Florida Leads The Nation In New Business Formation

Are you thinking of starting a business? If so, you’re not alone. In fact, you have so much company that you are part of a group of business owners that have made Florida the number one state in the nation for the creation of new businesses.

Florida is Number One

In February of 2021, Floridians founded or started 50,972 new businesses. Nationwide, comparing February 2021 with February 2020, 49 states saw annual increases.

Just behind Florida in new business formation in February 2021 was California, which had 10,000 fewer businesses starting up than Florida did. Texas, Georgia, New York and Illinois, in that order, were next for the number of new businesses forming.

When it came to annual, year by year gains, many southern states showed huge increases. For example, first in the nation for annual increases was Mississippi, then Louisiana, then Georgia. The only state with a decrease was Alaska.

Why the Increases?

Why so many increases? There could be a number of factors. By February 2021, many people had already begun home-based businesses, having been set up to work from home from the previous year when COVID hit.

It’s impossible to tell how many of these businesses were large businesses, with employees, and perhaps a physical location, as opposed to how many were just sole proprietorships, working from home.

Decisions for New Business Owners

If you are thinking of starting a business, you have some important decisions to make. They include:

What kind of corporate entity will you be? Every kind of business has its own tax implications, liability protections, and legal requirements. Just as with everything in life, there are tradeoffs—corporations, LLCs, partnerships, joint ventures, C-corporations, and other types of business entities have pros and cons.

Contracts – If your business is doing business with anyone, whether its customers, or suppliers, you’ll need to have, or need to sign, numerous business agreements.

Insurance – Insurance can range from workers’ compensation insurance if you have employees, to liability insurance if you have people working for you who may be on the road, in people’s homes, or if you anticipate having customers or clients come onto your property.

Corporate paperwork – partnership agreements, shareholder agreements, bylaws and articles of incorporation, all constitute the foundation and the backbone of your business. They should be tailored to your business, and to how you see your business being run in the future.

Financial setup – In many cases, it’s important not to commingle your personal finances with business finances. Make sure that you know how to separate the two, and keep books and records for both  in a way that maximizes legal protections, and tax benefits.

Starting a business? Don’t go it alone. Call the West Palm Beach business litigation attorneys at Pike & Lustig today for help with the necessities of starting your new business.

Sources:

businessobserverfl.com/article/florida-is-a-national-leader-in-new-business-creation