Okay, So I have one really steadily profitable site (300% ROI monthly ) that I've put a lot of my time into and I want to protect it (and myself) legally. Create a separate entity (I'm not going to get into the LLC/S-corp talk just yet). (all original content) I also have a bunch of sites that make money month-to-month, but it's not nearly as regular or lucrative. Most of the content is scraped from Wikipedia. There are six different affiliate networks I'm hooked up with and I make as much as I can with them for as long as I can. They tend to burn out quickly (within six weeks), and then i have to put up another site. I also have about a hundred domain names that are purely investments, that I never intend to put valuable content on. These are mostly high-risk domains, mind you, and there may be international TM infringements I don't know about. So, tell me if this sounds right: 1. I want to protect my steady earner with its own LLC. 2. I want a separate LLC that is for development purposes and will include and may spin off highly profitable developments 3. A third LLC will hold the domain names, occasionally selling off one or two to ensure profit Or should I go nuts with the LLCs and register a different one for each domain, just to protect them? Assuming I get all the accounts (hosting and domain) separated into these three categories, do you think I'm safe? I just want to know what you all do in this kind of situation. I am already in touch with a corporate lawyer who wants to charge by the minute and an accountant who seems like a worthwhile shark. Any advice would be appreciated.
The only reason to wrap a business in an LLC or corporation is to protect you personally from liability issues that might come up if one of your projects gets you sued and you can't reasonably settle. In my state, an LLC costs $100 to create, so I would create an LLC for every separate business just so the liability issues from one business don't bleed into another. How you define "business" is up to you. As for how "safe" you will be, that depends on how well you manage the different entities separate from your own personal finances. Once you set of an LLC or corporation, they have to have their own set of books, be operated like they are different from you, and you need to keep good paperwork on everything financial that happens. It's a bit of effort, but not too onerous in the USA. Your mileage may vary in other locations. And find a better lawyer and accountant if that's your opinion of them. Good ones leave you feeling like you're getting your money's worth.
its gonna depend on the value and worth of each of domain. if you feel each of them is worth that big and generates so much revenue you can make new firms. other point is the purpose of these domains, most probably the brand owners would 1st look to negotiate before making up a case.
Yep, you'll have to do that. Managing all those separately, having multiple bank accounts, etc, might cut into your web building time though