Millions of business owners make a splash about letting the world know that they and the business are essentially ‘one and the same’. This is often seen in the number of ‘Sole Proprietors’ out there who set up shop with a business checking account, some business cards and a fictitious business name (‘DBA’ or ‘doing business as’) filing with their County clerk. The risk, of course, in being a Sole Proprietor is that you and the business are legally ‘one and the same’ and thus all of your personal assets are at risk in the event of a business reversal or a lawsuit.By protecting your business inside of a legal entity, you are taking a step in the right direction to separate you and the identity of the business. Corporations and Limited Liability Companies are two much better ways to organize your business. For years, corporations have been ‘top dog’ but now the Limited Liability Company (‘LLC’) is emerging as the preferred entity of choice by business owners and investors everywhere, due to its simplicity, flexibility, protection and tax advantages. By using a company (whether corporation or LLC), you are not the business (for liability risks) and it is not you. The business can and should stand on its own – so that your personal assets are not at risk. Today there are more LLCs being formed than corporations. The emerging 'Series LLC' represents the latest evolution in company formation. The series LLC helps to keep legal and tax accounting costs down but provides for separate business enterprises operating within the same LLC 'mother ship'. Each series or cell can have its own business operations, its own liabilities, its own blance sheet. And yet, at the end of the year, all of the cells or series can be conslidated into a single tax return. Very Nice.

• Privacy Should Not Be Overlooked

Identity theft is the fastest growing crime there is in America. A thief can use different methods, but their goal is always the same – to profit and benefit at your expense, using your identity. One of the best steps you can take to reduce your risk and increase your personal financial privacy is to utilize an entity such as an LLC.The name of the LLC or corporation should be different than yours. It can have its own Tax ID number, its own business credit profile and credit rating, its own credit and debit cards, its own vehicles and equipment, and it can separately own both real estate and other property from you. The entity and you should have separate bank accounts and separate financial identities. The less you ‘co-mingle’ personal assets and business assets the better.