1 00:00:00,150 --> 00:00:02,950 Hey, there. Welcome back to the On Your Terms podcast. 2 00:00:02,970 --> 00:00:12,810 I am so excited to tell you that today is a very exciting day because I get to invite you to my last live legal workshop of the entire year, 3 00:00:12,840 --> 00:00:16,190 which I'm hosting on September 21st and September 22nd. 4 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:24,990 There are three live slots for you to come and join me for my free legal workshop, Five Steps to Legally Protect and Grow Your Online Business. 5 00:00:24,990 --> 00:00:34,410 In that live workshop, I'm going to be teaching you for about an hour about how to form your business properly so that you're personally protected, what your website needs in order for it to be 6 00:00:34,410 --> 00:00:44,220 legit, how to properly work with people online, how to keep copycats off your content, and more than anything, I'll talk to you about the number one mindset shift that you've got to 7 00:00:44,220 --> 00:00:49,280 make if you not only want to legally protect your business, but you want to grow your business, too. 8 00:00:49,290 --> 00:00:52,380 So, this is a awesome, free live legal workshop. 9 00:00:52,380 --> 00:01:02,040 If you've been trying to figure out the legal stuff on your own, spinning your wheels, maybe putting it off, feeling a little overwhelmed or confused, this live workshop is going to be perfect for you. 10 00:01:02,040 --> 00:01:07,830 And the big bonus to coming to this live workshop is that at the end, I'll take your questions live. 11 00:01:07,830 --> 00:01:12,060 So, if you have any questions for me at the end of the workshop, I'll be sharing that with you. 12 00:01:12,060 --> 00:01:19,080 I'm just so excited for this is my absolute last one for 2021, so I hope you will join us live. 13 00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:21,240 If you can't join us live, don't fret. 14 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:22,350 I've got you covered. 15 00:01:22,380 --> 00:01:25,060 Sign up for the live workshop anyway. 16 00:01:25,060 --> 00:01:27,330 We'll send you the replay link as soon as it's over. 17 00:01:27,330 --> 00:01:28,350 I don't want you to miss out. 18 00:01:28,350 --> 00:01:32,310 But if you can make it live, I would love for you to come and hang out with me there. 19 00:01:32,770 --> 00:01:38,880 So head to samvanderwielen.com/oyt-live-workshop, that's samvanderwielen.com/oyt-live-workshop, 20 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:46,790 and sign up for a workshop time that works for you. 21 00:01:46,800 --> 00:01:50,330 And again, if you can't make any of those times live, just sign up anyway. 22 00:01:50,330 --> 00:01:55,920 We'll make sure that we get that live workshop replay in your hands and you'll get the replay even if you do come live. 23 00:01:55,920 --> 00:01:59,630 So, I can't wait to see you there on September 21st and September 22nd. 24 00:01:59,670 --> 00:02:01,350 I am so excited for this. 25 00:02:03,810 --> 00:02:06,150 Hey, there. And welcome to the On Your Terms podcast. 26 00:02:06,150 --> 00:02:16,080 I'm your host, Sam Vander Wielen, an attorney-turned entrepreneur, who helps online coaches and service providers legally protect and grow their businesses using my DIY Legal Templates and 27 00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:18,510 my Ultimate Bundle program. 28 00:02:18,510 --> 00:02:28,320 In this week's episode, we're talking about how to register your business properly, how to protect yourself personally so that you're not personally on the hook financially or otherwise 29 00:02:28,350 --> 00:02:30,480 for whatever happens for your business. 30 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:39,210 Whether it's getting sued or owing money or anything else, I just want to make sure you have this done right so that you're not personally responsible for what happens in your business. 31 00:02:39,360 --> 00:02:44,820 When I first left the law or was going to leave the law, I actually flew back. 32 00:02:44,970 --> 00:02:52,860 I was on the flight back from Amsterdam back to Philadelphia, and we had a very scary bullying incident, which I won't even bring up here. 33 00:02:52,860 --> 00:02:55,770 Just in case you're about to fly any time soon, I won't tell you. 34 00:02:55,800 --> 00:02:57,930 So, we had a really scary plane incident. 35 00:02:57,930 --> 00:03:07,560 And long story short, within like three days of that plane, of landing back in Philadelphia, I had registered in my business, gotten business insurance, like I did 36 00:03:07,740 --> 00:03:14,610 everything, everything that we're going to talk about today I did because I was that motivated to get going and to start my own business. 