Should you incorporate?

If you don’t like getting sued, incorporation can save you a great deal of aggravation.

First of all, let me say that I’m not a lawyer, I don’t pretend to be a lawyer, and I have no intention of becoming a lawyer (much to the disappointment of my mother).  And “a fool is his own lawyer…”

But here goes anyway.  

A corporation shields its owners (i.e. you) from certain legal damages.  If someone doesn’t like your blog or gets sick from your mail-order vitamins, or considers your self-published book to be libelous, they can sue you.  If you’re organized as a corporation, then only your business is at risk.  But if you’re not organized as a corporation, then your business and your personal assets are both at risk.  

The fact is, if you’re not organized as a corporation, then you – the owner – can more easily be held personally responsible for the debts of your business.

Incorporation will protect you from these dangers.  It’s very easy to incorporate – you can go to a website like mycorporation.com.  

Needless to say, incorporation costs money.  Don’t incur the cost of incorporating unless you are committed to building up your business.