Many people are deciding that being an employee isn't the way that they'd like to live their lives. As such, they are deciding to start businesses for themselves. The act of starting a business for oneself seemed to be a scary proposition for people in the past, but there are vehicles such as network marketing, direct sales, and freelancing that have made setting up a business for oneself a reality for anyone who has the mind and the drive to do so. While in the U.S. it is legal for a sole proprietor to operate a business using a social security number, a person will very quickly see the wisdom of keeping their personal finances separated from their business finances. This is especially the case if a person is going to protect themselves from lawsuits and other litigation. As such, they will decide that it's in their best interest to form a corporation for their business.
While this might be a good idea, the most problematic issue in starting a corporation is the legal fees involved. Certainly, a lawyer can do this for a person, but corporate lawyers cost up to hundreds of dollars an hour, plus any retainer fees. Most people starting out for themselves don't have this type of capital. They want to spend it in other ways, so they might want to take advantage of ways of incorporating without the help of a lawyer. Some people have done this and made mistakes, but some people have taken advantage of a new tool that enables them to incorporate their business, and keep everything legal without having to spend as much money on a lawyer. This is done through a variety of legal software, as well as joining websites that offer incorporation for small fee.
The benefit of doing this is that a person usually only has to pay $300 at the most, so they are saving possibly thousands of dollars on hiring a lawyer. On one particular website, the registrant is taken through the steps bit by bit to file the correct incorporation papers for their state. There are many other rules involved that a person should educate themselves on, but there are resources online as well.
This can be a wonderful tool for those who are just starting out, and that needs to direct their precious startup capital in other directions. While filing incorporation papers is important, if the person can save a few hundred, or even thousands of dollars on this step, then it might be the best thing for them to do, so that they can use their money on other things such as supplies or advertising. Starting a business isn't scary or frightening anymore, and incorporating one's business can be a very simple process nowadays as well.