37 00:03:14,610 --> 00:03:21,510 And so, I really believe that this stuff doesn't need to be too hard, too complicated, definitely not as expensive as people make it. 38 00:03:21,690 --> 00:03:31,620 I'm hoping that in today's episode, you learn not only just how easy it is, but how much this might have been over-complicated by hearing stuff online or through your friends or something like 39 00:03:31,620 --> 00:03:39,900 that. So with that, let's jump right in and learn how to register your business properly so that we properly protect those assets. 40 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:54,670 So, you hear me talk a lot about holistically legally protecting your business and I know sometimes that sounds kind of like fluffy nonsense, but the idea that I have in my mind is that I 41 00:03:54,670 --> 00:04:04,060 want you to be protected from all angles, like a little virtual bubble that is like a force field that's all around you and that protects you from all angles. 42 00:04:04,060 --> 00:04:12,970 Because sometimes what happens in business is that people will think about protecting themselves from one angle or two angles, but they don't think about it all around. 43 00:04:12,970 --> 00:04:20,470 And, sometimes people falsely believe that having one or two of those angles is enough when really it's about having the whole enchilada. 44 00:04:20,500 --> 00:04:28,870 So, we talked last week about having proper contracts in your business and how that serves as the proof that you need to legally protect yourself. 45 00:04:28,870 --> 00:04:33,580 So, that is one piece of protecting yourself is actually being able to provide some proof, right? 46 00:04:33,580 --> 00:04:36,490 Because otherwise without it, we don't really have a leg to stand on. 47 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:41,380 The other part of it is learning how to personally protect yourself. 48 00:04:41,890 --> 00:04:49,780 And, the final little piece of this triangle is learning how to financially protect yourself, which is with business insurance, which I talked about back in episode 7. 49 00:04:49,780 --> 00:04:52,210 If you haven't learned about business insurance yet, you can go back to that episode. 50 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:57,340 But we today are going to focus on personally protecting yourself. 51 00:04:57,340 --> 00:05:03,140 Because if you don't register your business properly, then you're not going to be personally protected. 52 00:05:03,140 --> 00:05:07,360 When it comes to registering your business, we're just looking to protect you. 53 00:05:07,390 --> 00:05:15,560 We want to have it be that you're not responsible for what happens both literally and financially in your business. 54 00:05:15,580 --> 00:05:21,570 So, when it comes to business insurance like I mentioned, we're just looking to protect your business's money, right? 55 00:05:21,580 --> 00:05:31,450 But what about your money as a person or what about any assets that you have or anything that your name is attached to, or just you personally being financially liable and responsible for 56 00:05:31,450 --> 00:05:33,090 something that happens in your business? 57 00:05:33,100 --> 00:05:35,400 That's where business registration comes in. 58 00:05:35,410 --> 00:05:40,540 So, it's really important that we do this properly because obviously, we don't want you to be responsible. 59 00:05:41,020 --> 00:05:45,940 So if you don't register your business properly, people can come after you personally. 60 00:05:45,940 --> 00:05:50,540 Meaning that all of your assets or future assets are at risk. 61 00:05:50,560 --> 00:06:00,280 So, if someone sues you for $100,000 and you don't have things set up properly, not only, you know, registering properly but then having the right business insurance because you probably don't have good business 62 00:06:00,280 --> 00:06:04,230 insurance or have it set up properly if you haven't registered it properly. 63 00:06:04,230 --> 00:06:07,750 Then, that means that somebody can go after you for that money. 64 00:06:07,780 --> 00:06:15,190 So, a lot of times people will say to me like, "Well, I don't care if I get sued for $100,000 because I don't have it." So, like go pound sand, you know. 65 00:06:15,340 --> 00:06:17,320 That's not how it works though in America. 