Transferring real property, or other assets, into an LLC or corporation can help you protect yourself from personal liability. This is typically done with property you anticipate having another party involved with in some way, such as a rental property. Transferring property can help protect you from personal legal liability.

The process for transferring property to your LLC is similar to selling your property to a another party. You’ll just need to completely transfer ownership to the corporation instead of an individual, like in the event of a sale. It’s a simple three step process that we detail below.

Step 1: Form an LLC or Corporation

You can’t transfer your real estate property, or any other personal property, into your LLC or corporation until you’ve actually formed a new legal entity. This can be a complicated process if you’re not familiar with the proper documentation or if you’re not up to speed with your state’s rules and regulations. Typically you’ll need to register a business name and file the LLC or corporation paperwork with your secretary of state’s office.

NOTE: For the remainder of this article, when we refer to an LLC, the same concept applies to a corporation.

If you haven’t completed this process before then you’ll want someone familiar with the formation documents involved, especially if you have any partners or other members of your LLC. You don’t want to lose any of your own rights to the property because you weren’t sure how to structure the LLC or what basic clauses you needed in your partnership paperwork.

Using an experienced company,like ours that has completed 60,000+ business formations, is important to make sure you’re completing the LLC formation process correctly. Getting an LLC formed and filed isn’t necessarily difficult but it does require a certain level of expertise to make sure nothing is missed that could hurt you or your business later.

Step 2: Complete a Quitclaim Deed

At this point you may want to consult with an attorney to make sure you complete the right deed for your personal property transfer. If you’re transferring real property than most of the time you’ll want a quitclaim deed that shows this transfer of ownership. When executed, a quitclaim deed transfers any interest the grantor has in the property to a grantee. In this case, you will be the grantor and your LLC or corporation will be the grantee.

There may be certain laws surrounding compensation for the transfer in your state, which is another reason you may want to consult an attorney. The laws would be what compensation is required when transferring property from one party to another. There also could be a transfer tax, depending on your state, if there is no compensation paid from the LLC for the property.

Step 3: Record Your Quitclaim Deed

In order to receive full legal protection for your personal assets when you transfer the property to your LLC you’ll need to record the deed at your local city or county clerk’s office. This recording creates a public record of the property transferring from you to the LLC, so the world is put on notice that you no longer own it and can’t be held responsible for anything that happens with it.

Recording the deed requires either going down to your local clerk’s office or mailing the paperwork, depending on the rules of your state, and then paying a nominal fee. This is an important step that must be done because otherwise there is no notice to third-parties that may have a legal dispute with the owner of the property in the future, which is a legal requirement to pass legal liability to a new owner.

Other Steps to Take When Transferring Property to Your LLC or Corporation

While the required steps to transfer property to an LLC don’t make for a long list, there may be more things you need to consider and take care of that depend on your situation. Not every single person looking to transfer property to a legal entity will need to complete these tasks, but they should be understood to make sure they aren’t a necessary step for your process.

Additional steps you should keep in mind if you decide to transfer personal assets to an LLC include:

1. Change Any Property Leases: If your property is being rented out, and you’re already under contract with a tenant, then you need to make sure you change all legal documents and leases to note who now owns the property (the LLC). In fact, you may want to just get brand new leases signed that are in the name of your LLC instead of yourself.
   
   
2. Notify Your Lender: If you have a mortgage on the property then it is likely that you have some language in your agreement that stipulates a requirement of you notifying them when ownership changes. This could cause a rate increase, but you always want to make sure you’re being compliant with previous agreements.
   
   
3. Obtain a Tax ID Number: You may not have to obtain a tax id number, but chances are that if you’re wanting to move property into an LLC then you’re likely doing something that requires this to happen. If your LLC has more than one owner, if you have employees, or if you meet other requirements that vary by state then you’ll need to get this tax ID number when you create your LLC.
   
   
4. Open a Business Bank Account: Opening a business bank account will help you further separate your personal assets from the assets in your LLC. If you move personal assets into an LLC to protect yourself legally then you won’t want to put that at risk by mingling your personal and business funds into a single account. Instead, open a business bank account to keep it all separate and keep your other personal assets safe from anything that happens with the LLC.

