DIGITAL STARTUP SOCIETY BLOG — Going Legit in Your Online Business

  One of the professionals you want on board with you for your entire life is an excellent financial advisor. Financial advisors help you make your money work for you as hard as they can while helping you avoid undue taxes and other situations. If you have never talked to a financial advisor, consider at least making one appointment with one. Some banks and credit unions offer this service totally free. What Do Financial Advisors Do? They can place trades for stocks, bonds, and other types of securities; however, nowadays, most people use online brokers due to it being less...

As you are setting up your business to go legit, aside from a business plan, another thing you can do to help make it more clear what type of business you are - as well as make it easier for you to outsource or sell the business - is to create a Standard Operating Procedure Manual for your business. It’s super simple to set up an operating manual and even if you never need to give it to anyone, it’s going to help you.  For example, what do you do when you get the mail? Do you grab it and...

Once you are making enough money, and honestly even before you are, you need to hire a CPA. CPAs save money in the long run by helping you keep your costs down, lower your tax liability, and ensure you are compliant with all the rules, regulations, and laws that exist. This can also help you avoid fines and other problems. Fear of Loss of Control It seems like such a good deal, but many small business owners resist the idea of hiring a CPA. They think it’s going to be too expensive. People also get stressed out about finding or...

If you feel overwhelmed when you start thinking about all the legal jargon of business, including taxes, it’s time to take a deep breath. It’s easy to let fear get in your way and think it’s not worth it to go legit with your business. You may be thinking that it’s too confusing to get done. However, many people with fewer skills than you have managed to do it and succeed. You got this!  Do Your Research  Even when you hire professionals, you need to do your due diligence. Not only on the background and experience of the professionals you...

Everyone who has a business likes to find ways to pay fewer taxes, and you should also do the same. While it’s true that online businesses often have far fewer expenses than brick and mortar businesses, you can still take advantage of a few ways to lighten your tax burden. Sometimes you might just need to think slightly out of the box.  Hire Your Kids – When you hire your own kids, you can pay them a set amount each year, tax free. The trick here is to take that money and use it for your child’s expenses. So, if...