66 00:06:17,320 --> 00:06:27,250 So in America, if you don't actually have the money on hand like most people don't have that cash in the bank but maybe you have a house or a car that's 67 00:06:27,250 --> 00:06:31,000 part of it, or if you don't have any of that, then there are things called liens. 68 00:06:31,450 --> 00:06:33,970 And so, we don't want any of this to happen. 69 00:06:33,970 --> 00:06:36,310 We don't even want to get remotely close to this situation. 70 00:06:36,310 --> 00:06:46,210 And so, what's most important is that we personally protect you and make sure that you're not personally responsible or liable for anything that happens in your 71 00:06:46,450 --> 00:06:53,560 business. So, today we're going to talk about how to register your business the right way to protect your personal assets. 72 00:06:54,160 --> 00:07:00,820 So, first things up is when we talk registering your business, I'm talking about registering your business in the state where you live and work. 73 00:07:00,850 --> 00:07:10,540 So, what I always recommend, and I talked about this back in episode 7 when I talked about the first three steps to legally start a business, is that we want to look at the state where 74 00:07:10,540 --> 00:07:13,940 you live and work, what options are available to you there. 75 00:07:13,940 --> 00:07:23,830 So, you typically start out by Googling like California business registration and you would only look at whatever California or whatever state you're in, whatever the actual 76 00:07:23,830 --> 00:07:27,250 website is from your state, not like a third-party website. 77 00:07:27,610 --> 00:07:30,790 So, I want you to go on that website and see what all of the options are. 78 00:07:30,820 --> 00:07:35,310 See what all the different kinds of business entities are that are available to you in your state. 79 00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:38,500 It's probably like a sole proprietorship, an LLC. 80 00:07:38,710 --> 00:07:42,010 There's probably a corporation and a partnership, and all these different kinds of things. 81 00:07:42,010 --> 00:07:43,900 You might see things like professional LLC. 82 00:07:43,930 --> 00:07:47,190 Those are for doctors or lawyers or architects and things like that. 83 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:51,610 So, you can look at the different entity types, and some of them are going to be knocked out right away. 84 00:07:51,610 --> 00:07:55,690 Like, a partnership is going to be knocked out if you're not going into business with a business partner. 85 00:07:55,720 --> 00:07:57,700 So, if it's just you, you can't have one. 86 00:07:57,730 --> 00:08:00,220 If you have a business partner, you can't register as a sole prop. 87 00:08:00,220 --> 00:08:05,440 So, there are going to be certain elements that kind of knock you out one way or the other. 88 00:08:05,440 --> 00:08:07,360 But then you might be left with a few options. 89 00:08:08,020 --> 00:08:16,780 And so, I want you to look at what the different kinds of options are and I want you to look at some of the requirements and the limitations and whatever else that your estate describes. 90 00:08:16,900 --> 00:08:26,620 Most states, believe it or not, have relatively helpful websites, and they'll tell you a little bit about like, this is what this one provides or this is how like the registration process 91 00:08:26,620 --> 00:08:33,670 goes. And so, you can start to look at like, this one doesn't look like it's that helpful to me, or this one doesn't look like it has enough or any protection. 92 00:08:34,540 --> 00:08:39,740 So, you can look at the pros and cons of some of them just as it goes to your state. 93 00:08:39,740 --> 00:08:49,270 And we want to find the one that works best for you based on what you do and where you live, not where Suzy lives on in your Facebook group, but like where you 94 00:08:49,570 --> 00:08:51,160 live and what you do. 95 00:08:51,670 --> 00:09:00,420 And typically speaking in the online business space, after you do everything that I just said, people will come down to two options. 96 00:09:00,420 --> 00:09:06,350 They'll come down to a sole proprietorship or an LLC, which stands for limited liability company. 97 00:09:07,040 --> 00:09:10,580 So, those are the most popular for a few different reasons. 98 00:09:10,580 --> 00:09:19,760 One is because of the part I just told you that most people don't get registered as a partnership because most people in our line of work don't go into business with a business partner. 