Pros & Cons of Moving Property Into an LLC

There are things you need to keep in mind when you decide to transfer personal assets to an LLC. For example, your actions may result in certain tax consequences, which we’ll summarize below. While the legal protections are nice, it’s also important to note that you may end up hurting yourself financially if you decide to transfer a property you currently have a mortgage on. We detail the most important pros and cons of transferring personal property into an LLC below.

Pros of Moving Property Into an LLC

The pros for moving property into an LLC include:

• Personal Liability Protection: If you’re dealing with another party with your property, like having a renter, then it makes a lot of sense to use an LLC or corporation to shield your personal assets from anything that may happen with the property. This way if there is a lawsuit later over an event on the property, like an accident, then no one will hopefully be able to come after your personal assets, like your personal home, for damages.
  
  
• Protect Your Property From Your Property: If you have multiple properties that you’re renting out then it is a benefit to keep each one in a separate LLC or corporation in order to shield each one from potential liability of the others.
  
  
• Tas Advantages: There can be certain tax advantages to owning real property in an LLC and running any money making activities with that property as a business. This is something you should consult a CPA on to determine what could be the most beneficial to you.
  
  
• Better Defines Partnerships: If the property you’re moving is jointly owned by more than just yourself, then moving it to a multi-member LLC or corporation is beneficial. Not only can there be tax benefits this way but it also clearly defines the ownership and management responsibilities within the legal entity. This makes your partnership much more clean and easy to navigate, especially if anything goes south later.

Cons of Moving Property Into an LLC

The cons of moving property into an LLC include:

• Tax Consequences: While there can be certain tax benefits, there can also be certain tax consequences of moving property. You may incur a delayed tax consequence or if multiple people own the property then you could trigger a tax event for someone else. Make sure you speak with a CPA to fully understand how this could help or hurt you from a tax standpoint, and consult with any partners to make sure it works for them.
  
  
• Mortgage Rates Could Increase: Many owners of rental property will get a good rate on their mortgage by purchasing the property as an individual. If you later transfer the ownership over to a business, then you would likely no longer qualify for the much lower rates your lending institution gives to individuals. You probably have a legal obligation to share this transfer to your lender, but when they find out it could cost you a lot of money by your rate being increased.
  
  
• Insurance Costs Could Rise: One thing that many people don’t consider when transferring property to an LLC or corporation is insurance. If the ownership of your property changes to a business then your insurance carrier could make you change any current personal insurance policy to a commercial policy. These commercial policies typically have much higher premiums, because of the nature of businesses to litigate more frequently than individuals.

Getting Started

As we mentioned above, the first step to transferring property to an LLC or Corporation is to register your LLC or corporation. You can do this today by letting us help. It’s a simple three step process where you select your company type and state, you fill out a simple online form, and we send you back all of your paperwork. Get started today so you can realize the legal protection of an LLC with your property!

Funding your company can be difficult as a new LLC or corporation because you don’t have a financial history for potential lenders to make a lending decision from. Instead, you’ve got to find creative ways to fund your company in order to get the capital you may need to either launch or grow your business. The best funding methods for you will likely depend on where both you and your business currently are financially.

From bringing all of the money yourself to using your retirement funds or getting a large bank loan, we’ve summarized each of your best options below to help you find the method to use when funding your company.

9 Best Ways to Fund Your Business

The form of financing that is right for you will depend on a number of factors that include your business’s history, future strategy, and whether you want to take on business debt. Traditional loans available to new businesses will typically all require personal guarantees, which means if your business folds and can’t meet the debt obligations then you could be required to repay the funds personally.

Before deciding which funding method is for you, it’s important to go over each one in greater detail and know exactly what you’ll be getting your business into. Once you’ve chosen one, make sure you understand your agreement and read through all the fine print before accepting any money so that you can identify your obligations and what you might be giving up.

