Huge SHOUTOUT to LAWARE for finding VA State Corporation Commission's Business Types, and providing the following summaries:

Limited Liability Company (LLC) (Madi)

A Limited Liability Company is managed by one or many owners. It can be managed by the members, (member managed) or by a separate entity (manager managed). If there were ever an incident where something happens and the business is liable for anything, there isn't any repercussion on the owners or members. LLC’s are a separate legal entity. If the LLC goes bankrupt, the individual owners aren’t at risk of losing anything/getting in legal trouble because of their connection to the LLC. This differs from a regular business where if the business was liable for something, the owners may get in legal trouble.

Corporation (Molly)

A corporation is either an artificial or legal person managed by a board of directors, that has at least one person who decides and chooses people to run the corporation's day to day activities. There are two official types of corporations in VA, which include stock corporations and nonstock corporations. Stock corporations have the authorization to issue shares to people who are or become shareholders. They are commonly created to produce money for the shareholders. Nonstock corporations are commonly organized for nonprofit reasons, such as a corporation that is tax exempt, is a charity or a property owners association. A professional corporation can be both a stock or nonstock corporation. Usually it is organized for the sole purpose of rendering the professional service of pharmacists, optometrists, physical therapists, physical therapist assistants, practitioners, nurses, etc.

Limited Partnership (Jeidy)

Limited Partnerships are a form of partnership that is different from a General Partnership, it is composed of two or more members with at least one general partner and one limited partner. General partners manage the business and are personally responsible for its obligations, while limited partners mainly invest money, property, or service and share in profits and losses. Limited partners are not usually liable for the partnership’s debts, but general partners are, unless the partnership is registered as a limited liability partnership.

General Partnership (Ami)

A General Partnership is a collaboration of two or more people to carry on, as co-owners, a business for profit. Each party combines and contributes their profits, money, property and/or services in return for an interest in the general partnership, shares in the profits and losses of the general partnership’s business, and has equal rights in the management and conduct of the partnership’s business.

Registered Limited Liability Partnership (Madi)

A Registered Limited Liability Partnership is a type of partnership, temporary or permanent between two businesses. It acts like any other normal business partnership but with added legal security. Like a Limited Liability Company, if one of the partner businesses is in legal trouble, the other partner(s) aren’t liable for any of their troubles. The businesses are two separate legal entities and they are not associated in any legal sense.

Business Trust (Ami)

A business trusts a legal arrangement that separates a business's ownership and management from its personal owners, placing them in the hands of trustees for the benefit of beneficiaries. This trust offers greater privacy, liability protection, and can facilitate succession planning. The business's assets are transferred to the trust, which manages them according to a governing document, and the trustees handle the business operations. The step for this is Declaration of Trust then Assets transfer lastly Trustee Management. Reference: What Is a Business Trust and How Does It Work?

That's a great start, but these brief summaries do not give us the information we need to figure out which type of business we should choose. What's more, some of the types, like the corporation for example, come in several varieties. The website lists stock corporations, nonstock corporations, and foreign corporations (stock and nonstock), under the heading Corporation. Further still, there appear to be some types that are not on this list. One in particular that is relevant to the solidarity economy is the Benefit Corporation.

Each business group should select one of the business types listed and prepare a more detailed presentation of what it is. Your presentation should address the following questions:

1. What makes this type of business different from the other types? What are its advantages and disadvantages compared to the other types?
2. What things about a new business would make it a good match for becoming this type of business? What things would make it a bad match?
3. List several examples of business of this type in our area. Include URLs to their websites if they have them so we can easily learn more about them.

Now that you have done some investigation into the steps required to start your businesses in Virginia, let's get started actually implementing these steps. Since most of you aren't ready yet to start an actual business, we will go through each of the steps involved without actually filing the paperwork (or paying the fees ;-).

We are also going to begin learning the basics of financial accounting. The software we will use for that is the FOSS application named GnuCash.

Download and install GnuCash on your laptop and confirm that you have it working.

I need to confirm that I have the correct names for your businesses. So far, I believe we have:

1. GoGo Foods
2. LAWARE
3. EcoPrint
4. The Mental Healing Foundation

I have these names because these two business submitted examplary investigation reports about how to start a business (which I will show you in class). I need to add the names of the other two businesses, who need to step up their game if they want to be in the same league as GoGo Foods and LAWARE. Just saying.

After successfully installing GnuCash for all the members of your group, do the following:

1. Identify the first form you need to complete to register your business.
2. Download this form and fill it out.

You can just show your completed form to me in class when you have finished it.