99 00:09:19,790 --> 00:09:21,080 So, that knocks it out. 100 00:09:21,380 --> 00:09:24,270 Corporations are too far down the line, yada yada. 101 00:09:24,320 --> 00:09:33,710 So, there are all kinds of reasons why, but we come back to LLCs and sole proprietorships because they are two of the easier depending on where you live. 102 00:09:34,220 --> 00:09:43,910 There are a couple of states that are little asterisks here that are a little bit more difficult, but they tend to be the easier, tend to be the more affordable, faster to start kinds of 103 00:09:43,910 --> 00:09:52,850 businesses. So, when we're talking about registering your business, we're talking about registering it as a certain entity type, which are these LLC, sole proprietorships, 104 00:09:53,720 --> 00:09:56,930 corporation, partnership things in your state. 105 00:09:56,930 --> 00:10:00,180 That's all it is. So, people I feel like sometimes over complicated. 106 00:10:00,180 --> 00:10:01,280 They call it all different things. 107 00:10:01,290 --> 00:10:11,180 I'm like, no, it's just registering your business in your state by picking a business entity type and then registering your business as that business entity type essentially saying to your state, like, "I'm 108 00:10:11,180 --> 00:10:12,480 here. I'm doing business. 109 00:10:12,480 --> 00:10:18,470 I want to be an LLC, and here's my address and here's my contact info." And that's it, right? 110 00:10:18,500 --> 00:10:20,420 That is registering your business. 111 00:10:20,900 --> 00:10:26,840 Now, there's a big thing that you need to know about the difference between sole proprietorship and an LLC. 112 00:10:27,050 --> 00:10:33,830 So, a sole proprietorship is what it sounds like, it basically means that you're doing business just as yourself by yourself. 113 00:10:34,100 --> 00:10:37,310 You can't have a business partner when you have a sole proprietorship. 114 00:10:37,910 --> 00:10:40,160 So, you just have the business by yourself. 115 00:10:40,160 --> 00:10:44,340 And, it tends to be really simple and straightforward, a little bit cheaper. 116 00:10:44,340 --> 00:10:46,710 Depending on what state you're in, it could be a lot of it cheaper. 117 00:10:46,710 --> 00:10:49,760 Like in California, it's quite a bit, you know, less expensive. 118 00:10:50,060 --> 00:10:56,640 But the big thing about a sole proprietorship is that it doesn't offer you what's called any personal liability protection. 119 00:10:56,660 --> 00:11:02,810 So, what that means is that when you register as a sole proprietor, you're essentially not separated at all from your business. 120 00:11:02,840 --> 00:11:04,960 You and your business are one and the same. 121 00:11:04,970 --> 00:11:09,680 And so, what that means is that you are not personally protected. 122 00:11:09,680 --> 00:11:19,670 So, remember how in the beginning I was talking about how the whole point about to me about registering your business entity is, of course, legitimizing it and getting to count business expenses and all of those 123 00:11:19,670 --> 00:11:21,390 things. That's super important, too. 124 00:11:21,410 --> 00:11:31,280 But the lawyer in me is like, well, the legal point of doing it is, also beyond the probably business expenses, is getting you personally 125 00:11:31,280 --> 00:11:32,930 separated from your business. 126 00:11:33,620 --> 00:11:36,740 So, with a sole proprietorship, we don't get any of that separation. 127 00:11:37,130 --> 00:11:39,050 You're essentially the same thing. 128 00:11:39,050 --> 00:11:42,480 It's just like you're saying to your state, like, I'm a person who has a business. 129 00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:44,180 That's really it. 130 00:11:44,180 --> 00:11:45,860 Or, I'm a person acting as a business. 131 00:11:45,860 --> 00:11:55,370 That's really it. So when and if you ever got sued, for example, and you had a sole proprietorship, all of your personal assets would be at 132 00:11:55,370 --> 00:12:04,760 risk. And, again, if you don't have the money or you didn't have the assets, there would be a way that they would find it so, whether it's now or in the future. 133 00:12:04,760 --> 00:12:12,000 So, we don't want that really for any period of time, let alone forever as you're starting your business or running your business. 134 00:12:12,020 --> 00:12:16,460 And so, that is why LLCs were essentially created. 135 00:12:16,790 --> 00:12:18,750 This is why they've become so popular. 136 00:12:18,770 --> 00:12:20,940 LLc is our state-created entities. 137 00:12:20,940 --> 00:12:30,200 Meaning that every state in America has passed some sort of LLC law in their state and so they have a definition of what it means to be an LLC and what's required and what 138 00:12:30,680 --> 00:12:33,650 protections are afforded to them and all that kind of thing. 