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Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2006 3:05 am Post subject: Multiple Companys Under one LLC ???
My wife and I plan to operate up to three distinct company's offering very different services. My idea was to create an Umbrella LLC. then operate the companys as subsidiaries of the LLC.
Can anyone tell me whether that is the way to go about operating multiple distinct companys? Is there a better way to do this that won't involve creating three distinct LLC's? What about business licenses? I am in Georgia, do I only need to get one in the name of the umbrella LLC or will I need one for each company under the umbrella?
Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2006 3:27 am Post subject: Re: Multiple Companys Under one LLC ???
jobrojr,
The question about whether to form individual entities for each operation really boils down to how much liability you'll have in each endeavor.
Effectively, you could have a single LLC behind all three of your ventures. Just name your LLC something generic, like Grant Enterprises, LLC. Thus you can run any type of business you want, because your business name doesn't back you into one type of business.
Let's say you own some real estate, you sell stuff on eBay, and you own a restaurant, and you have all three of these operations run out of one LLC. What happens if the guy living in your rental property slips and falls and decides to file suit against you. In that lawsuit, you'll be defending ALL of your assets, not just your rental property. If he wins the suit, he could have access to your restaurant assets as well!
So think of it as a way to protect your assets, and how much one assets liability you want to affect your other assets.
To answer your other question, yes, each business entity under your LLC umbrella will need their own business licenses. Effectively, your top level LLC becomes the owner of all the entities under that top level. Just like YOU would own all three separate LLC's if you form them independently.
Hope that helps, and be sure to consult an attorney and CPA to help you make your decision! _________________ Best Regards,
Grant
//Note that I am not an attorney in any field, be sure to consult an attorney or CPA before making any business decisions.
Posted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 2:31 pm Post subject: Re: Multiple Companys Under one LLC ???
I have a question along these lines too... I currently have two businesses, and at some point I'd like to start a third.
First one is a commercial cleaning business... I sub for a friend of mine.. so I clean his accounts. I need a general liability insurance policy for this. It is a sole-pri currently.
My 2nd business is a residential window tinting business. I've been doing this for a couple years now, and the overall plan is to have this grow large enough that I can dump the cleaning. I *should* have insurance for this too, but currently I do not. This really isn't an issue, but it limits me to not being able to do commercial window tinting since they need to see that I have insurance. Again, it's a sole-pri.
The third business, which is very limited, is a PC consulting business. This is not offically formed - but I only have one client currently.
What I would like to do is form one company - either a sole-pri (if possible) or a LLC to have them all under that.
My main question - if I did that, would I be able to get a general liability insurance policy for that main company, but all businesses would be covered??
Posted: Sun Apr 02, 2006 2:23 am Post subject: Re: Multiple Companys Under one LLC ???
Hi Steve,
A good question, but I want to have you clarify something.
You want to form a single business, which would have all your other businesses under it? Correct?
The way I read it is that you want to for a single business which would be IN business to provide cleaning services, window tinting AND computer consulting, all in one businss entity.
I'm not clear as to which you mean.
If you would like to form a single entity, that's OK, but remember you have different types of liability all streaming into one bundle of different assets. Which you may not enjoy if someone files suit against you.
I would suggest forming a top level entity, and putting all your other entities below that, which I think is what you mean.
When it comes to doing that, you'll need to talk to a lawyer, and probably your CPA. Effectively, your top level company is "buying" your other companies and turning them into subsidiaries. Since you own all the companies, I don't believe any money has to transfer hands, but your CPA will know exactly how to do it.
Regards,
Grant _________________ Best Regards,
Grant
//Note that I am not an attorney in any field, be sure to consult an attorney or CPA before making any business decisions.
Posted: Sun Apr 02, 2006 1:39 pm Post subject: Re: Multiple Companys Under one LLC ???
Quote:
You want to form a single business, which would have all your other businesses under it? Correct?
The way I read it is that you want to for a single business which would be IN business to provide cleaning services, window tinting AND computer consulting, all in one businss entity.
I'm not clear as to which you mean.
Either one actually. The way it is now, I need a separate insurance policy for each business. (mainly the tinting and office cleaning) I'd like to just have one cover the company, no matter what aspect is being carried out. Same way with my bank accounts.. I have one for each business..
I mean, none of this is a huge deal... Just trying to consolidate things if possible and maybe save a couple dollars at the same time.
My overall goal is to have the tinting get to the point that I can drop the office cleaning (FINALLY!!) and then do the PC consulting just whenever I'm asked - but not really going after clients.
Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2006 1:04 pm Post subject: Re: Multiple Companys Under one LLC ???
Unfortunately, I really can't tell you the best way to go about handling that, because I don't know the associated risks with each business.
If the risk all around is fairly small, then just create a generic company (i.e. generic business name) and operate all the business out of that one company. It may be that you can't get a single insurance policy to cover all your business activities, and you'd need different policies anyway.
The other thing you could do is just for three separate LLC's instead of having an umbrella company.
But like I said before, it's all about your risk assesment, which only you or your peers in the same field, can outline, and weigh that in terms of how much access one risk sector has to the assets of the other sectors of your business.
Sorry that was all kind of vague, but I'd talk with a lawyer to get the full rundown of how best to protect your assets.
Grant _________________ Best Regards,
Grant
//Note that I am not an attorney in any field, be sure to consult an attorney or CPA before making any business decisions.
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