Sole Proprietor or LLC?

R

rocketscience

Active member
Hi,

Read some other thread about insurance and someone mentioned Sole Proprietorship. If I'm going to be making money using 2 cameras, is LLC worth it? I'm in an environment where there will be a lot of people going back and forth and someone could trip over the tripod, the camera could hit them in the head, causing some kind of short, the building could then explode, causing a change in weather patterns..

I was already at an event and people kept walking past the tripod and kicking it, even after I had put the hard case in front of it.. &@*#&!!


The LLC would offer some level of protection against me getting sued for changing weather patterns. Sole P would not.

It would also cost me about $500-$700 to apply for the LLC through an accountant.
 
Re: Sole Proprietor or LLC?

an llc also offers the protection of separating your personal life from your business so if your business does somthing stupid, your house cant be taken as a result. alot of film companies set up a new llc for each film so that if somthing happens on that film. the person suing cant go after profits from any other film or job as well.  theres alot more to be had through an llc for bigger buisnesses, but realistically. if someone tripped and hit their head on your car they could try to sue you.  the LLC is a far better way to go if your worried about protecting your personal assets  from your business liability, but regular business insurance will also cover almost all liability issues  for any sole propreietor and you would not have to really worry about them exceeding the 100s of thousands of dollars that a business policy could offer, unless you get into somthing heavier than what your probably doing now.   ..but it is the more desirable choice.. you only need to set it up once. and somtimes you can set them up very cheap. i think you can even go online, and register as an llc using online forms and info..i cant remember the site, but it was 200.00 or under im sure..and was a govenrment site..ill try to find it. then you just get a lawyer to review it and be sure it suits your needs, and it would still be cheaper(pendiong the lawwyer of course!)

as far as people tripping on the tripod, for now, i would suggest putting chairs around it, or roping it off, or setting up some sort of discrete area where they would trip on  somthing that does not belong to you or your business before getting near your gear.  if thats not possible then you have to live with it.
 
Re: Sole Proprietor or LLC?

here we go.. this is the one..the WI STATE site for setting up an LLC. now granted this is only for the state of wisconsin, but its only 130.00 and you actually end up with a nicely set up LLC.. in order to custom tailor it you would want to have a lawer make any changes so you might want to go that route to begin with, but for most people this one set up covers all aspects needed.   i would only assume that there is some similar setup for other states as well.

https://www.wdfi.org/corporations/quickstart/llc/intropage.asp

here is the info on what it provides

http://www.wdfi.org/corporations/whats_llc.htm

or heres the legal satutes

http://folio.legis.state.wi.us/cgi-...ats.nfo&jump=ch. 183&softpage=Browse_Frame_Pg
 
Re: Sole Proprietor or LLC?

What about a good insurance company in the LA area? Any recommendations? I have too much gear to not insure it.

Thanks,

-DC-
 
Re: Sole Proprietor or LLC?

For the record, I have been a Sole Prop. for the past several years. I agree about the LLC being good protection from personal lawsuits. For me, since I do this in addition to another full time job, the tax savings against all my personal income has been valuable to me. I'll probably go LLC at some point in the future though...All my initial large purchases saved me a bundle against my personal income tax. However, if I ever get sued, I suppose that savings won't be worth it. I try my hardest to contract everything in very specific written terms to help protect. But I'd still be nervous in court.

Andrew
Crystal Clear Media
 
Re: Sole Proprietor or LLC?

Before you get into all that...You should rope off a section around your tripod with yellow CAUTION tape. When ever you do a shoot, you should always do a shot survey before setting up any equipment. What I mean by survey is go into the place and look around at where the best possible place is for you to set up your stuff but in a position that won't be in the way of other people. If you have extenion cables on ground make sure you TAPE THEM DOWN with gaffer's tape because if someone trips over your cables you run the risk of getting sued if that person gets injured in anyway.

Take all that into consideration before you even begin setting up equipment.

Are you shooting in a night club or something? You may have to go hand held if it is as crowded as your making it sound.

I almost never use a tripod in a very crowded place. For one its bulky, and two once your set up people will keep hitting it. You might be better off with something like the DVRIG PRO shoulder brace support.
 
Re: Sole Proprietor or LLC?

The roping off is a great suggestion. I'll have to do something a little more subtle.. put my case or jacket on the seats around me. I'll explain... it's in an auditorium. Good chances are I wont be able to rope off anything. A lot of the places I shoot wont let me block aisles or paths in case of fire. I'm limited to where I can set up as well due to paths to fire exits. In this environment, there really are only 2-3 good places to set up a tripod. So I usually head for the back row center or aisle and take up 2 seats and a seat in front (for a tripod leg). And that's where the problem has been. People going through the aisle in front. So I think I will make it clear, albeit not with rope, that that's no place to walk through. And really, it's mostly kids that are the problem. Adults dont want to bother trying to go over my equipment.

As far as the LLC, I will finish out this year as Sole P. And see if I need anything more than basic insurance.
 
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