I attended the 1st Annual Entrepreneurs' Conference put on by the Eau Claire Area Chamber of Commerce this past Tuesday at the Florian Gardens in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. At the gathering, conference attendees heard from successful entrepreneurs and start-up business creators in the Chippewa Valley. Each conference attendee received a copy of the Resource Guide for Small Businesses, Wisconsin Edition a magazine published by the U.S. Small Business Administration. I perused the magazine this weekend and found lots of helpful information and resource listings for aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners in Wisconsin.

Page 59 of the magazine provides short overview of the different type of business structures available for new businesses. I scanned this page and decided to share it here on the blog because I thought it does a nice job of summarizing the most common business entity types used by start-up small businesses.

Many of the speakers at the Entrepreneurs' Conference I attended cautioned against entering into a general partnership with someone...and if you do they all advised to have a legal document in place that covers what happens when the partners have a disagreement and also covers what happens if one of the partners wants to leave the business. If you are currently operating a small business with other owners without such an agreement in place, I can help you draft an agreement that covers these and other scenarios. I often recommend the Limited Liability Company (LLC) structure to my clients as a good business structure for new businesses, due to the flexibility of the management structure, and the relative ease and efficiency in forming and operating an LLC. If you would like to discuss the best business entity for your small business, please contact me and we can discuss the best business structure for your particular situation.