. I researched the process and it can get quite costly and cumbersome. I found an online service, LegalZoom, that was reasonably priced and handled all of the paperwork. While, their customer service was knowledgeable and friendly, they do have a few communication holes in their process. It turned out that my "order" was on hold, but I didn't realize that until I called to find out what the hold up was. They then told me that I had to "dissolve" my WebGamut DBA with the State of NH and then they could submit the application. Easy enough. I did that and everything has gone through now.

Now my challenge will be accounting for the year. I typically have done my own taxes (I was originally a double major in Accounting and Finance), but I think this year, I may have to seek out some accounting help with my added complexities. The last thing I want is to be penalized by the IRS (and we all know that happens).

Long story short, if you're starting out a business, save some headaches later on and form an LLC from the get-go.