How to Maintain a Business?

At times, situations come up creating some changes in the way a company runs and operates. With all the trouble that comes your way, you should always be ready to overcome them and maintain your business and its good standing. This is since if you do not maintain your business properly, your company can be dissolved by the court.

Let us take for instance if your formation paper gets expired or lost. In this case, you would need to get them handled immediately and Inc Paradise can assist you to get the papers renewed. And in case you do not renew the paper or get the certified copy of the lost one, you could be dragged into court by the government and lose your money and company.

So that you avoid such situations, here are some of the typical business maintenance issues that come up in a company along with the related tips to maintain a business:

Expand Your Business

In case your business is running under many divisions or names, one of the best tips to maintain a business and to avoid issues is to file for the fictitious business name (also known as DBA) with the government. Doing this, you would be able to cash checks under all the business names that you use, instead of undergoing issues using the alternate name that is not registered with the government.

Obtaining the DBA is needed to open bank accounts and cash checks for several divisions and company names that can be an essential part of growing your business. Inc Paradise can assist you in filling for the DBA. After it has been applied, you would get the approval and the publication certificate for your company records.

Foreign Qualifications

The moment you are about to incorporate your business, it is essential to figure out the state in which you want your company to be incorporated. Just like every tip, this is also one of the most important tips to maintain a business and avoid any lawsuits. And in case you want to do business in more than one state, you would need to obtain the Foreign Qualification certificate in the state in which you are not incorporated in.

Note: It is important to understand that most of the states usually tax the company in which it exists even as a Foreign Qualified entity and even if it is not doing business here. For details on this, contact Inc Paradise.

Protect Your Company, Name, And Works

A trademark is a design, symbol, phrase, or word, or a combination of all that, that identifies the origin of your assets and products from those of others. On the other hand, a service mark is just like a trademark. Nevertheless, it identifies the origin of a service and not a product. Moreover, the terms “mark” and “trademark” are utilized to refer to both service marks and trademarks.

Now that it has been explained, for your company to be at a good standing and maintained properly, you would need to create the trademark and also register it with the government so that no one can create a same or similar one. In short, this is another one of the most vital tips to maintain a business.

Copyright Registration

Another one of the most important tips to maintain a business is to register for the copyrights of your company. Copyrights act as a guard protecting both the unpublished and published artistic, scientific and literary works. Whatever is the form of the expression, it is better to have the copyrights registered if the work is fixed in a material or tangible form.

The copyright laws in every country permit the creator of the work the sole and exclusive rights to display, perform, distribute, prepare derivative works, and reproduce the work. And if anyone ever creates anything similar or uses the work without the sole permission of the creator, the creator can drag that person into court and charge them a lump sum fine.

Employer Identification Number (EIN)

An Employer Identification Number, also known as the Federal Tax ID number is a federal identification number that is utilized by the IRS to recognize a business entity. As per the legal laws in the USA, you are required to have one of the two numbers to identify your business: either the EIN or your social security number. This is another one of the vital tips to maintain a business.

Ordinarily, you require an EIN when your company:

• Changes type of organization
• Opens a bank account
• Is a Corporation or LLC
• Will hire, or hires employees
• Is new

In case you are a sole proprietor, your SSN could be utilized on all the government forms of the company and the other official documents. But many experts have recommended that it is better to apply for the EIN and use it instead of the SSN. Moreover, if you want to open a bank account under the business name, you cannot use the SSN and would need an EIN for it.

S-Corp Elections

With all the mentioned-above tips to maintain a business, there is another thing that has to be noted if you want the best out of your business. This tip is to start your company as an S-corporation. And if you have already started your business as any other type, and your business has now grown, you can also convert your business into an S-corp easily.

Having an S-corporation business structure means that the profits generated from the company would be “passed-through” to all the shareholders. In short, they would be taxed for it, and the tax on the income would be applied only once instead of having your income taxed twice: once at the corporate level and the other at the personal level of the shareholders again.

Moreover, many of the companies begin as a C-corporation and due to this they are required to pay the income tax on the profits generated by the company. Nonetheless, another one of the best tips to maintain a business is to convert it to the S-corp and enjoy the benefits it holds for you and the company. You would not have to pay tax at the corporate level. Instead, the shareholders would be taxed as a partnership or sole proprietorship.

To be an S-corporation, you would have to meet the following requirements:

• Company should be filed as a U.S. corporation
• Have 100 shareholders as maximum
• Hold only one class of stock
• Every shareholder has to be a US citizen or resident alien
• Should be made up of shareholders only who are either certain qualified trusts, estates, or individuals, who also approve the conversion into an S-corp in an election in writing
• The fiscal year must end December 31st

If any of the above tips to maintain a business is ignored, your S-Corporation status would be revoked.

Conclusion

In the end, most of these tips to maintain a business is a must to follow if you are planning to grow your business instead of creating a short life for your company. Moreover, if you need help in converting your business or for the registration of the trademark, name or anything else, Inc Paradise can assist you with it. Contact to know the details!