Getting registered and going public
Hello all I just wanted to know if you guys know of any good web sites that walk people though the process of getting a publishing company registersd with the government and doing all those cool business things like press releases and registering trade marks and slogans. Any help is really appreciated, I’m suspecting a government web site will have the info required.
Getting registered and going public with a publishing Co.
Thu, 12/18/2003 - 16:05
Thu, 12/18/2003 - 16:14
#1
Getting registered and going public with a publishing Co.
Try here: http://www.sba.gov/
... and definitely check out these guys: http://www.score.org/
-Bryk
p.s. I assume you're located within the US ... if not, then those two links probably won't help much. :P
Thu, 12/18/2003 - 17:08
#2
Re: Getting registered and going public with a publishing Co
super wrote:
Getting registered and going public
Hello all I just wanted to know if you guys know of any good web sites that walk people though the process of getting a publishing company registersd with the government and doing all those cool business things like press releases and registering trade marks and slogans. Any help is really appreciated, I’m suspecting a government web site will have the info required.
(I ditto the other response advising to talk to SCORE and the SBA.)
Being in the game biz myself, I have some experience of how I started out. I won't give you specific advise to you, but I certainly can relate to you how I did it.
Setting up a sole proprietorship was pretty easy. If I remember correctly, one must show the IRS that you "intend to show a profit." To do that, I think one would need a product for sale, or one almost ready for sale. I think it's pretty important to also file a for a ficticious name, which I think, can be registered with your county clerk. Since I was going to be selling sales-taxable stuff, I was required to get a merchant's license (Merchant ID#) for the state (for collecting sales tax.) Government taxes are a Schedule C form, and are pretty easy.
I had to invest ways to make myself keep records: a record for my car's mileage, a ledger for sales, a ledger for expenses, etc.
For a sole proprietorship, I don't remember anything other than the Schedule C which I had to file federally. (Now I'm opening myself up to trouble if I forgot something, right? =)
Now, setting up a corporation is a completely different animal, and would require the intervention of your friendly neighborhood attorney, I think.
I hope this helps...
-- Scott S.
Thu, 12/18/2003 - 21:10
#4
Getting registered and going public with a publishing Co.
For Trade Marks and such this looked pretty good to me:
One place to get started is http://www.nolo.com/ . They have a lot of legal information available, including information on the different types of companies you can form (sole proprietorship, partnership, S Corp., etc.) Very useful to get started on the business side of the business. TO register with the Feds you'll need to fill out an IRS form SS-4: Application for Emplyer Identification Number. I agree with Scott that you should work with an attorney to make sure you don't make any legal pitfalls that will bite you down the road.
Once you decide on the type of company you want to be, do the other basics. Open a bank account in your company name, get a PO Box, and other things (business cards, etc.).
Hope this helps.
Geoff
Tangent Games