The sole proprietorship is the most common, oldest, and the simplest form of business organization. A sole proprietorship is a business entity owned and managed by one person. The sole proprietorship can be organized very informally, is not subject to much federal or state regulation, and is relatively simple to manage and control. In the state of Tennessee, Bedford County has certain procedures that are to be put into place when registering a business as a sole proprietorship. In the state of Tennessee, sole proprietorship in Bedford County appears as an unincorporated business that operates with a single owner. Under the Tennessee state law, sole proprietors have unlimited liability for business debts and obligations. A sole proprietor in the state of Tennessee does not need to file any documents with the state as a condition of formation. In Bedford County, a sole proprietorship formation occurs when an individual makes a business transaction. There is plenty of information that must be provided about the business and its owners when applying for a sole proprietorship. There are also many steps that lead up to the simple registration for a sole proprietorship in your county or as we are stating, Bedford County in Tennessee. The first step that needs to take place when undergoing this option is that the person needs to apply for a business license. According to the Chamber of Commerce, a sole proprietor needs only to obtain business license from the county in which the business operates which would be Bedford County. A sole proprietorship in the state of Tennessee has no existence without the owner, therefore a business license must be provided when the person goes to register for the one owner business. Filing an assumed business name is the next step to the process. Sole proprietors in this county wish to operate under a name other than their personal name must file a fictitious business name with the Tennessee Department of States office. When selecting the name of the business, the name must not belong to any other registered entity in the state of Tennessee. If this happens there could be severe consequences to this certain situation. This is why it is always best for a person to come up with their own unique name for the business. Applying for a federal tax ID number is the next step throughout this entire process. Sole proprietorships in the state of Tennessee with employees must obtain a federal tax ID number from the IRS. Sole proprietors in this county may obtain federal tax ID numbers through fax, mail, online, or by phone. When using a phone or online, it gives the person the access to receive a federal tax ID number for immediate use. Sole proprietors in Tennessee that elect to fax Form SS-4 to the IRS will wait up to four business days to receive a federal tax ID number. Tennessee sole proprietors that choose to mail Form SS-4 may wait as long as four weeks to receive a federal tax ID number. Tax ID numbers are by far very important. Sole proprietorships in the state of Tennessee with employees must apply for a state tax ID number. Furthermore, Bedford County sole proprietorships with employees must register for workers' compensation insurance, as well as state unemployment taxes. Tennessee sole proprietorships must present fictitious business name paperwork and a federal tax ID number in order to obtain a Tennessee state tax ID number. Employers that operate as sole proprietors in the state of Tennessee and in the county of Bedford must register for workers' compensation insurance, as well as state unemployment taxes, with the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development. License and permits are by far the most important step throughout this whole process. The permits and licenses required for sole proprietors to operate in the state of Tennessee will depend on the nature of the business. Society such as barbers, accountants, and other professionals that operate sole proprietor’s ships must obtain a state occupational license. Sole proprietors involved in retail sales will need to acquire sales and use tax permit from the city clerk's office. Furthermore, a Tennessee sole proprietor may be required to obtain certain zoning permits depending on the location of the business. All of this information leads up to the sixth and final step of the entire process. After doing the procedures that the state requires, it is then required to contact your county clerk to receive the application for registration. In Bedford County a person will receive the application for registration given through the Tennessee Department of Revenue. In order to submit this application there is a fifteen dollar fee, which isn’t much when wanting to open a sole proprietorship business. When receiving the application, the application will ask questions concerning taxes, permits, and fee requirements. It will also ask reasons for applying, the business name and location, the type of ownership, business activity and much more. Registration for Business Tax using the application will not be complete until you have paid the registration fee and obtained your business license from the appropriate county clerk and, if appropriate, city business tax official. Indicate the appropriate Business Tax classification when registering for business tax using the application. Proper completion of the application will insure the timely and correct establishment of necessary tax registrations for your business. This application can be mailed, faxed or delivered to any of the Taxpayer and Vehicle Services offices listed on the back. The person must complete one application for each business location that they own. Except for Business Tax, the person will receive the appropriate certificate of registration, license, or permit for each location within a few days after the completion and return of the form. The certificate, license, or permit must be publicly displayed at the location for which it is issued. The Business Tax license must be obtained from the county clerk of Bedford County. Unlike sole proprietorship, incorporating a business is a bit more of a hassle and a bit more expensive. Incorporation is an important step in operating a business. Incorporation limits the owners personal liability establishes a company’s creditability and provides tax benefits to its owners. Incorporation also provides a legal means to easily transfer ownership in case the owners die or decide to sell the company. In the state of Mississippi, there are certain procedures that society must follow in order to incorporate a business. Wanting to incorporate a business is not always easy. The first step of this whole process it to make a corporate name of the Mississippi Corporation. The name must be a distinguished name in which no other corporation has that name reserved. If the name is already taken or reserved, another name will need to be selected. The person will also need to make sure that there is not any language stating or implying that the Mississippi Corporation is organized for a purpose other than that permitted by state law and its articles of incorporation and the name needs to be written in English. In addition, the name must include one of the following words, incorporated, corporation, company, or limited. To incorporate a business in Mississippi, the Articles of Incorporation must be filed with the Mississippi Secretary of State. Within the article, there are specific requirements that must be included in the article. This information is the incorporate; director information, the stock information, and the street address of the corporation's initial registered office and the name of its initial registered agent at that office. This information may not seem like much, but each of these requirements that I just stated go into detail. For instance, the incorporators must list the number of incorporators, eligibility requirements, duties, and listing requirements. The director information must also include the minimum number of directors, eligibility requirements and listed requirements. Finally the stock information is the number of shares that the corporation is authorized to issue, and any information concerning the designation of particular classes of shares, must be listed in the articles. In order to file this information, there is a fifty dollar incorporation filing fee and sometimes there can be a service fee of thirty five dollars depends on who the person goes through to file this information. In a total, this adds up to eighty-five dollars. The total processing time is about three weeks in standard time and three to five business days in expedited time. Generally, bylaws are written to conduct the corporation's businesses affairs. A corporation maintains its bylaws at its principal executive office and is not required to file them with the state. The incorporators or board of directors must adopt initial bylaws for the corporation. Officers may be listed in the bylaws or can be elected by the board and may appoint other officers. One of the officers should be responsible for preparing minutes of the directors' and shareholders' meetings and for maintaining and authenticating corporate records. Any officer may hold more than one office in the Mississippi incorporation. Every Mississippi Corporation must have a registered agent in Mississippi -- the person or office designated to receive official state correspondence and notice if the corporation is "served" with a lawsuit. Mississippi also requires that every corporation maintain a registered office which may be any of its places of businesses. Tax is based on taxable income allocated to Mississippi at 3% of first $5,000; 4% on next $5,000; 5% over $10,000. Every domestic corporation and every foreign corporation doing business in Mississippi must pay a franchise tax. A report must be filed with the Mississippi Secretary of State each year within sixty days of the anniversary of its incorporation or authorization to transact business, or by another date established by the Secretary of State. A twenty five dollar fee must be accompanied with the report. In conclusion, it can be proven that organizing corporation is a lot more difficult than organizing a sole proprietorship. Everyone has dreams and ambitions. Some people want to manage their own business and others want to be a part of some form of group. In order to do each of these it is always necessary to organize the type of organization the best way possible. Be aware of certain fees that need to be paid and certain rules to the type of ownership that he or she wants to pursue. No matter how hard organizing a business may be, it is all worth it in the end.