When starting a new business in Texas, the first thing you need to consider is what type of entity would work best for your company. Once you decide on an entity, you need to follow the legal steps required to ensure that it’s properly formed. The formation of your business entity should pave the road for the smooth operation of your company, so it’s penny-wise but dollar foolish to rely on computerized boilerplates. That’s why smart business people in Texas hire business formation attorney Lydia E. Mount, The South Texas Lawtina, for personalized and attentive legal services. Call 1.866.LAWTINA to get started.

Sole proprietorships are the easiest businesses to set up because they don’t require filing any formal paperwork unless you want to register a “doing business as” (DBA) name or need a business license. The drawback of a sole proprietorship is that you are responsible for all the debts and liabilities for the business. For example, if you own a hair salon and one of your employees blinds somebody with dye, you can be sued personally. A general partnership is simply a contract between two people forming a business and sharing the profits and losses equally, without protection for debts and liabilities. A limited liability partnership (LLP) in Texas caps limited liability partner debt at the initial investment and is straightforward to set up but lacks the tax advantages of LLCs and S-corporations. Limited liability companies (LLC) offer the same liability protection as LLP’s and enjoy pass-through tax treatment like S-corporations. Texas has detailed set up requirements for LLCs, including filing Articles of Organization that provides information about the business operations with the Texas Secretary of State. Subchapter S-Corporations offer far better protection from personal liability, tax advantages and can survive the death of the owners, but they are more complicated to set up and more expensive to run.

Get your business off to a great start by hiring the top Texas business formation attorney to help you decide what business entity will work best for you and ensure it’s appropriately formed. Call 1.866.LAWTINA to make an appointment.