Doing a business in Michigan

Starting an independent business in the US needs some work and preparation. First and foremost you need to be sure that you are financially and psychologically prepared to do the hard work involved, the research and the investment. The earlier you start the better. Students can pick up entrepreneurial and business skills during college itself.

If you want to start and run a business, with minimum hassle, then Michigan may be the right place for you to kick off your attempts. The Michigan Economic Development Council and the state government have ensured that you can do it easily. The Michigan One Stop Business website provides all the details regarding registration of your business, permits and tax licenses required to operate your business in Michigan.

Before going ahead with the rest of the process, you need to decide the type of business you want to run and what will be the structure of the business: whether it is to be a sole proprietorship, a joint partnership, corporation or LLC.

Here are some of the things that you need to do in Michigan before you set your business. It is better to go through the procedures and be prepared with the rules. This will make your job easier.

• The first thing needed is a Federal Employer Identification Number, which is a tax ID required to obtain a checking account in Michigan as well as required for carrying out financial transactions like opening a credit account with a vendor.
• The next step is to register your business name with the county clerk. In case you want to run sole proprietorship, and you do not want to use your own complete name as business name, you are required to register the company with assumed name. Earlier it used to be called as Doing Business As (DBA). Now it is called as assumed name.
• In addition, if you want to register your business under another name, other than the real name, you need to file an application for a DBA (Doing Business As) and that can also be easily done in Michigan. This means that, if your business is xyz FURNITURE and you want to operate it under a new name ABC trading, you can easily do so by applying for a DBA.
• A single company can create many DBA’s without needing to open separate businesses for each DBA. This would prevent other companies from using these names to their profit. Buying DBAs are particularly useful for those companies with single owners.
• In Michigan, you can apply for DBA’s within minutes. There is a very easy to use, web-based application where you need to fill in all the relevant information and submit it. Some things you need to keep in mind, when applying for a DBA is the fact that: the name you use cannot be used to promote an illegal business such as drugs or unlawful activities.
• In order to be employment ready and to hire employees, you also need to have an Unemployment Insurance Account (UIA). This is required for hiring employees as well as for filing tax reports. It is very easy to obtain it and you can get it online from the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.
• A sales tax license needs to be obtained as it provides a higher degree of legality for your business. Following this, the next step is to register your business with Michigan’s Department of Treasury and then obtain the necessary permits.

The State of Michigan provides plenty of information resources on their website to help you deal with the business matters.