It does not mater whether you are using your own name or not but it is mandatory to register the business name of your company as far as I know. Make sure that you have not chosen a business name that has already been registered by another company. This is most vital thing that you should give adequate attention if you want to avoid legal complication in near future. Better to check the websites and details provided by other members. regards Shimul website design company

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I think you still have to register a business name, even if you use your own name. If your name was John Smith and another company had a registered business name of John Smith Consulting, you might have problems if you are offering the same types of service.   I only file two types of taxes which is the state tax I collect which I file 4 times a year and at the end of the year you have to file normal taxes with the IRS.   If you need more business information go to the following website, they offer free business consultations for new businesses: http://consultations.exceptional-business-solutions.com/

Being a consult company you'll 'really' want to consider making your company an L.L.C. to keep liability only too your company assets and not your personal assets. You'll find consults are prime targets for lawsuits due to negligence and poor directing. Consider an LLC.

I would check with lawyer on point one but being a consultant I would strongly advise forming an LLC for some liability protection --- LLC can be a sole proprieter for purposes of tax.   The kinda of LLC I talked about does not require yearly minutes but you should have a bank account in your business name and not intermingles the account with your personal account.   If you sell brochures or training materials, etc., as a part of your business you may need to have a local business liscence.   Hope this helps

The most important part of an online business, and any other business, is getting the proper capital.     I suggest doing your research online and speaking with someone that already does this type of work.     Sincerely,     Ilya Bodner Small Business Owner Initial Underwriting Group 

You may want to register a conmpany, especially if you are consulting, mainly for limiting your liability. I would say go with an LLC structure, as sole proprietorship, though very popular with home-based businesses, does not offer you the same extent of protection an LLC affords. If you already have a business resgistered, then you can establish this as a DBA (Doing Business As), or Division of the main entity, in which case you only have to list the new name with the town office. George.

Hello and thank you for posting your question. I suggest looking at the Steps to Starting a Business on Business.gov. It is a 10-step guide with information to help plan, prepare, and manage your business. I also suggest looking at the Finance and Taxes pages on Business.gov. Specifically, the Taxes page will help you find additional resources to answer your tax questions. Lastly, please consider reading other discussion boards within this community. You'll find that other business owners have asked similar questions about starting and registering a business and taxes. Perhaps those discussions and experiences can help you with other questions you have along the way. Good luck!

I think it's better to register a company for 2 reasons, taxwise (you'll pay less taxes) and for liability (if you get sued). Especially in the consulting business you need a company. Many self employed people register companies even if they don't have any other employees.

Yes, definitely very interesting. One question I did not ask in my last response was, what kind of an online consulting business do you have in mind? What are your special skills? I would be glad to help in areas of strategies, or planning, and even registering a new business, or designing a new website. Message Edited by NicoleD on 08-27-2009 11:12 AM