Creating a Company
Modern companies have many different components that must all be working well and working collectively if the company is going to succeed and be prosperous for any length of time. This idea extends from the core aspects of the business such as production and sales, to the less tangible aspects such as human resources.
Whilst this fact may be very evident in large, well-known businesses with many employees, departments and office buildings, it is also true of smaller companies that are still in their infancy. To draw an analogy with house building, laying the foundations is the most crucial stage of the building process since everything else depends on them being laid correctly. The same idea can be applied to the commercial world.
Setting your business off on the right foot is incredibly important, and is especially crucial during times of financial instability. By creating your company in an intelligent and forward thinking manner you will be able to enjoy the rewards long into the future. Conversely, creating your company in the wrong fashion could have long felt consequences.
Why get help creating a company?
As previously mentioned, the creation of your company is a highly important process and should not be taken lightly. It can also be a complicated process that can sometimes go wrong without the correct level of appropriate knowledge and experience. Would you prefer to pay a little extra money today or suffer large financial losses later?
If a complex component on your car were to break, or if a safety critical system such as the boiler in your house were to fail, you would hire an expert to carry out the required work. It makes sense to spend money on your most valuable assets to ensure they function correctly. This same principle is true when it comes to creating a company.
Perhaps the most problematic aspect in creating a new business is the level of paperwork that is necessary in regards to legal issues. Not only do you have to take into account the legal boundaries of the marketplace you will be working in, but also any specific legal conditions of the geographical region you will be operating in and any specific needs of your workforce. It can be a legal minefield, but a specialist will be able to help you navigate through.
It is also becoming more involved and complicated to setup a business. As new markets present themselves, new trade links are forged and new legal clauses are described you will need to keep up-to-date with the relevant requirements.
It is critically important that managers of any offshore business know the laws which govern the jurisdiction of their company.
Company Distinctions
Before you begin to setup your own enterprise you should understand the different types of company that can be established and the key distinctions between them. Although almost all businesses work on the premise of bringing in more income than they expend, the structures that exist underneath the exterior are fundamentally different. You need to use the correct company structure for your own business.
These corporate structures exist to fulfill the broad scope of circumstances that cover the business world. Businesses vary a great deal, in terms of the quantity of employees, the industry they work in and also their sales environment, so different business solutions have been created to cater for this broad variety. Different situations require different business approaches, and these in turn demand different business structures.
A few corporate structures are outlined below.
Limited Liability Company (LLC)
A Limited Liability Company, abbreviated as LLC, is a form of business where the owners have only limited liability. In extremely basic terms, anybody who has total or partial ownership of an LLC can only be held financially liable for a fixed sum which usually reflects the amount they have invested in the business.
A Limited Liability Company shares characteristics with both a partnership and corporation business framework. It provides its owners with restricted liability (like a corporation) but permits pass-through income taxation (like a partnership).
There is also much less paperwork involved in running an LLC than a corporation, where necessary levels of management and record keeping are incredibly high. It is worth noting however that the levels of limited liability protection offered by an LLC do not cover all possible circumstance. In cases where the law has been broken, for example fraudulent business activities, a court retains the right to hold the owners personally liable beyond their liability limit.
Limited company (Ltd)
A Limited company is similar to an LLC as a business entity, however it is limited to use in certain nations due to the differences in national laws. Limited companies can be created in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland or Australia. It is the most common form of privately held company in use.
A limited company offers limited liability to its shareholders by making them individually accountable for only the unpaid sum remaining on their own shares if the business were to go bust. This amount relates to what was unpaid on the shares when they were issued rather than any monies exchanged when shares were exchanged.
One of the numerous rewards of Seychelles incorporation involves settling fixed fees for a business license regardless of future rises.
International Business Company (IBC)
An International business company, abbreviated as IBC, is a type of offshore company that is not allowed to trade inside the country or jurisdiction where it was registered. The specific rules that govern an IBC will depend upon where it was incorporated, although they generally share certain characteristics, such as greater flexibility of operation and relaxed trading regulations. The most prominent feature of an IBC however is the potential tax planning permitted by being registered offshore.
