How to register a company

When starting up it is important to consider risk and consequences. You don’t want to be in a situation where you have to sell your house, car, wife/husband and dog because the business is going downhill.
Now, there is a link between risk and return. Very often the higher the risk: the higher the return or LOSS. I guess that is how most things work, even in your everyday life.
To me love and business is almost the same. You take chances and you have no idea what is waiting around the corner and sometimes nothing can prepare you or protect you other than a positive attitude, and sometimes even that is not enough. You have to be willing to lose it all. It sounds weird, but think about it…

As a young and fairly inexperienced entrepreneur with little or no cash flow it can be hard, but at least you don’t have that much to loose…. IF you choose the right type of company entity that is. In the UK and the US different tax regulations and limitations around liabilities applies, so even if you went in with nothing, you can end up in minus even if you don’t have a house, car, wife/husband and dog to sell.
Good news is; you can protect yourself against this better than the heartache love ever has caused you.

I chose to register a Private limited company in the UK first, even though my main market is in the US. This has to do with work visa in the US. I don’t actually have to live there to do business there, but there are advantages when registering a company in the US (depends on the state) when having the US as the main market, but I will talk about this next week.

The main reason why I chose to register an Ltd (Private Limited company) was risk avoidance by limiting liability. This means that you as the owner are separated from the actual business.
In other words you can’t end up being personal bankrupted which you could if it was registered as a sole trader.
Check out this website for more info about this type of company: http://www.sfsgo.com/benefits-of-a-company.asp

Another great thing about running an Ltd is that it is easy to run and register. I know this because I used to have a company called the R.E.B.E.L Ltd when I was 20 years old. But at that time I hired a lawyer to do all the paperwork for me. This time I’ve done it alone, and trust me, its just laziness to hire a lawyer for this. It is vital to understand what you are doing and how in the introduction period. That’s why you are doing yourself a disservice by leaving this to a lawyer. Yes, it is a little bit boring and time consuming, but it’s cheaper and it increases your knowledge, and knowledge is power, OH YES!
To register a company, print the papers off The Companies House here: http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/infoAndGuide/companyRegistration.shtml
If you are stuck and don’t understand, don’t worry. Drop The Companies House an email and you will get a respond within a day or two. They are very helpful.
Anything I can do, ask me as well! ☺ Always ask if you are stuck, even if it means asking 20 times in a row.