5 Things I Wish I’d Known Before Starting an LLC
The legal and financial advice that would have been helpful when I was setting up my own business
The first year that my income as a freelance writer surpassed my husband’s teacher salary, I knew that it was time to talk to a tax professional about the best option for turning myself into a business.
Initially, I ran into a few challenges trying to find someone who could help. My first attempt was with a CPA more interested in regaling me with stories of his own short-lived writing career (Western mysteries, mostly) than digging into my finances. A second CPA insisted on referring to me as a “blogger” (I was not). A third CPA actually ghosted me, refusing to answer any of my emails or phone calls.
Eventually, with a tax deadline looming, I was able to cobble together the paperwork to set up a limited liability company, or LLC, a setup designed to separate you as a person from your business. When executed correctly, it provides limited legal and financial protection, so that if you’re sued, the person who is suing will go after your business assets and not your personal ones. I turned in my forms, crossed my fingers, and hoped that I’d done everything correctly.