1. Bootstrapping

Bootstrapping is essentially self-financing. You, as the business owner, are utilizing everything you currently have available to fund your company. This typically means depleting your personal savings account and possibly cashing in your retirement accounts in order to finance your venture.

The best thing with bootstrapping is that there are no limits to how much of your own money you pour into the business. If you’re wealthy then the sky’s the limit and you don’t have to make any debt payments, which could handcuff your business early on. This is the best scenario for all business owners willing to put a significant amount of their personal money into the business.

2. Friends & Family Loans & Investments

This is the same as bootstrapping except you’re relying on other people who you are close to in order to get the money you need. Essentially you will ask for a loan from your friends or your family members who have money to invest. This can also be structured as an equity investment where your investors will get ownership in the business in exchange for the money they provide.

This is a tough way to get the money you need because if your business fails then it could damage your relationships with people you’re close to. Many business owners also don’t know individuals with significant disposable income to invest. If you go this route you need to make sure that you document every transaction so that there aren’t any negative tax implications down the road for your business.

3. Rollover for Business Startups (ROBS)

A ROBS allows you to invest your deferred retirement funds into your business without paying income taxes or early withdrawal fees. This is not a loan but if your business fails then you could lose the funds you invest. ROBS financing is not widely-known but if you’re willing to risk your retirement accounts then it could give you the capital you need without strapping your business with expensive debt payments.

A ROBS has setup fees that you must come up with on your own (about $5,000) and there will be a small ongoing fee to make sure that your transaction is monitored correctly. This financing method is typically right for individuals with at least $50,000 in a deferred retirement account and are willing to risk it for their business. Due to the specialty of the transaction you’ll need to make sure you partner with a firm that is experienced in ROBS transactions, which many accountants and lawyers are not.

4. Home Equity Loan (HEL)

A home equity loan is given to you based on the equity you’ve built in your personal home. This is something you must personally guarantee, but the proceeds can be used to fund any business. With a HEL you can typically borrow all of the equity you’ve built in your home up to 80% of the home’s current market value. You’ll need a minimum of 20-30% equity in your home in order to get a loan at all.

This isn’t a way to get large amounts of cash into your company but it is a way to get the startup capital you may need to get off the ground quickly. This is a loan so there will be monthly loan payments that you’ll personally be responsible for. Make sure you understand your obligations before accepting any money. This is one of the most affordable loans you could potentially qualify for that allows you to put the money in your business.

5. Angel Investors

Plenty of angel investors, on sites like angel.co, look to invest in businesses that they believe will be successful for the long haul. Angel investors are similar to venture capitalists in that they invest money in growing businesses and they look to eventually exit the investment with a profit. They differ in that they’ll likely ask for less involvement on a day-to-day operations than a VC. Angel investors also typically invest less than $1 million and they don’t need immediate growth like many VC’s require.

The problem with angel investors is that they don’t invest in many businesses. Many investors that have the capital may only invest in a single deal per year, if any, so finding the right match can take a very long time. You’ll need a proven business model that has huge growth potential. This is great for businesses that meet those standards because it is an investment and you won’t have to take on debt to get access to the capital you want.

6. Credit Cards

Credit cards are almost always the first form of debt you will be able to qualify for. If you have even average credit then you could get access to these revolving lines of credit to help cover the costs of business expenses as they pop up. When your business starts to get income for a few months then your business could qualify for credit lines that may be larger than what you can qualify for personally.

These cards carry large interest rates (12 – 29.9%) and can weigh down on your business in the early days if they’re not managed properly. Credit cards are best used as ways to cover unexpected expenses as opposed to funding initial business costs. In other words, these are good to apply for and have on hand in case something happens but the other funding methods will typically be a better fit for a new business.

7. Bank Loans

Your local bank may be your best bet to fund your business plan if you’re building a brick and mortar retail business. Local banks love to invest in their community and if you have a solid business plan, a good credit history, and are going to keep the business in your community then you could qualify. Bank loans are more difficult to get for new businesses today than they were 10 or 15 years ago, but they are still available. This is a great way to fund larger business costs that involve real estate because banks love lending on real estate.