139 00:12:33,740 --> 00:12:43,190 So, LLCs were kind of created to provide a different level of legal protection to the owners of businesses. 140 00:12:43,220 --> 00:12:47,650 And so, an LLC can be owned by a single person. 141 00:12:47,660 --> 00:12:51,560 If you run your business by yourself like I do, you can have an LLC. 142 00:12:51,710 --> 00:12:54,970 If you have five people who own a business, you can have an LLC. 143 00:12:54,980 --> 00:12:56,620 It's a little bit more flexible. 144 00:12:56,620 --> 00:13:00,020 And the people who own the LLC are called members. 145 00:13:00,290 --> 00:13:05,530 If you're the only person who owns your LLC, then you're a sole member LLC. 146 00:13:05,530 --> 00:13:08,210 So, it's a little bit more flexible in that respect. 147 00:13:08,210 --> 00:13:12,590 Also, you know, you could start out as the only owner and bring on somebody else later and all that good stuff. 148 00:13:12,830 --> 00:13:19,520 But the big legal difference that the LLC provides you is what's called limited personal liability protection. 149 00:13:19,520 --> 00:13:22,370 So, note that I didn't say absolute. 150 00:13:22,370 --> 00:13:25,880 It's not like you can do anything you want and you can never get sued for it. 151 00:13:25,880 --> 00:13:32,510 There are these little like wiggly ways that people, that lawyers essentially can wiggle through and try to sue the owners of an LLC. 152 00:13:32,510 --> 00:13:35,570 But it is rare and you have to kind of be a bad actor. 153 00:13:35,570 --> 00:13:38,480 And so, I'll talk in a little bit about some of the ways that that can happen. 154 00:13:38,480 --> 00:13:44,750 But overall, what you need to know is that it provides you with what's called limited personal liability protection. 155 00:13:44,750 --> 00:13:54,410 And in some states, they get a little bit finicky about not offering as much of that or any of that protection to someone who owns their own 156 00:13:54,410 --> 00:13:56,540 LLC by themselves. 157 00:13:56,570 --> 00:14:06,350 So, some states will be a little picky about like, "Well, if you're a sole member LLC, then you can't get that personal liability protection," because they don't want people just starting LLC so that they can 158 00:14:06,500 --> 00:14:07,970 hide behind them legally. 159 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:10,940 But most places do provide that protection. 160 00:14:10,940 --> 00:14:16,430 So, it's just important to kind of understand where you live and stay on top of the stuff because it does change as well. 161 00:14:16,850 --> 00:14:23,780 So with that being said, it does provide this limited personal liability protection where applicable. 162 00:14:23,780 --> 00:14:31,670 And what that means is that in that same scenario, if the business got sued, the business would be getting sued, not you as a person. 163 00:14:31,670 --> 00:14:33,710 So the business would owe money. 164 00:14:33,710 --> 00:14:37,710 And we don't want your business to owe money either, which is why business insurance is important. 165 00:14:37,730 --> 00:14:39,970 That's why I talked about it so much in episode 7. 166 00:14:39,970 --> 00:14:44,150 So, go back and listen to that to kind of understand how this stuff all fits together. 167 00:14:44,510 --> 00:14:51,560 But we don't want your business to be financially responsible either, but it would be absolutely crushing if you were personally financially responsible. 168 00:14:51,560 --> 00:14:55,370 So, that's really the point of registering our businesses that way. 169 00:14:55,970 --> 00:15:05,330 So, I talked a little bit earlier about how it's not just about getting an LLC or getting your business registered but actually making sure that you're then afforded the 170 00:15:05,330 --> 00:15:06,920 protection from it. 171 00:15:07,160 --> 00:15:16,550 So, if you do register an LLC and you own that LLC by yourself, it's really important that you act like an LLC to get the maximum chance that you can to get that 172 00:15:16,790 --> 00:15:19,870 protection, to get that personal liability protection. 173 00:15:19,880 --> 00:15:24,350 So, that's why I spend so much time talking about how to properly act like an LLC. 174 00:15:24,890 --> 00:15:30,960 So, some of the ways that you can actually do that are by making sure that you keep your business money and your personal money separate. 175 00:15:30,960 --> 00:15:39,950 Because you want to think about it like if you're asking for the courts to provide you some sort of personal liability protection because you're saying to them, "Hey, I'm not my business. 