By Stephen Windhaus
Through two decades of small business development in the public and private sector, I have learned that the legal structure of small business ventures revolves around the entrepreneur’s desire to protect his/her assets, while having the flexibility to direct revenue to one’s personal income with the least amount of expense, and avoiding a lot of paperwork. Until a few years ago, the “either – or” debate revolved around proprietorship vs. an S corporation. The introduction of the simple Limited Liability Company (LLC) changed that debate to either an LLC or S corporation. Again, the emphasis remains on liability, ease of accessing revenue for income and avoiding paperwork.
For the purpose of this column, please note that we are addressing the condition of self-employment with no employees, and for good reason. According to a Small Business Administration (SBA) report issued in December 2004, there has been phenomenal growth of self-employment. In the year 2000 there were 11.5 million non-agricultural ventures in the U.S. That grew to 12.2 million in 2003 of which 2.9 million businesses were unincorporated.”
LLC (Limited Liability Company) or S Corp: Which is Better or the Self-Employed? from The Corporate Bee, Feb. 2006. Quoted at the Small Business CEO blog.
[small biz] [rural] [LLC] [S corp] [self employed] [windhaus]
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Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.