You will have to personally guarantee any bank loan so it is imperative that you know what you’re agreeing to before you take the money. You’ll need to make sure you feel comfortable with the loan payment in the event your business fails to make the payments. These loans will also likely be secured by your own assets, such as your personal home. This is a great way to get access to larger funding amounts of $500k – $1 million, but they can be risky for the business owner.

8. SBA Loans

SBA loans are guaranteed, but not given, by the Small Business Administration (SBA). These loans are difficult to qualify for but carry some of the lowest business loan interest rates in the country. They are great for growing businesses looking to get access to capital to fund growth or to purchase needed real estate.

SBA loans aren’t a good fit for brand new businesses because you have to be in business for a minimum of two years before you can qualify. Your business will need to show growth and that you’ve been profitable for at least the last three months. While you can get access to as much as $5 million, it could be awhile before you qualify for anything at all.

9. Selling Company Stock

Taking your company public is often a goal of businesses that scale quickly. This means allowing your business to sell ownership shares on the open market. Some businesses use this as a tool to take money out of the company while others do this as a way to raise funds to grow faster. You can raise millions of dollars if your company is large enough.

While this option used to only be available for large corporations, small businesses can now raise money through the sale of company stock. In 2012, Congress passed a bill known as the JOBS Act or the CROWDFUND Act, which enables small businesses to use crowdfunding to issue securities. This makes it possible to raise smaller amounts of cash without having to take your business public.

Getting Started

Before you go down any of these paths to get the right funding for your company, you’ll need to first register with the right business entity. You can get started today by registering your LLC (or corporation) with us. It’s a simple three step process where you select your company type and state, you fill out a simple online form, then we send you your paperwork. Get started today!

Below is an excerpt from Part One of our book Startups Made Simple: How to Start, Grow and Systemize Your Dream Business. Learn more about the book here.  

“I see entrepreneurial efforts often fail but good entrepreneurs don’t fail.” – Naval Ravikant, founder of AngelList

Why do we start with the founder habits, skills, and traits that I call the Founder Superpowers? Because these have proven to be the most obvious determining factors of success in starting a business. Highly effective founders can make even mediocre ideas work and bad teams more effective. It’s why venture capitalists and others keep shoving piles of cash at the same people over and over: These people have a set of skills that continually deliver results.

Habits and skills, however, can be learned, and through my research over the years, there is a core set of skills that will definitely improve your odds for success. Don’t worry if you don’t have all of these right now (and I would never insinuate I have all of these). People succeed all the time without some or even most of these skills. However, they are usually very good at one or more of these and have a cofounder, team, or at least an assistant that compensates for a lack of any of these skills. (Or they simply learn them on the fly like most of us.) Think of all of these as a “talent stack” as Dilbert’s Scott Adams likes to say; the better you get at each one adds value because they all work together.

The Superpowers

I group these superpowers in four broad categories:

Energy:

• Superpower #1: Health
• Superpower #2: Perseverance
• Superpower #3: Optimism
• Superpower #4: Momentum

Vision:

• Superpower #5: Clear Vision
• Superpower #6: Clear Goals
• Superpower #7: Product Obsession

Execution:

• Superpower #8: Agency Mindset
• Superpower #9: Resourcefulness
• Superpower #10: Personal Productivity
• Superpower #11: Good Decisions
• Superpower #12: Problem Solving

Leadership:

• Superpower #13: Good Communication Skills
• Superpower #14: Accountability Mindset
• Superpower #15: Team Development and Motivation
• Superpower #16: Courage to be Disliked

These categories might sound like an oversimplification, but think about it—if you have enough Energy, you can work very hard on whatever you put your mind to for as long as necessary and persist through tough times. If you have a clear Vision, then you can imagine a clear future and something great that people will want. If you are great at Execution, then you can get things done, including implementing your Vision. Now combine all this with Leadership and the ability to get a team to go along and get things done, then you’re basically unstoppable in life (not just business).

Note that these could also easily be called the Employee Superpowers in many regards, so developing these skills in your team is a great way to build a great company. You can make a team of highly competent, entrepreneurial, mini-CEOs.

