Set Up Your Business

After you pass your exams, CLC can help you set up your new business. We provide a Graduate Packet of contracts and other construction-related forms, as well as proven local referrals for legal, payroll, accounting, insurance, and bonding. We also offer services to establish and run your new business. These include setting up corporations and other business entities such as DBA (Doing Business As) operations, which are required when you operate your company using a name other than your own.

Using CLC to set up your business is fast, expert, and affordable. Our construction attorney, Tim Hannan, offers free 20-minute consultations on setting up your contracting business. Please call to schedule an appointment at 707.578.8877.

Corporations

A corporation is a legal entity created by state law. The main reason contractors form corporations is to protect their personal assets, such as their home and family wealth. If you are sued and lose, or if your business fails, your personal assets can’t be used to satisfy a judgment or creditors you owe. Doing business as a corporation also separates business credit from personal credit. A corporation opens a bank account using a corporate ID number rather than your Social Security number. A corporation can apply for and build credit itself and is not limited by a personal FICO score. Incorporation also registers your corporate name, which prevents others from using it, makes your company look more authentic and more trustworthy to customers, and may be required when bidding on large jobs.

DBAs

A fictitious business name, also known as a DBA (“Doing Business As”), is when a business operates under a name other than the name of the owner. If you want to call your business “Best Electricians” rather than using your own name, such as “Joe Smith Electrical,” you will need to file a DBA with the county where your business is located.

Advantages of a DBA include: You can open a bank account using the name of the DBA, not your personal account, so that you can write and deposit checks in the DBA name; it helps to protect the exclusive use of your business name within the county where it is filed; and it gives a professional polish to your business.

There are many forms of business operation. Schedule an appointment to discuss which one is right for you: 707.578.8877