022: Setup a Legitimate Online Business including an LLC, Support Desk and Membership Site
If you want to create a real internet business that you can use to generate income for yourself and your family, then you'll want to tune in to today's 25 minute episode of The Robert Plank Show which is called "how to setup a legitimate online business"... topics covered:
- A simple way to minimize your taxes so you can keep the money you earn
- How to create a membership site quickly to manage your members and create an automatic recurring income
- Save time with a support desk and partial outsourcing
- And more!
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Filed in: Archive 1: 2012-2016 • Podcast
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Hey Robert,
Thank you for the great episode on setting up a real business!
You provided some very good, solid advice backed up by real world experience and good logical reasons for all your actions.
I do appreciate it and am looking forward to the next episode!
Hello Robert,
I have taken most of the courses you guys offer and it is always good to come back and refresh what I learned. Your podcast was great…LOL I had forgotten you guys mentioned where I could go and start an LLC.
I also want to add that I really enjoy that you make your products available via a membership sites because:
1. It does not take up space on my hard drives…believe me mine are full because I share them with my house full of kiddos.
2. The training is organized logically…hard to make files logical on drives without taking loads of time.
3. The material is easy to find using the search.
4. The training is specific…when I want to refresh on creating membership sites I go to Membership Cube…need a refresher on the whole legal set up then I go to Income Machine and so on.
Thanks for the great podcast.
Hello Robert,
Tongue in cheek this one. You need to become a politician to save paying so much tax, lol.
Doesn’t matter which country you come from your advice to get a good accountant is so correct.
We all need to record all of our payments for everything that is used to create our business, no matter what it is for.
Thank for your insight to what might have become a major problem, it is so easy to not even give this a thought until it is too late.
Regards, Laurie
Hi Laurie, yep, I’ve talked to busines owners who were angry even about paying 10k in taxes per quarter… and I ask things like, do you have a retirement account, have you looked into running payroll, can you pay a 2nd accountant to look over your papers and see if the 1st one missed anything…
They say they “shouldn’t have to” go through all the trouble just to be a politician… well… that’s the world we’re living in. You can either figure out the rules and play the game and choose to not pay, and have to empty your savings every year for taxes… your choice.
Hi Robert,
In the past I bought a product from you and I am really satisfied about it. Until now I am still using it with good results!
I don’t have any concern about tax. I am living in Dubai and no worries:)
I am looking for a membership site with a monthly recurring income.
Any help/support will be highly appreciated!
Best Regards,
Arrais Nafie
All your information is good and fun to listen in on to help us stay focused on the next best thing to do
Keep it coming / Thanks much !
Tom Allen
Thanks Robert,
I know that I need to think about setting up an LLC. The only problem is that whenever I look at one of these sites, my eyes glaze over with all the iformation and I close the page and go and look at laughing babies on YouTube.
I know that’s wrong but…… 😉
Must try and concentrate more.
Not only do I learn from you but more importantly I “do” from you and take action. I have my LLC and membership sites set up. Good job!
Sometimes dealing with so many personal ‘challenges-stroke’ makes one just want to give up on this whole online ‘thing’… My big problem is how to overcome this feeling and get at least one success. So doing an LLC/membership site(s)/etc. seems so far off…
Good stuff Robert. I’ve been considering using an attorney. Sounds like Legal Zoom can accomplish the same thing for quite a bit less. Thanks for the info. I know it will come in handy as I continue to build my online presence.
Thanks Robert.
Thanks for the great content and practical information. I have bought your products and they never disappoint, and they literally change my thinking and my business.
Excellent business sense. You have to do it.
Remember, you always need a tax account.
The laws have changed and it is very strict business with the IRS now.
Change is inevitable in this business and you have to keep up with the best.
You’re the best in the industry.
Online businesses are real businesses and the IRS wants real documentation.
Down to the penny.
Mileage is their real hook.
Don’t be a fool.
I’ll be following along. I told my friends that I need an “intervention”, but I’ll hold off as long as you’re teaching.
Hi Cynthia, good advice, with everything getting computerized they will only get better at noticing you if you do something wrong. It’s never a good idea to try to “cheat.”
Once again Robert, very valuable information and a part of business that always makes me do a stutter step. I do own Income Machine and it has become my bible. Thank you, it is worth every penny and I feel I got a bargain for all the information on all 462 pages. Thank You.
James Freeman
Any event or product that came from Robert or Lance is solid gold! Very sensible, up-to-date, concise information and presentations. No fluff. All gold nuggets!
Better than the advice I had from a certain NY firm !
Very informative. Robert, this is great information to bestow upon others. We always have a plan to make a lot of money, but we seldom have a plan to account for the money on a legal level. Dealing with the IRS should not be an afterthought, such as when you receive a bill from them. It should be part of the master plan, so when the bill arrives, you can avoid any (overwhelming) surprises, headaches, and frustration. Also, for FYI, just by having an LLC established, you will owe the IRS, at least eight hundred dollars off the top, whether you make money in your business or not. As Robert have mentioned, speak with an Accountant, don’t follow the myths on how to avoid paying taxes.
Hi Dorren, yes, in states like California (where I live) there is a state fee of $800 a year for having an LLC. Can’t really be avoided as I need to be able to separate my personal money and business money and be able to write things off to reduce that tax bill.
Take it to the bank, these guys give nothing but solid advice. Keep all of your receipts and print out online receipts. Keep all of your records safe. And follow the advice you get from Robert and Lance. You can not help but be successful.
Hi!