In Part Three, I provide a checklist for you to rate yourself (and your co-founders or team might consider doing this) on these Superpowers, which should help you not only improve in areas where you are weak but focus on areas where you are strong.

This was an excerpt from our book Startups Made Simple: How to Start, Grow and Systemize Your Dream Business. Learn more about the book here or see our previous excerpts here. 

Below is an excerpt from the Introduction of our book Startups Made Simple: How to Start, Grow and Systemize Your Dream Business. Learn more about the book here.  

What Is the Purpose of this Book?

Imagine the perfect business for you. Imagine that you could take that vision and systematically, in clear simple steps, make it a reality while saving time and avoiding the mistakes that destroy most startups.

Creating a business is the greatest source of personal freedom, wealth and progress in the world. Nearly three-quarters of the Forbes 500 Richest People are on that list because they own a stake in one or more businesses. And the majority of those people are “first generation” – they didn’t inherit the wealth, they created it.

I believe the future of humanity’s progress will be led by entrepreneurs. Think of all the entrepreneurs working on everything from space exploration, renewable energy, easier ways to get a cab, or even a better or faster meal. These people are making the world a better place through their business. This is the power of entrepreneurship: You can create fantastic wealth while helping people and even help solve the world’s problems.

This book is a guide to take the entrepreneur from an idea to a real, profitable and systemized company (one that allows you to take a real vacation) as fast and easy as humanly possible. My intention is to make this book the best and most concise guide for entrepreneurs starting a business in the real world; especially for those without a lot of resources and connections.

This book deals very little with pitching investors, going to conferences, or other things that are popular with “wantrapreneurs” who seem to do everything but actually build a business. My focus is on the bootstrap entrepreneurs that start real businesses every day. In reality, less than 1% of startups get venture capital funding.

Silicon Valley types like to disparage these small businesses as a “lifestyle business” with “only” $1 million dollars per year in revenue or less. It’s amazing; they’ll congratulate you for raising $1 million in funding but not actually making $1 million in revenue. However, most of these small business owners work damn hard and deserve the freedom that a well-run business can provide.

Silicon Valley also seems to be obsessed with writing books, articles, and more about best practices that only seem to apply in hyper-competitive, well-funded businesses that basically have a monopoly (Google, Microsoft, Facebook, etc.). Many of these companies are nothing like 99.9% of businesses in the real world. For example, most small business owners just need good, reliable employees that show up on time. These small businesses cannot afford stock options, catered lunches, free daycare, massages, personal development training and the many other things required to compete in the ultra-competitive job market of Silicon Valley and other tech hotspots.

There are also literally thousands of small business books available on Amazon and other places, but what I’ve found is that the vast majority of them 1) over-complicate things, usually so they can sell you their consulting or other services, and 2) should not be books at all. They should be articles because the concept is simple and the author has padded the information with endless stories and examples to make it book length.

These are huge pet peeves of mine, so I hope to avoid both issues in this book by presenting the information clearly, minimizing fluff and filler, and providing clear and simple action steps and checklists every step of the way because I assume you’re as busy as any CEO. Minimizing wasted time and unnecessary risks for a startup is the entire point of this book. This is the book I would give my friends and family to most ensure their success.

Why Listen to Me?

I founded MyCompanyWorks, Inc., from my apartment with less than $1,000 in 2001. This was in the middle of the “dot com crash” and one month after 9/11, so the economy wasn’t exactly what I would call optimal. Since then, we’ve helped over 50,000 entrepreneurs start their business. In that time, we’ve never taken a loan or venture capital, never had an unprofitable year, and have been honored to make the Inc Magazine INC5000 fastest growing companies in America list.

More importantly, I’ve made almost every mistake in the book (and continue to make mistakes!). There’s nothing special about me except perhaps my intolerance and embarrassment over screwing up so much. I’ve left millions of dollars on the floor and have damaged relationships and my health because of the many poor decisions I have made through the various phases of my company. I don’t want you to make the same mistakes.

