Sole Proprietor or LLC

[angryhippie]

More of a business question than a marketing question; but do you operate your business as a sole proprietorship or an LLC and why?

[Andrew Dewey]

Please, Please talk with your accountant/lawyer/financial adviser before making a decision regarding choice of business entity. The wrong choice could cost you serious bucks. Now to answer your question - neither. My business is at this point a hobby and so my income and expenses are reported on my personal tax return. If someone gets sick from eating my honey or gets seriously stung by my bees and I am somehow am deemed negligent, I will be in serious trouble as I carry no insurance for that sort of thing.

[angryhippie]

Andrew - By definition, that is a sole proprietorship. You are bearing all of the risk and responsibility, put also receiving all of the profit/loss on your 1040

[Barry]

I think you would be in serious trouble regardless of what business structure you use. The s corp. and LLC don't have the liability protection they once had. I'm a s corp, but thinking about going back to sole proprietor. You have to weigh the cpa fees for a corp vs. the lower cost for a proprietorship over what you save in taxes.

[Solomon Parker]

I'm essentially a sole proprietorship. But I haven't made a profit yet so it just goes in on my 1040. It's still my goal to make a profit though!!! Maybe as I continue to find what works best. Until then, it's a hobby.

[Andrew Dewey]

The key word in my post is "hobby" - income as misc income (line 17 I think) and expenses to the extent of income on Schedule A. If I were to meet the criteria of operating as a business, I could easily be showing losses to wash against other income.

[Steve10]

I have had businesses run as C-corps, S-corps, and LLC's. Now, I run all my businesses as Sole Proprietorships. As to why, it's much easier paperwork and tax-wise. Also, any of the "corporations" only give you a false sense of security against personal liability. You're better off spending your money on a good agricultural insurance policy if you're worried about liability.