176 00:15:40,040 --> 00:15:43,190 I have like a legit business and then I'm just the owner of that business. 177 00:15:43,190 --> 00:15:50,240 So, I'm a separate person and I don't want you to have access to my personal assets or money." Then, you have to act accordingly. 178 00:15:50,330 --> 00:15:53,650 So, your business has to have a business bank account. 179 00:15:53,650 --> 00:15:58,070 All money from clients and sales and things have to flow into that business bank account. 180 00:15:58,670 --> 00:16:02,330 You shouldn't be using the money that's in that business bank account for anything that's personal. 181 00:16:02,330 --> 00:16:05,060 It should just be for business unless you're just paying yourself. 182 00:16:05,300 --> 00:16:09,200 So, all of that stuff needs to be kept very separate and very clean. 183 00:16:09,920 --> 00:16:16,130 Another way that you can do this is by signing contracts that - or the contracts themselves are in the name of your business. 184 00:16:16,130 --> 00:16:23,180 So, at the top of your contracts, it should say like this contract is buy-in between your LLC and your client name. 185 00:16:23,180 --> 00:16:26,340 So, your contract is between your business and the client. 186 00:16:26,340 --> 00:16:34,500 Because then if the client ever sues you for something from that contract, they have to sue the LLC because that's who they entered into the contract with. 187 00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:37,670 And then, when you sign those contracts, you're signing on behalf of your business. 188 00:16:38,470 --> 00:16:40,280 So, you do that by signing your name. 189 00:16:40,280 --> 00:16:49,460 But then after your name where it's typewritten under your signature, like mine would say Sam Vander Wielen, and then in parentheses say on behalf of Sam Vander Wielen 190 00:16:49,760 --> 00:16:51,850 LLC, close parentheses. 191 00:16:51,860 --> 00:16:54,200 So, I'm always signing on behalf of my business. 192 00:16:54,200 --> 00:16:58,910 I'm doing everything as the CEO and the owner of my business, but I'm not doing it as a person. 193 00:16:59,150 --> 00:17:02,900 It's not me personally entering into a contract or signing the contract. 194 00:17:02,900 --> 00:17:04,910 I'm just signing on behalf of my business. 195 00:17:06,320 --> 00:17:15,080 Another way that you act like an LLC and therefore try to get as much of that maximum personal liability protection that you can is through your advertising in your marketing. 196 00:17:15,080 --> 00:17:18,590 So, you always want to advertise or market yourself as a business and not as a person. 197 00:17:19,220 --> 00:17:24,830 So, like on the header of your website, you should have your little LLC moniker after your name. 198 00:17:24,830 --> 00:17:27,860 You should add it to all your freebies and handouts. 199 00:17:27,860 --> 00:17:33,530 Like any content that you're putting out, it should always have the name of your business on it, not just your personal name. 200 00:17:33,560 --> 00:17:43,550 If you have a business that's named after you like I do because I couldn't think of anything any more creative and because my first business was creative and was a disaster in terms of the 201 00:17:43,550 --> 00:17:46,940 name, I make sure that the LLC is included. 202 00:17:46,940 --> 00:17:50,320 So, I don't just put Sam Vander Wielen at the top of my website. 203 00:17:50,320 --> 00:17:52,040 It says Sam Vander Wielen LLC. 204 00:17:52,250 --> 00:17:57,160 When I have, you know, freebies or workshops or anything like that, it always says Sam Vander Wielen LLC. 205 00:17:57,160 --> 00:17:58,490 My logo says it everywhere. 206 00:17:58,490 --> 00:18:00,080 It should say it because it's a business. 207 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:01,370 It's not me as a person. 208 00:18:02,120 --> 00:18:12,080 Last but not least one of the other requirements is definitely not the only - the only other thing but one of the other big requirements to acting like an LLC and therefore then getting the protection of it 209 00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:16,270 is to keep clean and organized books when it comes to bookkeeping. 210 00:18:16,280 --> 00:18:25,940 So whether you do it or you use a software or a bookkeeper or anything, whatever it is, the point is if somebody came digging around asking about your business money, 211 00:18:25,970 --> 00:18:29,780 it should be able to be easily deciphered. 