I also personally know many successful entrepreneurs and have spoken to thousands of them as our clients about their successes and failures. I consider this topic to be my wheelhouse and constantly devour any information I can find on startups and small business management.

Let Me Be Your Guide

This book contains the distilled wisdom from my experience and that of many others. More importantly, I’m obsessed with what makes a startup succeed and how to simplify this into a system that can be replicated.

There are many companies that are much larger, make more money, and have a greater impact on the planet than mine. But, one of the things I emphasize in this book is that you want to start the perfect company for you, not what others expect or want. It’s silly to want anything else.

I’m perfectly happy with my business the way it is and would hate anything much more complex or “corporate.” I don’t like constant meetings, complex business models, or a difficult-to-manage business. But that’s just me.

Today, my business is systemized, requires little supervision, and grows consistently. I choose when to work or go on a vacation when I want, and I’m in the best shape of my life.

The business continues to generate income and wealth while I am free to work on the big-picture projects or not work at all, depending on my mood. In my opinion, wealth, freedom, and making an impact or helping other people via your business is a peak life experience, an experience I’d like to help others attain.

Why Businesses Fail

Unfortunately, the statistics for new business startups are pretty grim. Depending on the source of data, you can expect at least a 50% failure rate within a few years (these statistics are more or less the same worldwide). Some sources place that number as high as 90% after 10 years. In addition, 96% of businesses never break $1 million per year in revenue. These startups never get past a few employees because the entrepreneur is in their own way and doesn’t plan, communicate, or systemize.

One thing I’ve noticed is that there are many ways to succeed in business. You can succeed via a good plan, lots of funding, a great idea or product, luck, good timing, good economy, connections, or many other things (usually combinations of those things). However, it seems that one big key to success is simply not making the big mistakes that seem to be common among startups.

So, instead of focusing so much on what you need to do to succeed in your startup, we’re starting to find out that a lot of doing well in business (and life in general) is simply avoiding the bad habits, decisions and situations that have continually proven to lead to bad results. Basically, it’s easier to learn from the mistakes of others than it is to make all those same mistakes yourself. This concept is called via negativa (popularized by the book Antifragile by Nassim Taleb) and I use it frequently throughout this book to make you aware of the well-known startup and small business management mistakes.

Personally, I’ve made a number of huge mistakes that have wasted a lot of time, energy, and money, literally millions of dollars as I’ve mentioned. Sure, I’ve learned from them and they were valuable lessons but some were easily avoidable with even a basic amount of planning and preparation.

If you’re going to start a business, you might as well do some quick planning now to save you hundreds of hours of heartache down the road. Don’t over-plan, but don’t go into the process blind. The great thing about business is you can attempt as many times as you want, but you only have to succeed once to be set for life.

Don’t Believe the Hype

There are a lot of misconceptions about startups these days. For example, did you know that the average age of a successful startup founder is 45? From all the hype you see in media, you would assume all the successful founders are barely out of high school or in their 20s. As I’ll show you in Part One of this book, there are founder skills that are critical to success and older people tend to have acquired more of these skills over time.

Or did you know that of those 90% of businesses that failed, up to one-third of those businesses were actually profitable? Yes, just like anything else, a founder can become tired of their business and might have simply closed it, sold it, or moved on. This dramatically changes our perception of the 90% failure rate mentioned above. The reality now seems to indicate a real failure rate of a bit higher than 50%, and I’ll take a 50/50 shot every time.

Armed with those facts, a startup doesn’t look so daunting now, does it? What I want to do is add valuable planning, skills, and habits to the equation, and I believe this will dramatically improve your chances for success. Merely being aware of some of the landmines and best practices for startups should be incredibly helpful.

Why Planning is Important

Here’s the nightmare scenario: You’ve started your company, it’s making money, you’re working hard, and decide you really need a vacation. The problem is that the company is entirely dependent on you; you couldn’t take a vacation or even a sick day if you wanted.

