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There are a good amount of services that help you incorporate your startup for S Corp, C Corp or LLC, like Incorporate.com and Agents & Corporations. They help you put together the documents you need like bylaws and such and include Registered Agent services for a $200 premium over the state filing fee.

Did you use such a service? If so, which one? If not, why not? (And if not, how did you secure a Registered Agent?)

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We didn't use a service to register our LLC. Registering an LLC is very easy to do, and in my opinion, it's a waste of money to pay someone else to do it. Your state's website should have all the information you need to form your LLC.

We didn't need a Registered Agent because we formed our LLC in the state we live in. Registered Agents are only necessary if registering a company outside your home state. But if you need a Registered Agent, you can obtain one without having to pay for the incorporation service.

In the case of S and C Corp, I believe it's a more complicated matter, although I've never been through it myself. And it probably makes sense to use a service like Incorporate.com.

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I went this route with my LLC. Actually my accountant is used to helping people register their LLC's so he knew all places to point me and each step to take. I just had to take them. A lot easier than I thought it would be. – percent20 Jan 15 '11 at 9:20
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It's what I did also to create a LLC in Delaware. I followed the steps presented here: corp.delaware.gov/howtoform.shtml. Thanks for this post, otherwise, I'd pay a lot ($650) for an incorporation service). I ended up paying the DE fee ($90). – rochb Feb 12 '11 at 14:11
@rochb: That's great to hear! Doing it yourself is definitely the way to go. I'm glad my advice helped you save money. That's why I spend so much time on this site...I want to help others avoid mistakes. Good luck with your business! – Zuly Gonzalez♦ Feb 12 '11 at 15:50
up vote 3 down vote

For my California LLC, I used http://www.nolo.com. It was all done on-line and they filed everything I needed. I looked at a bunch of other ones that were a little cheaper but I have used Nolo for other things and trust them.

I did not get a registered agent for this one but one I have used in the past is: http://www.registeredagent.com/ They were pretty good. The whole registered agent thing seems like a waste if you are registered in the same state you do business in. If not, then it's part of the deal because most states require a state address.

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up vote 3 down vote

Mark, Why would you use some automated cookie-cutter service, when there are plenty highly qualified private practitioners who can put together documents you will not need to re-do to take in investment?

There are plenty discouraging articles out there about horrid docs that come out of those template joints.

You get what you pay for with Nolos and other template shops - garbage. Those docs don't survive the first contact with any investor who knows their stuff.

I know you are in Boston, why don't you ping folks like Ben at www.vcreadylaw.com or one of the many other great folks serving the community.

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Hey Apollo, I'm actually going to be contacting Ben in a few weeks to start doing incorporation for a US subsidiary of a UK company I joined earlier. (So this question isn't for me.) However, some entrepreneurs I know don't have much cash to spend on starting up, and being incorporated is better than not, so I thought I'd ask a question that might be on the minds of some people. – Mark Bao May 16 '10 at 18:33
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I hear ya, but I still think entrepreneurs are MUCH better off reading up (2-3 hour investment will pay off big time) and doing it themselves instead of letting those documents mills do the work. Most of the stuff that comes out of those shops is atrocious! – Apollo Sinkevicius May 17 '10 at 0:14
Great HONEST advice! Cookie cutters are good for stamping out crap. – Frank Jan 16 '11 at 13:11
up vote 1 down vote

I used a service called doing it myself! It takes the same amount of time. The forms you fill out with a service are so general you could do the same in minutes.

In california the SOS (secretary of state) actually gives you a sample of articles of incorporation that you can copy word for word. It is literally less than 3 sentences long. Good enough to get setup. No service will get you proper articles if you require them, have investors, or a board bigger than you and your wife. You need an attorney or paralegal to help draft that.

If your goal is to get setup with your LLC or Corp to get your business started, getting bank accounts, EIN and so on. Then do it yourself. Plus if you are too dumb to figure it out, chances are you are going to be a pretty big failure!

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up vote 0 down vote

I used Harvard Business Services -- very affordable rates for incorporation (I did a fair amount of research) and pretty knowledgable phone support.

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They look good. Interesting that they have nothing to do with Harvard... not even an alumni connection...? – Henry the Hengineer Jan 14 '11 at 21:16

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