212 00:18:29,780 --> 00:18:34,550 So that's another kind of goes hand-in-hand with the first tip about acting like an LLC. 213 00:18:34,760 --> 00:18:43,250 When you keep your business money separate, it's going to make it much easier to keep things clean and organized because you don't want to be going through your expenses to be like, "Oh, that one's personal. 214 00:18:43,250 --> 00:18:44,750 This one's business. That one's personal. 215 00:18:44,750 --> 00:18:47,540 This one's business." So, you want to keep them separate. 216 00:18:48,170 --> 00:18:52,250 And then, that will make it so that you have cleaner, organized bookkeeping. 217 00:18:52,820 --> 00:18:56,000 So, those are just some of the requirements of acting like an LLC. 218 00:18:56,000 --> 00:19:05,180 This acting like an LLC part is super important, and if you want to learn more about how to properly act like an LLC and if you want to learn more about how to properly 219 00:19:06,020 --> 00:19:14,500 register your business, then you definitely want to join me for my free live legal workshop going on September 21st and September 22nd. 220 00:19:14,500 --> 00:19:19,340 They are the last live workshops I'll be hosting for the year, legally speaking. 221 00:19:19,340 --> 00:19:22,220 So, you want to make sure that you will join me for that. 222 00:19:22,220 --> 00:19:28,220 If you can't make it live on September 21st or 22nd, sign up anyway, just so that you get the replay. 223 00:19:28,220 --> 00:19:37,760 If you're listening to this later, we'll include a link down below in the show notes for you to sign up for the workshop at any time, but make sure you come to this workshop if you want to learn more about 224 00:19:37,760 --> 00:19:39,560 registering your business properly. 225 00:19:40,040 --> 00:19:45,530 We're going to go into much more detail on what the difference is between an LLC and sole prop. 226 00:19:45,700 --> 00:19:53,630 I'm going to talk a little bit about how they're taxed differently and what that means for you financially, and how this offers you this personal liability protection. 227 00:19:54,230 --> 00:19:59,270 So, I hope to see you at my free live legal workshop, my last free live legal workshop of the year. 228 00:19:59,450 --> 00:20:02,390 The link to sign up is in the show notes below. 229 00:20:02,420 --> 00:20:04,530 I hope that this episode was helpful to you. 230 00:20:04,530 --> 00:20:07,370 Of course, as always, you can DM me on Instagram @samvanderwielen. 231 00:20:07,790 --> 00:20:09,830 Let me know what you thought of this episode. 232 00:20:09,840 --> 00:20:17,070 Screenshot and share the episode by tagging me in it on Instagram to let me know you're listening to On Your Terms, until next week. 233 00:20:17,070 --> 00:20:21,980 I hope that you have a great rest of your week and I hope to see you at my live legal workshop. 234 00:20:27,550 --> 00:20:34,650 So just remember that although I am a attorney, I am not your attorney, and I am not offering you legal advice in today's episode. 235 00:20:34,660 --> 00:20:39,460 This episode and all of my episodes are informational and educational only. 236 00:20:39,460 --> 00:20:43,730 It is not a substitute for seeking out your own advice from your own lawyer. 237 00:20:43,750 --> 00:20:46,540 And please keep in mind that I can't offer you legal advice. 238 00:20:46,540 --> 00:20:50,680 I don't ever offer any legal services, but I think I offer some pretty good information. 239 00:20:51,760 --> 00:20:55,810 Also, remember that I am based in the United States, so that's what I'll focus on today. 240 00:21:00,290 --> 00:21:03,060 Thanks so much for listening to the On Your Terms podcast. 241 00:21:03,080 --> 00:21:07,610 Make sure to follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you like to listen to podcasts. 242 00:21:07,850 --> 00:21:14,690 You can also check out all of our podcast episodes, show notes, links, and more at samvanderwielen.com/podcast. 243 00:21:14,840 --> 00:21:22,040 You can learn more about legally protecting your business and take my free legal workshop, Five Steps to Legally Protect and Grow Your Online Business, at samvanderwielen.com. 244 00:21:23,690 --> 00:21:28,920 And to stay connected and follow along, follow me on Instagram @samvanderwielen, and send me a DM to say hi. © 245 00:21:28,920 --> 00:21:29,140 2022 Sam Vander Wielen LLC | All Rights Reserved | Any use of this intellectual property owned by Sam Vander Wielen LLC may not be used in connection with the sale or distribution of any content (free or paid, written or verbal), product, 246 00:21:29,140 --> 00:21:29,270 and/or service by you without prior written consent from Sam Vander Wielen LLC.