Suddenly, you realize that you haven’t created a company, you’ve only created another job for yourself—with no paid time off! Even worse, you are 100% responsible for everything and your customers are now your boss. You now have more pressure and stress then you did when you worked for someone else and are probably wondering what the point was. Trust me, I spent years like this.

This is not an uncommon scenario. The vast majority of entrepreneurs are stuck in their business working on the day-to-day, and they work, on average, well over 50 hours per week. They don’t realize that they’re actually the bottleneck in the growth and systemization of their company. Whether you’re just planning or have already started your business, I will show you a clear way out of this trap.

Many books like the E-Myth and others have covered this topic, but the basic truth is that most people know a skill or craft but don’t know how to build or manage a proper business with systems. Franchises like McDonalds and 7-Eleven almost always succeed because they have a system and an operations manual for each new franchisee/owner to follow step-by-step and has been proven to work.

Systems = Freedom

System is the key word here. Systems are the key to your freedom and will multiply the value of your company because it will not be completely dependent on you. I not only show you how to do basic planning from the very beginning, but how to lay down a framework for you to eventually replace yourself as your business grows—not to mention that systemizing a business is an incredibly valuable skill to learn and apply elsewhere.

A business that does not have systems is in a difficult place. This “owner dependent” type of business usually hits crisis when the founder gets sick or needs to retire or sell the business. So, even if you don’t intend to be more than a one-person company or don’t intend to sell your company, I make the argument that you should at least have basic systems in place, if only for your own sanity. At the bare minimum, keep everything in the same place and some basic instructions for loved ones if there is some kind of emergency.

Worst case scenarios aside, one thing I want to emphasize is that by “planning,” I don’t mean a 50-page business plan and a 200-page operations manual. Modern business planning focuses on speed, simplicity, and testing your idea before you do an enormous amount of planning – the plan I give you fits on one page.

In the real world, most companies are started with more of a shotgun approach to validate the idea and get moving. Someone starts a website, a person starts charging for their shirts or consulting, etc. This has largely replaced complex business plans because the focus is on getting quick market validation so you can correct course quickly and not spend months and lots of money on a bad idea.

Also, we won’t be building out a huge operations manual but will instead simply start documenting things in one document and let you organize things organically and systematically from the start. If you already have a business, then we’ll show you how to begin organizing things as well.

Using this system, you should be able to grow your business to $1 million in revenue and potentially a lot more depending on the complexity of your business. Every business is different. We keep the system simple for people at that level and below. Once you exceed several million dollars in sales, then the complexity of your company will grow and may require additional systems, but I want to emphasize again that, while you should plan, there is no need to overplan and over-optimize things until you get to that level.

Overview and How to Use This Book

This book has three parts. Part One covers what I’ve found to be the skills and habits of great founders that I call The Founder Superpowers.

In Part Two, we dive in to the system, which has six steps:

1. Imagine it. Whether you have a business idea in mind or not, this section will help you brainstorm and clarify your idea. We also work on a vision for the perfect business for you. Having a clear vision of what you want is the first step to making it real.
2. Plan it. Using a simple one-page plan, we begin laying out what you need to test this business idea and then get it off the ground as quick as possible.
3. Start it. An overview and simple checklist of things to do to get your business registered and legal. We also cover picking the business name, entity, taxes, and more.
4. Grow it. Using another simple plan, we lay out the steps to help you identify your ideal customer to build your “sales machine” and grow your business.
5. Manage it. We cover the five things you need to master to have a well-run business: the plan, process, people, tools, and routines.
6. Systemize it. We put it all together and systemize your business into one simple system and continue simplifying and improving your business until it is essentially self-running.

Part Three contains two scorecards to assess your skills as a founder and assess your company as a whole. I recommend you complete them after reading the book to get a baseline score. Everything in the first two parts should help you dramatically improve in these areas.

Feel free to skip around if you are in a hurry or already have a business and need specific help in any area. Otherwise, I believe the book is brief enough to go from beginning to end, skimming what you already know. I use bullet points and checklists extensively and each section or chapter has resources for implementation.

