How to Establish a U.S. Business Bank Account

by Scott Letourneau

If you’re not a U.S. resident, opening a U.S. bank account for your U.S. business entity can be a challenging task. We’ve covered the many advantages of having a U.S. entity in past articles, but once you’ve cleared that hurdle, the next big step in establishing trust with U.S. buyers is having a credible physical presence for your business inside the United States.

While there may be a few exceptions on certain high demand items, U.S. consumers will generally feel safer choosing an online seller that appears to be based inside the U.S. before they’ll buy overseas. This awareness and the huge rise in U.S. online sales has created a dramatic increase in the number of foreign marketers establishing a U.S. LLC or Corporation.

Here are the critical elements of a credible U.S. business presence:

1. A U.S. LLC or corporation (compliance and tax advantages)
2. A physical U.S. office address (consumer trust and banking credibility)
3. A U.S. bank account (payment processing and merchant fee advantages)

Whether you think of them as legs on a stool or spokes in a wheel, it’s immediately apparent that having all three securely in place will send a much stronger marketing message and give your U.S. income stream a lot more stability. It’s relatively easy to form a corporation and obtain the requisite “EIN” number without being physically present in the U.S. but opening a U.S. bank account from outside the country is nearly impossible. U.S. banks have a fiduciary responsibility to know the client AND to have met with them BEFORE opening a U.S. account.

Here’s what banks require from non-residents to open a U.S. account (some requirements will change slightly from bank to bank):

1. Articles for the U.S. entity or the name of the sole proprietorship or general partnership
2. EIN (Employer Identification Number) for the business (obtained though the IRS)
3. Lease agreement for a physical office address (highly preferred over a P.O. box)
4. Your business address in your home country
5. Color copies of passport and driver’s licenses for all persons on the account
6. Reference letter from a bank officer in your home country verifying the following:

read more

7 Important Reasons to Form a Corporation or LLC for Your Business.

by Scott Letourneau

Are you operating your business as a real business or as a hobby? It’s time to make your business OFFICIAL before the summer push for business!

Let me ask you two important questions:

1. Are you operating your business under your own name, a DBA or fictitious firm name, basically as a sole proprietorship or maybe as a general partnership? AND/OR
2. Are you or your family at risk because of business or personal assets that are unprotected from unexpected losses or legal issues?

If you answered YES to either question please read on for important news about why NOW is the time to form an corporation or LLC for your business.

1. Make it Official. Operating as a sole proprietorship or general partnership sends a message that you are still “testing” your business, or that you’re not sure you’ll really make it. Perhaps your accountant told you that incorporating is an unnecessary expense or that it won’t help you save on taxes due to an expectation of low profits. This is the WORST marketing message you can send when you want to attract new clients and partners to your business, who want assurance that you’re about your business and here to stay.
2. The Law of Attraction. You get what you focus on. Testing, hoping and “seeing if things work out or not” BEFORE you decide to step-up and make your business official by incorporating broadcasts a clear message to the universe that you’re not really serious about your business or committed to a positive outcome. The Law of Attraction states that the universe returns not what you wish for, but what you program into your deepest belief system through your dominant thoughts, actions and feelings. Making your business official and really stepping up says, “I am ready to receive!”.

3. Limited Personal Liability. You may be thinking “I already lost everything in the market collapse from 2008” and still recovering. If you’re one of the few that managed to survive and grow your assets since then, but are still holding them in your own name, you’re playing a VERY RISKY game (similar to those with assets in unstable European banks). Even if you don’t have any assets right now, a lawsuit or judgment will destroy any credit you are looking to build in the future PLUS you may be looking over your shoulder for years waiting for someone to come after you when you finally do start to turn things around. That’s no way to live your life. One lawsuit from an unprotected business can ruin your chances of getting a personal auto loan or refinancing your home. Good people who “play by the rules” can still be sued for the most unexpected reasons. You may be thinking “my business insurance will help me out” but are you really covered? Even if your business is never sued, what if you’re unable to pay a vendor and they come after you? Do you want to be personally liable? Put a halt to greedy people looking to take what you have worked for! This is the best time to form an LLC or corporation to limit your personal liability.
4. Reduce Your Taxes. The bottom line is that operating as a sole proprietorship will cost you the most in employment taxes (up to 15.3% on earned income up to $113,700 in 2013). That means that your income will be taxed as the HIGHEST possible TAX RATE as a sole proprietorship. By the way, filing a Schedule C (the form filed for earned income from a sole proprietorship) also means that your business is among those MOST LIKELY TO BE AUDITED. Why? The IRS has a $300 BILLION tax gap and they believe the biggest tax cheats are the little business owner like you. Why? Their stats show them that sole proprietorship are MOST likely to UNDER report their income and OVER report their expenses (two big no-no’s with the IRS). Operating as an S corporation or LLC taxed as an S corporation in many situations is a much better approach for two reasons. You will have part of your profits as distributions which are NOT subject to the 15.3% employment taxes AND move that profit to schedule E, not schedule C which is more likely to be audited!
   
