by Matthew Burgess on August 4, 2010
Noozhawk.com in Santa Barbara has written a nice piece on our work at Formation Solutions, as well as a mention of a blog we started to highlight entrepreneurship in Santa Barbara.
From the lead-in:
In The Art of War, the general Sun Tzu observes that every battle is won or lost before it ever begins.
In modern-day parlance, it can be argued that every startup business venture either succeeds or fails long before a single transaction is completed. Or, to paraphrase a well-known cliché — failing to prepare is preparing to fail.
Matthew Burgess, founder and CEO of Formation Solutions, is quite familiar with the preparation involved with forming a business entity, and he is bringing that knowledge to bear to help people navigate the complex, often intimidating, entrepreneurial battlefield.
Noozhawk: Formation Solutions Smoothes the Steps to Starting a Business
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by Matthew Burgess on July 24, 2010
We are looking for an ecommerce-focused site designer who can create multiple alternative designs for elements of existing sites. Preferably with experience creating skins and page elements to test in multivariate conversion-focused environment. In other words, not one big re-branding exercise, but lots of tests to optimize for conversion.
For use with a multivariate testing platform, we are running a series of tests to improve landing page optimization and conversion rate. We will start with testing easy-to-implement variations: copy changes, buttons, colors, rounded-vs-sharp corners, etc.
We have a long list of variations to try: we’d love creative ideation as well, but immediate priorities call for prolific, precise execution of design element creation and related CSS.
Details and application process here.
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by Matthew Burgess on June 30, 2010
Just a heads up. If you’re hoping to get a new corporation started quickly, plan on waiting at least a month, unless you are ready to pay substantial expediting fees.
Due to budget cutbacks, the Secretary of State has closed or consolidated a number of functions and several regional offices. They’ve been forced to close offices in San Francisco, San Diego and Fresno, meaning more documents are filed in the remaining Sacramento and Los Angeles offices.
They’ve also eliminated paid overtime for staff members and the use of temporary staffing to help with the workload especially during heavy filing periods.
So what does this mean for you, the entrepreneur filing your business documents? [click to continue…]
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by Matthew Burgess on June 12, 2010
by Emily Throckmorton on May 27, 2010
From left to right, Peter Muzinich, Matthew Burgess, Michael Neville, Drew Wakefield, Tony Vallejo, Glen Holden
Palius + O’Kelley, LLP teamed up with Formations Solutions to give a free seminar for those brave entrepreneurs who are courageous enough to start a business during the “Great Recession”, on Monday, May 17th. Speakers included Tony Vallejo and Monique Bunstone of Palius + O’Kelley, LLP, and Matthew Burgess of Formation Solutions. [click to continue…]
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by Emily Throckmorton on May 26, 2010
Recently, at a conference in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, I had the opportunity to see Jim Bunch, “The Ultimate Life Entrepreneur”, speak to a crowd of business professionals like myself. He introduced himself, and shortly thereafter played a clip of Chris Farley’s SNL skit where he is motivational speaker, Matt Foley, to illustrate that he’s not a motivational speaker. If you haven’t seen it, find it on YouTube, as it is pretty hilarious. Getting back to the topic, Jim’s message is simple: you have control over your own success, as he is living proof.
Jim Bunch has been extremely successful in business, while still maintaining his own personal version of an Ultimate Life: a wife, a 3-year old boy, and a healthy lifestyle. To say that he did really well during the “dot com” boom is an understatement. His achievements include being the pioneer of Bamboo.com, [click to continue…]
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by Matthew Burgess on April 28, 2010
Okay, maybe it’s not as fun as going to the dentist for a root canal, but if you’ve just created a new company, there are quite a few details that are easy to overlook.
Palius + O’Kelley CPA’s Tony Vallejo and Matthew Burgess and Michael Neville of Formation Solutions, Inc. will be co-hosting a free seminar for people who have a new business.
Make sure that all of your t’s are crossed, and your i’s dotted, with the information and tools these companies will suggest during the seminar, to ensure that you will become an even more successful business owner! The topics that will be covered are as follows:
1) Registering with the proper tax authorities
2) Business entity selection
3) Payroll, sales and income taxes
4) Bookkeeping
The best part about this seminar is that it’s free! That’s right: learn how to run a successful business, network with other business professionals, and take advantage of the Q & A session after the presentation. Having the right information is always beneficial to your success.
Here’s the Scoop:
Time: Monday, May 17th, 5:30pm to 7:00pm
Location: Ramada Inn, 4770 Calle Real, Goleta
RSVP: Please contact Tony Vallejo at Palius + O’Kelley by email: tony [at] pokcpa[dot]com
http://www.sbentrepreneur.com/santa-barbara-events/new-business-owner-dont-miss-this-upcoming-seminar
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by Matthew Burgess on April 14, 2010
by Matthew Burgess on March 17, 2010
Here are questions we hear frequently from our clients:
When I form my corporation, what are “authorized shares,” and how many shares should my corporation authorize?
How are authorized shares different from “issued” shares? How many shares should my new corporation issue?
To help with the idea of how many shares are needed, here’s a little primer on:
- “authorized” shares
- “issued” shares
The number of shares authorized, the number issued, and the value of each share are usually determined in [click to continue…]
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Many of our clients ask if the cost of forming a new corporation or limited liability company is tax deductible. Here is the guidance excerpted From IRS Publication 535 (2008), Business Expenses:
