I think it is easy to establish a small business. Many are establishing small businesses without realize it or formally starting a small business. Teenagers who babysit and receive money have a small business without realize it. They do not report this income to the IRS but they are running a small business. My daughter who is now 14 started making and selling jewelry when she was 11. Of course we bought her the jewelry making items so her first sales for her were pure profit since we did not expect to be paid back. Now she uses her profits to purchase additional jewelry making items. She has even printed herself some business cards, is thinking of putting up a website, and taking some of her jewelry to a local shop.
Also people who are continually selling items on sites like eBay and Amazon are running small businesses, but they might just think of it as making extra money. A friend of mine would make jams for gifts. She was receiving so many requests that she took her hobby and is now marketing her jams in local shops and at fairs. This has now become her small business with a business name, marketing, business structure, and paying taxes.
If a business wants to be established as a sole-proprietorship in our county one would go to the county building and files the appropriate forms. If the business was going to be a corporation or partnership then they would register with the North Carolina Department of Corporation. In North Carolina it is very easy to establish your own small business as you can either register online or receive the paperwork online and mail in the required documents. Once your county or state department of corporations has you registered you then would need to register with the Internal Revenue Service. With your EIN (Employee Identification Number) from the IRS then your small business would then register with the North Carolina Department of Revenue for business income tax, sales tax, and employee withholding tax, then register with the North Carolina Employment Commission for unemployment tax.
The establishing the small business is the easy part it is keeping the small business running and making a profit that is the hard part especially in this down economy.
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