5. Access More Funding Options. Operating as a sole proprietorship or general partnership limits you when it comes to funding options. You are also DAMAGING YOUR PERSONAL CREDIT SCORE by operating this way. How do you finance your business as a sole proprietorship? You use your PERSONAL CREDIT cards which will drive up your revolving debt which will in turn DRIVE DOWN your personal credit score! When you form a corporation or an LLC you will SEPARATE your PERSONAL and BUSINESS CREDIT. Yes, any type of cash funding with a personal guarantee will come into play, but that DEBT does NOT show up in the personal credit bureau which is HUGE for future funding! As you form a new LLC or corporation NCP will help (if you choose) to build your business credit scores quickly and get your business in a position to secure funding to grow. But the first step is to form a separate legal entity.
6. Simply Your Life. Yes, in fact operating as a sole proprietorship will complicate your life, not the opposite. Separating your business and personal life will make it much easier for you to navigate both from a financial and legal point of view. Now you will have each in its own compartment where it belongs to protect your overall success.
7. Asset Protection. Forming an LLC for your safe assets like investments (those outside a retirement plan) will help you sleep better at night knowing you don’t have all your “eggs” in one basket. If you are using a LIVING TRUST to protect your assets that will NOT work and everything in your trust may be vulnerable. Do you own other businesses that really should be operating through a separate bank account in a separate entity? Do you own real estate in your own name that may be sending a message that you are rich and have assets worth taking? Have you been in business for years or are you operating more than one business in one entity? Are you doing some business with a new partner and making the big mistake of running that revenue through your current business? Avoid these costly mistakes and form a separate company for that separate business.

Do you need support in forming a corporation or LLC? Not sure what entity or state is best? Call Nevada Corporate Planners, Inc.  at 1-888-627-7007,  the company I founded. We incorporate in all 50 states and have amazing support and turn key packages to help you also with building business credit and helping keep the IRS off your back!

read more

Why only 5% of Business Owners Become a Huge Success

by Scott Letourneau

Our studies show that only 5% of business owners become a huge success because only 5% have SYSTEMS in place for their products, marketing, sales,management, finances and operations.

You see, systems are what create the step-by-step “automatic actions” that make it possible for winning companies to repeat their proven best practices over and over again.  This is what makes continuous growth possible without constant, exhausting intervention from the business owner.

If you don’t have the right systems in place, the simple truth is that you don’t have what it takes for  major and sustainable growth.  This is going to show up in the form of inconsistencies, poor quality, inferior service,lost sales… and ultimately ulcers for the business owner. 

In his fantastic book The E-Myth, Michael Gerber makes a powerful case for the importance of systems and how vital they are for business success.  It was ideas like these that led me to my own partnership with actionCOACH, and the step-by-step templates they’ve given me have made all the difference.

I’ve had a great experience with actionCOACH over the past few months, and because you’re a visitor to my personal blog, I’ve arranged for YOU to receive a Free trial business coaching session worth $375. Just fill in this short form now to get an initial business coaching session (a $375 value!) at no cost
or obligation:

*******************************************

ACCESS YOUR FREE COACHING SESSION HERE
http://budurl.com/NCPActionCoach
********************************************

read more

The Top 6 Dangers Lurking Behind Your Business

by Scott Letourneau

In today’s uncertain financial climate, is there any way to be sure your assets are fully protected? Many business owners, and those who may be considering a startup venture, are unaware of hidden risks that can erode or even erase everything they’ve worked for with virtually no warning.

