Big corporations may be laying off employees in distressingly record numbers, but big corporations are not the only employers in the U.S.—as long as we have our small business community, all may not be lost. According to this article on Reader’s Digest.com, small businesses are taking the economic downturn in stride, and in some cases even doing well, “small businesses account for more than 60% of jobs in the U.S., and many of them are holding on to their staff or growing.”

But not all small businesses are created equal, and we aren’t the only ones who think so. A new study by the Wall Street Journal itself found that “entrepreneurs who engage in business planning early on are more likely to… get a business off the ground.” The article focuses mainly on a business plan, which is indeed one of the most important start-up documents you can have, but advance business planning can include these other documents as well, many of which require experienced legal advice:

• Operating agreement
• Legal partnership agreement
• Articles of Incorporation
• Bylaws
• Operations Manual

If current economic circumstances have you thinking about starting your own business, come into our office and let us help with the advance planning. We care about our clients, and are invested in seeing you accomplish your goals. We want to help give you and your business the best possible chance for success.

It used to be that people stayed at one company—one job—for their whole lives. Employers were benevolent, and almost part of the family; took care of families, once upon a time, offering health care coverage, life insurance, retirement packages… all this and an annual company picnic to boot!

As we all know, the world is a different place now. Very few people stay at one company longer than a decade, and not even that long if you’re under the age of 30. There is, however, one exception to this… if you’re self-employed.

As an estate planning firm, we meet with a good number of self-employed clients and small-business owners, and one of the most important things we can convey to these clients is how very, very important it is to have an effective estate plan. As S. du Plessis states in her article Estate Planning for the Self Employed: A Helpful Guide, “I am so responsible in other areas of my life, I feel compelled to be responsible about my death too. Plus, I hate to fail, and those who fail to plan. . . fail. So in fairness to my husband and children and because I own a business (which complicates my estate), it’s time to come up with an estate plan.”

Du Plessis is absolutely correct that failure to plan—especially for small business owners—can have disastrous consequences for both their families and their businesses. When you are so responsible in all other areas of your life, why let the ball drop in this one area? Especially when it’s your family who will end up suffering?

Small business owners spend so much of their time taking care of other people, we think it’s time that someone helped take care of them. Our office can help preserve the legacy you’ve worked so hard to build—for both your family and your business.

In early 2009, a new program will be implemented that managers or the managing member of a California limited liability company should be aware of. The Franchise Tax Board (FTB), working with the California Secretary of State, is initiating a process that will suspend/forfeit the rights, powers, and privileges of Limited Liability Companies (LLC’s) for nonpayment of taxes, penalties, or interest, and/or failure to file a return.

This program will be more aggressive in alerting the Secretary of State to LLC’s that are not paying their taxes, penalties and interest to the Franchise Tax Board. Consequently, they will be placed in “Suspended” or “Forfeited” status by the Secretary of State much sooner.

Having an LLC in suspended or forfeited status is costly. Any other party contracting with an LLC in suspended status can have that contract declared VOID and unenforceable! (California Revenue & Taxation Code 17654, 23301.5, 23304.1 and 23305.5).

Please contact us to check the status of your LLC. If it is in suspended status, we can help you get it active and avoiding possible legal exposure.