By | Craig Middleton
If you are a stay at home Mom, starting your own business can be an extremely lucrative opportunity for you, but it’s important that you follow the right steps when you are setting up and running your business. Here are some tips for work from home Moms who are starting an online business:
Make Sure That You Follow All The Required Legal Steps
There are a number of legal considerations that you need to take into account when you are starting your own business. Here are some of the most important legal considerations that you need to keep in mind:
Ensure That Your Business Is Licensed And Insured
It’s extremely important to make sure that your business is insured no matter what type of business you are running, and it can even be illegal to run certain types of businesses without insurance. In addition, not insuring your business can result in substantial expenses in the form of a lawsuit, and this could cause irreparable damage to your business plan.
Use the Right Tools to Prevent Security Breach
It is sad that we have to focus on hackers, but keeping this top of mind and putting the necessary safeguards in place to protect your business and your home is one of the most important steps you can take. This is especially important if you are using a public WIFI like when doing work from Starbucks or another public space. Make sure you look into your IPhone VPN settings to see if your VPN is working correctly, or install a VPN if you haven’t already.
Make Sure That You Follow Copyright Law
It’s important to note that you cannot use any content, music, or imagery that was created by another person without following intellectual property law. In fact, if you do so, you could face stiff penalties, but luckily it’s easy to avoid breaking copyright laws by ensuring that you never plagiarize content that was created by another individual or corporation.
Get The Necessary Permits
In same cases, you will need a special permit to run the business that you are interested in starting, and the type of permit that you need will depend on the specific field that you’re going into. Not only do you need to make sure that you are aware of any special permits that you’ll need, but it’s also important to make sure that you are aware of the regulations for that field within your state, county, and city.
Figure Out What Type Of Ownership Is Best For You
There are several business ownership structures that you can choose from, and each one has unique advantages and disadvantages. These are the most common structures of business ownership:
Corporations
Corporations have a unique structure that includes shareholders and a CEO. While corporations include a significant number of people, they are set up to act as a single individual for legal purposes. Not only are there tax advantages and liability advantages of corporations, but they also can be merged with other corporations as your company grows.
Limited Liability Companies
A limited liability company is often the best way to protect yourself from potential lawsuits, and this is an extremely popular business structure. While LLCs can have several owners or more, it is also possible to have an LLC with a single owner. There also can be tax benefits of choosing an LLC. While there are fees associated with setting up an LLC, it is possible to set one up for less than 100 dollars.
Sole Proprietorship
A sole proprietorship means that you are the only owner and operator of your business. One disadvantage of a sole proprietorship is that you will be liable for any lawsuits that you suffer, but an advantage of a sole proprietorship is that you are able to set one up exceptionally easily. Keep in mind that sole proprietorships are usually quite risky.
Partnership
A partnership is a business that is owned and operated by two individuals. If your business is a partnership, you will share the costs associated with any lawsuits between individuals who are involved in the partnership. In addition, the expense of the taxes will be split between the individuals.