Fortunately, there are simple, practical steps you can take. By having the right protections in place at the right time, you can ensure that your assets and your peace of mind are secure. Here are the top 6 areas where your assets may be exposed:

1. Operating your business as a sole proprietorship. In addition to paying higher tax rates in most cases, sole proprietorships are targeted by the IRS for audits more than any other business structure. IRS statistics show that sole proprietorships are more likely to understate income and overstate expenses. This is where many get flagged for writing off hobbies as business expenses. This risk will increase with health care reform and an incoming wave of new IRS agents.

2. Owning safe assets in your own name. Even though they may have nothing to do with your actual business affairs, any asset held in your own name, such as stocks or precious metals, could be tied up (or lost) in a personal lawsuit. It’s a common myth that living trusts or “dba” operating companies can protect the assets or investments you hold in your own name from liability.

3. Owning intellectual property in your own name. As with safe assets, holding IP in your own name is also a risky strategy. All the time, materials and sweat equity you’ve invested in any system, product or body of work could be taken away from you if it’s exposed to litigation.

4. Domain names. In today’s internet economy, many entrepreneurs rely on domain names for a substantial portion of their income streams. Even something as random as a liability claim from a car accident could cripple your business if they go after your domain names for recovery. Although it may seem like a simple way to save time and money in the beginning, the worst place to hold domain names is in your own name or in the operating name of your business.

5. The ownership of your current company. Even having a separate entity like an S or C corporation does not guarantee protection for your assets or investments, unless you have the proper structural details in place. Many “one price fits all” online incorporation services fail to ask important questions that could mean the difference between security and exposure. Certain high revenue and profit LLCs may be at risk also.

read more

The Massive Benefits of having a U.S. Company

by Scott Letourneau

If you are based outside the United States, whether in Canada, the UK, Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand or South America, there are many compelling reasons to establish a U.S. corporation or LLC (Limited Liability Company). Since 1997, Nevada Corporate Planners (NCP) has helped hundreds of business owners around the globe start their U.S. business and take advantage of this extraordinary opportunity to open up lucrative new income streams.

Here are just a few of the powerful reasons to form a U.S. company:

1. HOW TO BUILD TRUST WITH U.S. CONSUMERS ONLINE

Online spending by U.S. consumers is at $183.9 billion and growing! One of the best ways to capture your share of this massive market is to have a U.S. company with a U.S. office. You might be surprised to learn how affordable and simple it can be to establish a U.S. presence that gives your business instant credibility. In most cases, U.S. consumers prefer not to risk dealing with customer service, return, refund or liability concerns in another country. With today’s search technology, it’s easy for them to click on the next listing and choose a U.S. supplier for similar products or services. As a result, you could be losing 20-40% of your sales every year, simply because your website doesn’t list a U.S. location!

2. HOW TO ESTABLISH CREDIBILITY WITH U.S. BUSINESS PARTNERS

In addition to the image benefits of having offices outside your home country, there are many practical advantages to establishing an international presence in the U.S. Most U.S. businesses prefer working with other U.S. companies to minimize tax and legal complications. Having a U.S. presence removes these barriers and can open up profitable new opportunities for joint ventures and strategic alliances. Potential partners are scanning your website right now to see if you have an office in the U.S. You could be losing revenue because of a perception issue that can be easily and inexpensively fixed!

3. HOW TO PROTECT YOUR ASSETS FROM DEVASTATING LAWSUITS

read more

SEO, Mobile, Google & Digital Marketing In 2013 with Sara Mannix

by Scott Letourneau

In a recent interview with Sara Mannix, CEO of Mannix Marketing, we had a chance to sit down and ask critical questions about what changes lay ahead in 2013 for succeeding online.  You may access the complete interview below.

Here are the critically important digital strategies covered on this important training:

• How has web site design strategy changed recently with the increased use of mobile devices?

• In relation to website design, discover what Sara is recommending for their clients for 2013 (called the Starbucks Strategy) and what changes you should be considering?

• What is conversion rate optimization and is it critical for your online success?

• Where SEO is going in 2013 and what changes do you need to make today in your strategy?