Offshore Companies
One idea that you may consider when selecting what type of business you are going to start is choosing to register an offshore company. An offshore company is one that is incorporated in an offshore financial centre, or one that is incorporated in a region where it does not undertake its main operations.
Benefits of creating an offshore company
Offshore companies are typically used as one part of an overall tax planning plan. Taxation rules differ between the different offshore financial centres out there, although companies will generally pay tax as a fixed annual sum that is insignificant in relation to the levels of taxation applied in other parts of the planet. This potential tax planning makes them an amazingly attractive business proposition.
These tax savings can be offered by the governments of offshore financial centres because the businesses that benefit from them are not trading within that zone. This means there is not the same need for administrative support and commercial infrastructure that would be expected by onshore organisations.
There are other advantages to establishing an offshore company, such as the levels of privacy that can be enjoyed. Business operations can be carried out under the company name without needing to release the names of the key members of the company. Offshore companies are normally not required to submit the amounts of paperwork that domestic corporations do, and as such are less difficult to run. This does not apply to regulated businesses.
Since the regulations for offshore companies are easily available, it gives potential new business owners the chance to choose which rules they want their business to be governed by. Certain types of business may be better suited to incorporation in a particular region. Owners can also balance short term gains, such as easy incorporation laws, against longer term benefits such as relaxed requirements on record keeping.
Typical Uses
IBC or other offshore companies will be commonly used by businesses where tax is a major concern. These may include property companies that are looking to avoid capital gains tax and inheritance tax, or by investment companies that do not want to pay tax on investment interest made.
The primary reason to create a Ltd company is the safeguard given to the owners regarding personal monetary legal responsibility.
Possible locations for offshore companies
There are many areas of the world that can be defined as an offshore financial centre due to the ambiguous nature of the expression. However, there are a certain few that stand out above the others, including Bermuda, The British Virgin Islands, The Cayman Islands, Luxembourg and The Seychelles.
Two of these centres are lightly profiled below:
British Virgin Islands
The British Virgin Islands, also known as just the Virgin Islands or BVI, is a British overseas territory in the Caribbean Sea. They should not be mistaken with the U.S. Virgin Islands. Although a large portion of residential income is driven by tourism, more than fifty percent of the governmental income of the territory is derived from licensing agreements for offshore companies.
Seychelles
The Seychelles is a modest territory located within the Indian Ocean, off the Eastern shore of mainland Africa and to the North of Madagascar. Seychelles is the richest nation in Africa in terms of GDP and this is largely driven by the record setting offshore industry in this region. Future economic growth is predicted.
Off-the-shelf companies
Another alternative to consider when creating your own business is to not create it at all! It is possible to actually buy a new company “off the shelf” and become incorporated extremely swiftly. You do not get to select the name of your organisation, but if that is not a critically important factor then there are great advantages to buying a company in this way. Due diligence must be performed, and payment must be made, but if that goes smoothly you can be in business immediately.
Establishing a company like this can also reduce the complexities that are sometimes encountered when registering a new business. Using a respected corporate services provider to manage the paperwork required will get around this problem. It is not the perfect solution for everybody but it is an alternative that is worth thought.
Creating a company in the UK
If after reading this article you do not feel that the creation of an off-shore company would be advantageous to you and your enterprise then you can still get assistance registering a company in the United Kingdom. You may not be able to take advantage of the tax gains and anonymity afforded by an offshore company, but you may feel far better having the company registered onshore. As always, every situation is different and will have specific needs.
There are legal proceedings that need to be undertaken, and the amount of paperwork required is likely to be a lot greater than registering an equivalent offshore company. The workload on it’s own may be daunting but there are plenty of corporate services firms that are experts in this field and can be of use. They should be part of your planning when starting a new company.