Organizational Structure

[Wangler1]

I would like to hear everyone's recommendations for the best way to set-up a lawn care industry. Would you recommend setting up as only a sole proprietor, LLC, S-Corp, etc? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each.

[blade2blade]

s-corp. dont know what or how many, but it had the most(& better) advantages.was suggested from my account.i took her word on it.

[blade2blade]

sorry....suggested from my accountant, i mean...."hooked on phonics" didnt do nothin' for me.

[Phil Nilsson]

Sole proprietor to start out keeps it simple ...

[blade2blade]

....but with sole proprietor,if something happens accident wise & youre sued,cant they come after your personal assets? with an "s",youre personal assets are protected right? i'd rather put my one man business on the block than my home. least you can restart another business later.

[Wangler1]

What is the advantage of going with an S-Corp over a LLC

[blade2blade]

one advantage is listed in my previous reply (#5). your PERSONAL assets (home,car,etc.) are protected with an "s" corp. forgot the other advantages. that was the one that got my attention thats why i remembered it. might wanna call an accountant/cpa. they could tell you more than i could. & "s" corps are too easy to set-up. mail couple papers off with about $50, & wait for your license/fed i.d. #.

[jschlenker]

how about a sole proprietorship with insurance?

[N.TX]

It really depends on what you plan on doing... whether or not you are just going to be mowing basic lots or whether you will be getting into a wider range of services that may have alot more liability issues like cutting down trees or anything else that may pose a problem. Most likely you can start out with just a sole proprietorship and if you are going to be having anyone work for you then you need insurance. If its just you and all you are doing is mowing then you can probably get by without it but its still smart to have it anyways. Im going to invest in that this season i havent done that in the past but we did put back money to pay for broken windows or any other minor mishaps that we may be resonsible for. We also only maintained mostly residential so there werent too many liabilitiy issues just mowing.

[N.TX]

Forgot to add one thing to my last post is i would recomend that if you have anyone working for then it would still be best to go with a corporation just because most likely anyone working for you wont be as careful on jobs as you maybe which with people sue happy these days could eventually cause a problem somtime down the road.

[Mo Green]

how about a sole proprietorship with insurance?

That should cover any accident that may happen.... unless you kill someone...lol

But even if you are an S-corp. or LLC, you still might be screwed.