• What is author rank and why is that important? What simple tips should you be taking to improve your author rank?

• What is Panda /Penguin and why is that important?

read more

Are You Looking to Build Business Credit? Here are the Most Important Business Credit FAQs

by Scott Letourneau

Why do banks look to the business credit bureaus like Dun & Bradstreet,® Corporate Experian® and Corporate Equifax® as part of their business lending process?

The main reason lenders use these rating and reporting services this is to minimize risk. Known informally as “The Big Three,” they have built a reputation for offering the most accurate and up to date information available on business credit history. Lenders pay a fee to receive detailed reports on a company’s payment history with other lenders, types of business credit they’ve used in the past and information on current loans. Business credit profiles are considered an important indicator of a company’s financial health and how likely they are to be able to pay back a business loan in the future.

Why is it important to build a business credit profile for my company with Dun & Bradstreet,® Corporate Experian® and Corporate Equifax® (the big three)?

Building a strong business credit profile is very important, not only to secure vendor lines of credit, banking lines of credit and other types of business loans, but also to get the most favorable terms and interest rates. Even if you’re not seeking financing at this time, it’s important to know that potential alliance partners and customers may also pull profiles on companies they’re evaluating for new business. If your company has a weak profile (or none at all) you may be losing out on other opportunities without even realizing it. You won’t know these companies are looking at your profile unless you subscribe to a paid business credit monitoring service, which can be a good idea for certain businesses.

What is the difference between vendor credit and cash lines of credit?

Both are very important to your business. You probably already work with several vendors for day to day materials and supplies but odds are that most of them are not reporting your good payment history to the big three. In fact, over 90% of vendors do not report and many businesses are shocked to learn that their business credit score and rating is either weak or nonexistent. Building lines of credit with vendors that report to the big three will help you establish a strong business credit profile in addition to managing your cash flow and using the vendor’s credit to help grow your business.

Items like payroll and marketing require cash, not vendor credit.  Cash lines of credit provide funds that can be used immediately for any investment or expense your business requires. Some examples of cash lines of credit include loans, cash advances, merchant account advances, accounts receivable financing, equipment financing or retirement plan financing. Fast Business Credit offers a $50,000 guarantee. The key question you will want to ask is how much of that will apply to vendor lines of credit and how much will be cash lines for your business. The answer depends on certain business and personal criteria. Yes, your personal credit history does come into play, especially with business lines of credit. Personal guarantees are almost always required for most cash lines of credit.

read more

Are Your Business and Assets Properly Protected?

by Scott Letourneau

Probably not, but let’s check and see. Let me ask you these questions:

1. If you have an LLC  did you have it managed by managers or by members? Do you know the difference?

2. Does your LLC have the correct operating agreement? If the LLC was taxed as an S or C corporation is there language that covers that in the operating agreement?

3. When you formed an LLC did you pay attention to how it will be taxed(there are four options)? Did you proactively make a choice or check some boxes on the SS4 application or worse you let someone else do it for you and this was never addressed?

4. Do you know when a single member LLC disregarded for tax purposes makes sense to protect assets and when it does not make sense for running a business?

5. Are you familiar with the “charging order” and recent cases and it related to a single or multimember  LLC?

6. Do you know why your professionals all want you to incorporate in your home state and why you get different answers from them consistently?

read more

The Enemy to Your Business Success-Self Doubt

by Scott Letourneau

You already know the numbers; 95% fail within 5 years, over 50% the first year. There are so many aspects to have in place to run and operate a successful business including, the foundation to your business, a specific niche, a great product, great marketing, a system in place, the best people…and so much more. No wonder it can be so difficult. Almost every great business success story is filled with challenges, struggle and almost failure. Almost failing and not failing are a night and day difference. Think of so many great business leaders and companies that almost failed, and turned things around. Steve Jobs coming back to Apple, the company he founded that fired him, Lee Iaccoca turning around Chrysler, Donald Trump and his own company with real estate. The biggest challenge to success in your business and life is not money, time, resources, connections, it is self-doubt.

When you have self-doubt at the start of your business or as years go by with your ability to lead, grow, overcome changes, innovate and succeed it is your biggest enemy. There are very few if any success stories where the leader was filled with self-doubt. If self-doubt creeps into your mind and daily operations of what you are doing to grow your business, the task is just about impossible.

