Legal Question in Business Law in Massachusetts

Re: Laws Governing Small Business startup

A small business with no employees other than yourself is surprisingly easy to start. Don't pick a name that's already in use for a similar business or already registered in this state or your town; you're pretty much always safe, if your name is "Jones", to call it Jones Consulting and Repair. Don't put "Inc.", "Incorporated", "Ltd.", "Limited", or "Corp." into the name. Nor "LLP", "LLC", "Partnership", or "PC" or anything else misleading.

Alternatively, you can establish a corporation, which I do for people frequently, however I do it more often when people will be rather successful ($) or already have personal assets they feel they need to protect from the possibility of a lawsuit. There are a variety of types of corporations and my recommendation depends on answers to a series of questions. (Delaware, Mass., C corp., S corp., etc.)

You might want to learn when and how to collect state sales tax and pay it to the Mass. D.o.R. and how to get a certificate to avoid your having to pay sales tax on goods you buy for resale.

That's a start, anyway. There's more to learn, for sure. Keep good records, write up slips describing the work to be done and have customers sign them when they drop off computers for repair; it'd be good to have good language they sign saying they are responsible for the bill and that you'll call if it gets to be over $XXXX, etc., such as what you have seen at other repair places, e.g., your mechanic.

You'll want to work with an accountant or tax lawyer to know what's deductible, expensible, capital investment which you can depreciate, etc.

Good luck. If you're near Boston (or Newton) and you appreciate my advice, maybe you can offer me a good price on my next computer repair or upgrade!

Re: Laws Governing Small Business startup

There are many laws pertaining to business. These range from how to advertise, what name you call

yourself, tax laws and many others. You should hire a lawyer and an accountant to start you in the

right manner. I suggest that you show all forms that you are going to use to the lawyer before you use

them.

Alan Pransky

Law Office of Alan J. Pransky

20 Eastbrook Road