Now that you know what to expect, let’s dive in and keep the following tips in mind:

• Take the time to go through the book and do the action steps. These things done properly should save you many hours of painful “make up work” later. It’s amazing, but most people will put more planning into their wedding than their life or business! Do a few hours of planning to massively clarify your thinking and build a business right, a few hours to save hundreds later. Thinking through important things for a few hours will put you ahead of 99% of the population on earth.
• My writing style is very direct and informal and can sometimes come across as “tough love” or even a bit harsh despite my best intentions. This is because I’d rather give you the real truth about business instead of some motivational nonsense that should be on a business poster (which is what I see a lot of in business books these days).
• Note that the Imagine it step can be applied to a new business or to reimagine your existing business (I’ve done this a few times, and we’re on our third company name!), to brainstorm a new product or just solve some problems you have at your company or in life.
• We’ll start with one document I call the Startups Made Simple Planner. We’ll work with this planner from idea all the way to systemization. This document will be a godsend later in business, trust me. Download a free Startups Made Simple Planner at www.StartupsMadeSimple.com and make sure to keep all of your company startup and planning documents, plans, and notes together in one folder (either a real folder/binder or on your computer).

This was an excerpt from our book Startups Made Simple: How to Start, Grow and Systemize Your Dream Business. Learn more about the book here or see our previous excerpts here. 

Tax deadlines for 2018 are quickly approaching (some are due in just 14 days from publication of this post!) so here’s what you need to know to file your LLC or Corporation (or S-Corporation) taxes and some services that can make it easy for you to get done fast.

Who Needs to File

Anyone who owns part of any US business must file a Federal tax return regardless if you are a US citizen or had any revenue. Even if you didn’t do any business you still must file an “all zero” tax return. See below for assistance.

Tax Forms and Deadlines by Business Entity Type

• 1-Member LLC
  • IRS Forms to File: 1040 with Schedule C (Instructions)
  • Due Date: April 15
  • Non-US Citizens: 1-Member LLCs that are owned by a non-US citizen must file Form 5472 and a “pro forma” Form 1120 (Only indicating the name and address of the foreign-owned LLC, its employer identification number and the date of formation). In addition, non-US citizens are required to file Form 1040-NR (or Form 1040-NR-EZ).
• 2+ Member LLC
  • IRS Forms to File: 1040 with Form 1065 (Instructions)
  • Due Date: March 15* for form 1065
  • Non-US Citizens: Form 1040-NR (or Form 1040-NR-EZ).
• Corporation
  • IRS Form to File: 1120 (Instructions)
  • Due Date: April 15* for form 1120
  • Non-US Citizens: In addition to Form 1120, C-Corporations that are owned 25% or more by non-US citizens must also file Form 5472. Finally, non-US citizens are required to file Form 1040-NR (or Form 1040-NR-EZ).
• S-Corporation (or LLC taxed as an S-Corporation)
  • IRS Form to File: 1120S (Instructions)
  • Due Date: March 15*

* or the 15th day of the 3rd month after your fiscal year ends. The vast majority of S-Corporations and Partnerships have a fiscal year that ends on December 31 (you would have had to indicate a different year when obtaining your FEIN to specify anything else).

Recommended Services

• TurboTax Business – Just like regular TurboTax for your personal 1040 tax return, this service will help you self-file Schedule C (simple), Form 1120 or 1120S for your business. Definitely simpler than doing yourself but requires a fairly good grasp of business taxes for the form 1120 and 1120S. We recommend this option for clients that are familiar with business taxes or have a new company and only a few transactions.
• Greenback Business Services – This service will have a professional accountant file Corporation or LLC taxes (and 1 state form, if applicable) and have lower-cost options based on your annual revenue starting under $500. Note that they can also file your personal tax returns as well. MyCompanyWorks customers receive an automatic discount of $75 when purchasing a return.
• 1-800-Accountant – They provide tax, accounting, bookkeeping and payroll service for those who prefer a “full-service” solution.

Other Resources

• MyCompanyWorks Business Tax Guide – goes into more details about the taxes above, non-citizen taxation, state taxes, sales taxes, annual reports and basically everything you need to keep  your company compliant.