I heard a great recent interview with Bill Walsh, know as “America’s Business Expert”, with Sharon Lechte, the co-author of the international bestseller, Rich Dad, Poor Dad. She is now focused on expanding the knowledge of Napoleon Hill’s principles and teachings around the globe in conjunction with the Napoleon Hill Foundation. As you know the famous book written by Napoleon Hill in 1937 was the first real success book of its time and today almost every successful entrepreneur has read or at least heard of it. Napoleon Hill wrote a second book in 1938, just after Think and Grow Rich, which was never published. It was considered too controversial by his family and friends. His wife even said, I do not want this book published in my life time. Napoleon Hill passed away in 1970 and his wife in 1984. This manuscript was given to the Napoleon Hill Foundation after his wife’s passing and was just recently published with the help of Sharon Lechter. The book is called, Outwitting the Devil, the Secret to Freedom and Success. You can see from the title why this book would have been a controversy even today, much less back in 1938. The book deals with the self-doubt and fear (from the Devil) that can prevent you from achieving true success. It helps you deal head on with your self-doubt and challenges you straight on that you are capable of success and overcoming any limitation! I just ordered the book myself after hearing this great interview and am looking forward to this amazing hidden treasure that is now available. There is even a “secret chapter” when you go to buy the book at their website, www.outwittingthedevil.com (what a great idea for a lead opt in, a “secret chapter”. The essence is that at some level we all battle self-doubt, I know I have many times over the last 16 years and to me there are a few key points to overcome self-doubt and move to success.

1. Recharge your identity with powerful “I am” statements. Not the negatives ones that cause self-doubt like, “I am not a good marketer, I am broke, I am technology challenged….but to replace that instead with, “I am successful, I am a great leader, I am wealthy (you have a body that would  cost over $6 million dollars to recreate if possible), I am a great decision maker, I am energetic, I am a great marketer…Say this every morning as you wake up and own your new identity. This is a great strategy I was reminded of this recently while watching Joel Osteen (that guy is inspired and inspiring).
2. Develop short and long term goals. Map out your future. Yes, you may have done this three or four years ago but do it now again. Once you map out your future and goals and get very clear on them the flood gates will open! Self-doubt is usually closely related to unclear or changing goals. If you are flip flopping that will create challenges. Map out your top 3 personal and business goals in the next 90 days. Then do it for the next 12 months and three years. Stick with the top 3 goals for now. Now you will need to take the steps to develop what action steps will you need to accomplish your top 3 goals 90 days from now, 12 months and three years from now. At each action step I would recommend you develop a SMART goal for it. That stands for the Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time Bound. Once you take the time, maybe an hour to map out your goals and get really clear on your vision of where you want to be in the next 1, 2 and 3 years things will start happening in your life!

3. Practice the pattern of high self esteem. In essence you want to focus on a self-to-self comparison, not comparing yourself to others which creates low esteem and adds to self doubt. How you do that is to focus on an improvement since last week in any area of your business or personal life. It should be small chunks and in short periods of time. You might say, “The improvement I made in joint ventures since last week is ______________.”
4. Focus on daily objectives. Set your top 6 priorities each day that will lead to the most productivity in your business and an amount of time allocated for each one. Work on your priorities in order and do not allow (unless an emergency) any interruptions. Stay focus on each task at a time. That will help manage your time and give you the feeling of productivity which will lead to more confidence and self-doubt.
5. Join a master mind group of successful leaders. A mastermind group, properly established will help you stay focused on your goals to grow your business plus help to hold you accountable. Especially if you are the owner of the business by yourself with no one else to be accountable to it really helps to be a part of a master mind group.

Take some small action today in each of the 5 steps and establish SMART goals to help you establish more confidence in your business and less self-doubt. The key is action now in the moment for your success in life and business!

read more

The Best Strategies to Get 2013 Off to a Fast Start to Profits!

by Scott Letourneau

The only purpose of a business is to generate profits. As you know it is not to generate more net income, more clients, leads, opt ins…it is certainly not to work longer hours, see your family less and have more stress and lose money (unfortunately, that is what most experience). If we start with the premise that the focus of your business is to generate a profit, what is the best way to get there in 2013?