Here are the relevant facts leading to my question:
1) Martha lives in the state of California, in the United States, and generates $220,000 in gross sales from Internet marketing.
2) Martha is confronted with a combined state/federal/local tax bill of around $90,000.
3) Martha is doing business as a sole proprietor.
Purely from the perspective of TAXES (and not anything else)…
Does doing business as an LLC change anything?
It doesn’t appear so.
Why?
Because the U.S. Internal Revenue Service will treat a single-member LLC as a sole proprietorship for tax purposes.
It’s not clear that the state of California is any different — a single-member LLC is treated as a sole proprietorship for tax purposes by California, too.
Here’s the question:
Does forming a single-member LLC with the intended goal of reducing one’s tax liability result in any meaningful tax relief?
No.
Based on the aforementioned analysis, forming a single-member LLC does not lower one’s tax liability given that single-member LLCs are treated as sole proprietorships for tax purposes.
Is my analysis correct, and if not, why not?
Thanks!
Hi Nathan, I don’t know what your personal tax situation is (or who Martha is) but you need to have an LLC so that at the very least, your assets aren’t commingled.
Before I had the LLC I couldn’t write off nearly as many expenses because it was tough looking at one bank account and trying to figure out which were my personal expenses and which were the business.
The accountant who had me setup the pre-tax IRA was huge. Now every year we run the numbers and figure out what the cost will be if I contribute 10k, 20k, 50k into the IRA to minimize everything else.
Having the LLC opens up a bunch more opportunities for you, for example, you may be able to file your LLC as an S-Corp and save the 30% self-employment tax… but I would ask your accountant directly about such things and not me, as I am not providing accounting or legal advice here.
Thanks Robert
I am just a beginner but I have been wondering about the taxes. No one talks about them and they are really important.
I never had to worry about them and I am looking forward to that when I make an online income!
Great podcast! Mary
Another episode packed with tastey tidbits of business wisdom!
Great reminder of various of your products I own to review and upgrade to leverage more effectively.
Thanks, Robert!
Robert,
Great advice for folks to set up an LLC. (I also am commenting for entertainment purposes only…LOL)
It’s getting easier and easier to set these up too. You can go online with the state your based in if you want and most things are step by step there too.
Good accountants will save you many times their fees if you work with them at the beginning of your business to know what you can deduct and take advantage of the correct things and not rely on the HYPE that is always out there.
When launching a best selling book with Mark Victor Hansen and Robert G Allen, our support desk, with our team of great outsourcers made that process a dream.
BTW, I’m one of those BackupCreator customers.
Keep up the good work…
Rick Dearr
Great Podcast with great business info as always
You guys make it so simple to understand, I am definitely signing up for Product University so I can build my online business
I plan to have an LLC. Just not quite there yet. I’m in product creation mode… i.e. membership material.
Great podcast. Laid out nicely without all of the BS. The loss leader product positioning is awesome !
Thanks CJ Boston
Great advise as always. Keep it coming.
Thanks,
Jerry
Does having an LLC and having the business run in it, shelter your
personal assets?
Or do you need to set up something besides an LLC.?
Guess that is another question for the lawyers and the accountants.
Have a relative in Florida who used what he called limited partnerships
to run his businesses:….an electric company and a real estate company
that he used to build those mini industrial sites and rent them out.
All involved something most of us don’t like to do: think, pre plan, get some
good adivse and follow it.
Applies as much to an Internet business as it does to off line business.
Good information Robert. I often wondered at what point we should start thinking of going with an LLC and this answered it.
@Robert, thanks for the additional comments and insights.
For anyone earning between $10,000 and $50,000 per year with their online business, and are essentially filing as Schedule C sole proprietors, here are some strategies that can be used to help keep “business expenses” separate and enhance one’s ability to maximize legitimate business deductions — assuming you have a business and generate sufficient income so that it’s not considered a hobby by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. [Note: This applies to those living in the United States.]
1) Apply for a Capital One “Spark Business” credit card account (or a similar type of credit card account).
This credit card should only be used for business purchases and expenses. For example, your hosting should be paid with this credit card. So should your autoresponder service. If you have an business phone line (through Kall8, Grasshopper, etc) then use this credit card to pay for that service. If you visit the local office supply store and buy thank you cards to send to your customers, use this credit card to pay for that. Do you buy domain names? If so, use this credit card for that, too — assuming the domain names are being used for your business.
2) Open a business checking account at your bank.
This checking account should be where ACH payments related to your business are deposited, as well as where business related checks you receive are deposited. If you have a business PayPal account, this is the checking account that should be “linked” to your business PayPal account. Your business credit card (be it via Capital One or another company) should be linked to your business PayPal account as well.
These two steps will result in a fairly robust “Chinese wall” existing between your personal expenses/income and your business related expenses/income.
When you decide to form a C or S corporation, or form a single-member LLC, you’ll already have a substantial degree of discipline when it comes to keeping your business and personal income/expenses separate. Also… it will make it DRAMATICALLY easier for your tax preparer to “understand” what’s going on.
Finally… I’m pretty sure Robert has said this somewhere on this blog before, but generally speaking, don’t spend a ton of time focusing on business formation and organization stuff if your income is $0. (Be honest with yourself.) I think I recently read that the “poverty line” for one person in the United States is around $10,000 or $12,000 — and I think it was something like $20,000 or $25,000 for a family of four people (based on 2012 or 2013 figures). Depending on your situation, use those numbers as basic guidelines. Get yourself to the “bare minimum” income threshold as quickly as possible with your online business.
Anyway, I hope this is helpful for someone.
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andgood luck.