I often meet people who want to own their own company. I get that. I wanted my own company too. The problem is, when we’re just starting out, when we’re transitioning from life as an employee to life as a consultant or small business owner / operator, we not only face the challenge of finding customers and serving them, we face corporate administration, employment administration, our own payroll, retirement savings, health insurance.
We assume we must create our own company first, before we find customers and begin serving them. What to do if the customer asks for the order and there’s no business to deliver it? Fair enough. Until now there really hasn’t been an alternative.
Still, finding and serving customers is where the focus needs to be. Not company administration.
When we create a company, we commit ourselves to caring for that company. It’s very existence gives a long list of people an overwhelming urge to demand our time and keep you in line: secretary of state, tax authorities, employment regulators, insurance companies and brokers, banks. And of course all of them are quick to threaten cancellation if we do not comply with their demands for reports, filings, application forms, supporting documentation, audits, fees and deposits.
Yes, you can create your own company and maintain it. But why would you want to? Your success depends on finding and serving customers. After you do that successfully and you want more, then continued success depends on building processes and a team that can replicate what you do. Only then, when there’s some scale to your operation (and it produces value), you may want to separate it as a truly stand-alone entity. But even at that point, you can maintain your company and leave the hard part behind: let someone else be the employer.
How does that work? Free Agent Source is a shared company in the same way that we use shared servers. (Who maintains their own servers any more?) Free Agent Source handles company administration and employment administration for you in the same way that a data center handles server hardware and system administration for you. You are your own business unit within Free Agent Source, same has having your own server within a hosted data center. You’re the boss of that business unit. You get all the profits from it, the value of that business unit is yours and so are your customers. Should you ever decide to separate your business unit from Free Agent Source and roll it into your own company, you can. This is our most fundamental commitment to Free Agents and Entrepreneurs. If we didn’t honor that, no one would trust us.
If you’re still not convinced and want to be Chief Administrative Officer of your own company instead of Business Development Guru and Rainmaker… Here’s a list of what you get to do when you own the whole company.
| CORPORATE START-UP TASKS | Timing | Your Company | Free Agent Source |
| Form your corporation in your state | once | YES | NO |
| Apply for Federal Tax ID with IRS | once | YES | NO |
| Apply for State Tax ID with your State | once | YES | NO |
| Apply for State Tax ID with your State | once | YES | NO |
| Open a company bank account | once | YES | NO |
| Apply for general liability insurance | once | YES | NO |
| Apply for professional liability insurance | once | YES | NO |
| Create 401k retirement savings plan | once | YES | NO |
| Apply for workers compensation insurance | once – when applicable | YES | NO |
| Apply for group health insurance | once – when applicable | YES | NO |
| Report yourself as employee of your company with State | once | YES | NO |
| set-up accounting software | once | YES | NO |
| set-up payroll software | once | YES | NO |
| CORPORATE ADMINISTRATIVE TASKS | Each Year | Your Company | Free Agent Source |
| Record and file annual company meeting minutes. | Each Year | YES | NO |
| Report annual list of company officers to Secretary of State. | Each Year | YES | NO |
| File corporate tax return with the IRS. | Each Year | YES | NO |
| Federal Employer Tax IRS Form 940 |
Each Year | YES | NO |
| File corporate tax return with your State. | Each Year | YES | NO |
| Renew general liability insurance policy | Each Year | YES | NO |
| Renew professional liability insurance policy | Each Year | YES | NO |
| File form 5500 for maintaining 401k retirement savings plan | Each Year | YES | NO |
| Renew workers compensation insurance policy | Each Year – when applicable | YES | NO |
| Renew group health insurance policy | Each Year – when applicable | YES | NO |
| CORPORATE ADMINISTRATIVE TASKS | Quarterly | Your Company | Free Agent Source |
| Federal Employer Tax IRS Form 941 |
Quarterly | YES | NO | State employer tax forms such as California EDD form DE9 |
Quarterly | YES | NO |
| CORPORATE ADMINISTRATIVE TASKS | Monthly or Bi-Weekly |
Your Company | Free Agent Source |
| Send invoices to clients | Monthly or Bi-Weekly |
YES | NO |
| Deposit checks from clients | Monthly or Bi-Weekly |
YES | NO |
| Process payroll for yourself | Monthly or Bi-Weekly |
YES | NO |
| CORPORATE ADMINISTRATIVE TASKS | Weekly | Your Company | Free Agent Source |
| Book keeping in accounting system | Weekly | YES | NO |