It starts with measurement. You must be able to measure your numbers and results. Most people who run a business only measure a few numbers, like the number of leads, clients and web site traffic. They don’t measure things like their profit and loss, cost of goods sold, break-even, cash flow…I believe there is a separation between “marketing numbers,” things like how many web site visitors, opt ins…likes on facebook vs “accounting numbers” that were already mentioned. You do need both. Let me share with you another of numbers that is taught by ActionCoach, the world’s #1 business coaching firm. They teach these important numbers (they call it the “chassis for growth”):

Leads x conversation rate (%) x # of transactions x average sale = revenue. Then take that revenue x the margin = gross profit.

Example: 100 leads x 10% conversion = 10 clients x 2 transactions during the year = 20 x $500 average sale = $10,000 in revenue. $10,000 x 40% margin = $4,000 in gross profit. If you focused each quarter this year on improving each category by 10% that will result in an increase of your gross profits by 46% for the year! If you improve each category by about 17% you will double your gross profits for the year.

The next step is to determine 3-5 strategic action steps you can take in each area to improve each category. Again, you first much be able to measure to get results.

Leads

There are several marketing strategies to increase leads. I would recommend starting with ones that do not warrant spending more marketing funds on leads. For example, what type of referral program do you have in place with current clients to generate more leads? Do you have more than one referral program? How are you asking for referrals? Most people ask a lousy question. They ask, “do you know anyone who would benefit from our services?” The immediate reaction is to always to say, “no one comes to mind”. A much better question is to ask, “who do you know that may benefit from my product or service?” “Who do you know” is a major difference than “Do you know anyone?” This strategy I learned from my good friend Michael Price who wrote the book, Questions are the Answers. I find that most businesses don’t even ask for referrals. Are you following up with your past leads on the phone or do you just rely upon e-mail? What about implementing the strategy of the host-beneficiary relationship (the most powerful joint venture strategy) where you provide value to someone who has access to your ideal market at no cost to you? This is the most powerful lead strategy that may bring massive leads to your business. What about improving the conversion on your web site that may trigger more leads? Have you improved the copy, pictures and flow of your site to generate more leads whether that is a phone call or an opt in? As you can see there are many areas you can improve your lead generation process without spending a lot more money. If you have the money to advertise that is a good idea also, but start with the low hanging fruit.

read more

Are Your Assets & Business Totally Protected Going into 2013?

by Scott Letourneau

Do You Need to Form Another Entity in January to Really Protect Your Assets? Or, Are You Starting Another Business?

As another year comes to an end, we hope yours was successful and you are looking forward to the New Year.

As part of your New Year goals and plans it is really important to determine if there are other areas to protect your business or assets. Let me ask you an important question that comes out often this time of the year.

Are you considering forming another entity in January (or December)?

Here is a list of the Top 10 Areas to Protect Your Current and Future Assets and Form another Entity.

Here are the top reasons our research shows you should consider:

10. An LLC to protect the stock of your C Corporation. Even if your living trust owns the stock of the C corporation that will not provide protection from liability (the exception is a Nevada C corporation because Nevada is the only state in the country with the charging order protection for corporations). Are you a part of a C corporation as a majority owner with other partners? How do they hold their ownership interest? If they own it personally that is an issue. Don’t let happen to you what did to a prospect a few years ago when he lost his $3 million computer company from a personal lawsuit!

read more

Are Your Business and Assets Protected Properly?

by Scott Letourneau

Are you assets really protected in today’s uncertain financial economy?

Perhaps you have already formed an entity to protect your business from audit, taxes and liability.

Now, I have an important question:

Have you taken the time to protect your other assets?

Here are the Top 5 Areas where Your Assets May be Exposed:

1. The ownership of your current company (especially if you have a S or C corporation). High revenue and profit LLCs may be at risk also).
2. Domain names. If you have any value in your “virtual real estate” the worst place to hold your domain names is in your name personally or the name of your operating business.
3. Safe assets being owned in your own name, living trust (does not protect assets or investmetns from liability) or operating company.
4. New joint ventures operating through your current operating business.
5. Your intellectual property owned personally.

Do you see an area where you may be vulnerable?

read more