Day Three - Sole Partnership Incorporated

Day Three is now done.  Fairly productive day all things considered.  It was a fairly important day to be sure, since we had a Lawyer scheduled to arrive at 1:00PM to give us some free legal advice.  Not a day one would wanna miss, seeing as how she charged $250/hr normally.  She was there til 3:00PM answering questions for us, so in short form I saved myself $500 right off the bat just by taking this course.  Aside from my own questions, she answered a lot of others that were pretty far reaching.  Very informative, and now I have a better idea what direction I want to pursue.

For anyone that doesn't understand opening your own business, there are really only 3 flavors that are available to us...there is the Sole Proprietorship (meaning you ARE your own company/complete personal liability), and Partnerships (you and X are the company/shared liability), or Corporations (like LTD/INC/CORP/limited liability as company is its OWN entity).  While there are advantages to all (except Partnerships really), it depends on the type of business you want to open.  The Lawyer, Laura, opened my eyes and the rest of the class to a lot of legal predicaments that could arise from each, and the consequences if any.

So I have decided that due to the nature of my business, a Corporation is realistically my only option.  I could easily get away with a Sole Proprietorship and just hope for the best that my legal agreements and waivers will protect me, but because I'd be 100% personally liable for everything, this is not a wise move on my part, contract or no contract.  Corporation it is.

So I'll be looking into getting myself a company established as early as tomorrow, or next Friday at the latest.  It can get expensive, but it's my first real investment in my own company and proof that I'm serious about my endeavour.  Actually, Laura and the instructor have informed us that, according to the local Government we are officially self employed/entrepreneurs as of January 19th 2009 (our class start date).  Our businesses may be classified at a later date, but for all intents and purposes we are now already considered self employed in the Government's eyes.

So WOOHOO on me!  GO TEAM!  YAY ME!

Right now, I'm kinda stuck on an actual company name, so I opted to solicit ideas for one from the class this morning.  They rattled off at least 30 different names for me to use, and some of them are VERY impressive indeed, and ones I'd never have thought of myself.  To do myself a favor, I'll just be getting a numbered Alberta Company for the time being, and just "operate as..." until I can choose the best name that suits my business.  That was one of the questions I asked Laura, was whether or not I could start a numbered company first, operate as Company XYZ for a bit, then actually establish that name...she said absolutely, and a lot of people do that.  I'd have to be cautious though to ensure that any contracts I signed while under an alias would be signed again under the new official company name (if different than my former alias).

As far as I'm concerned, the course has already paid dividends in spades.  Just from the 2 hours we got to spend with Laura.  The best part is, we get to speak with Alberta/Edmonton Registrars next about licences and permits/etc. to operate in the province and elsewhere and what's required, but that's just the beginning.  We also get to speak with Chartered Accountants about bookkeeping, other independent operators, Bank Managers and financiers, and the list goes on.  In just 8 weeks time, this course would've saved me countless hundreds of dollars or even thousands when it's all said and done just with the free advice and assistance we're being provided at no cost.

The Government wants us to succeed, clearly.  It's in their best interest if we do.  If it means providing these essential and frequently used assets at no cost to us to accomplish that goal, then so be it.  I know I speak for the entire class when I say, we couldn't be happier.  The course material and briefing is invaluable in itself, but the add-ons like Lawyers and CA's...well that's priceless to a startup group such as we are.  Every add-on has HUGE impact to us.

Day Four tomorrow, then I can say I have done (almost) my first full week to freedom...with just 7 weeks  remaining.

That reminds me, I'll need to get my hands on a Day Timer now too.  ~sigh~