RECEIVE THE 9-STEPS ON HOW TO LAUNCH A SUCCESSFUL MUSIC CAREER!
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Ground Zero: Starting an LLC and Business Banking.
This blog was written by a human and assisted with ai for brainstorming.
WHY AN LLC AND A BUSINESS BANK IS IMPORTANT!
When you start playing music for people and get paid for it, You might think it is still a hobby. Really, you are starting your career. You might have played a few shows already and are wondering, "What's next?" Well, there's something important you should know about making your music business official and safe. It all starts with forming an LLC, which stands for Limited Liability Company, and finding a bank account that doesn't cost you money to use. Let's talk about why these are great ideas for any musician.
What's an LLC and Why It's a necessity? Think of an LLC like a shield for YOU:
Keeps You Safe: It generally depends and this is a very broad stroke but if some asshole decides to sue you, your personal assets are typically safe. Only the business's money is used to fix the problem. No one should be able to come after your cash cow like your personal house, or your personal car.
Makes You Professional: When you have an LLC, people take you more seriously. It's like having a badge that says, "I'm already established!" when you go to approach new opportunities.
Saves You Money on Taxes: With an LLC, you can sometimes pay less in taxes, which means more money for reinvesting into your business for exponential growth!
How to Start Your LLC
Talk about it with your band if you have one. Who is the owner? How is your company going to be split up? What if your band splits up? You should consider just having an LLC for yourself and contracting your other members of your team. That way you are not tied to them incase something happens.
Pick a memorable name for your business. There will most definitely be a fee depending on your state. There are also different benefits depending on which state you live in. Many people, including myself, own an LLC.
Fill out the correct form online. You can do this by simple googling “Form an LLC in [Your State]”
Look for a .gov website. find an LLC form in your county or state. It only takes a few minutes to fill out. Fill out the form and pay a the fee to finally make it official...
Congrats, you are now an actual business owner… 🎉
You will soon get an EIN (Employer Identification Number). Which is like your Social Security Number for your business. Keep it safe. Do not float it around. You will need this for business loans, business line of credit, 1099 forms, taxes, and most importantly… keeping your personal assets separated from your business. This is VERY important.
Why You Need a Free Bank Account Next
Now, let's talk about keeping your money safe and making it grow:
I love online banking but here is something people don’t realize… You need a FREE bank account.
No Monthly Fees: Sounds too good to be true? What if I told you if banks want to pay you interest?
That is how it always should be. You need to protect your money now that you are an established business owner. It's not cheap to think now that you have a nest egg, you protect everything that goes into it and your nest egg doesn't cost you a monthly rent fee.
What You Need For A Business Bank Account!
EIN NUMBER. As I already mentioned above, you will get that in the mail after you complete an LLC form.
A DOMAIN NAME. For a business email address, you also need a customed domain name (www.YourWebsite.com). These are easy to come by. They only cost about $10 a year. You can use any service like WhoIs.com,BlueHost, HostGater, GoDaddy, Domains. It is all the same shit. It is literally the same service just a different brand name. I have used all of them. They will try and upsale you to include website hosting but you just need the domain name to create a business email. There is no need to shell out $150 a year for website hosting. Website hosting can be pretty pricey when you're first starting out. I will also make another blog on website building. Eventually your business will need a website butI'll show you how to get secure and encrypted FREE-website hosting using System.Io
BUSINESS EMAIL ADDRESS. It takes a few minutes to set up. There is a very low monthly fee of about $7 a month per email but I use Google Workspace! You'll need this for later anyway, if you aren't already cold-emailing for work or building out a website. If you're subscribed to the Stage Masterclass free newsletter, then you already know that having a business email boosts credibility and is less likely to show up as spam when you email people.
Once you have these three things, you just need to select a business bank. A bank account SPECIFICALLY for business purposes.
Get Paid to Save: Some bank accounts give you extra money just for keeping your money there. This is NOT a sponsor, but it is an affiliate link. I personally have used NOVOfor over 2 years. Here are some benefits for using NOVO. We both get $40 when you sign up through that link.
NO MINIMUM. Most business banks make you carry a balance. Sometimes thousands of dollars.
NO HIDDEN FEES. NO MONTHLY FEES. In fact, they will pay you interest savings. That is dope!
RESERVE ACCOUNTS. These will keep your money seperated and organized. They are like having different checking accounts. Keep taxes, payroll, marketing/ads spend, legal fees, innovative spend all seperated by a percentage from everything you bring in.
LINKS DIRECTLY TO SRIPE. I like to use Stripe but you can also link it up to other payment proccesors. Including Cashapp and PayPal.
PAY STRAIGHT FROM YOUR BANK. You can have this reaccuring or one time flat fees. You can even pay overseas because NOVO innogrates with Wise.
CREATE INVOICES. Personally, I just like to use Stripe but you can create an invoice straight from Novo.
I chose Novo as my small business bank and love the features. We'll each get $40 if you open an account too! This is NOT a sponsor, but it is an affiliate link. NOVO is so amazing.
You’ll see why once you start to use it. You can get it by clicking here!
LET US RECAP TOTAL COST!
LLC business license: -$25 per year. (ie:Michigan's business license fee)
Domain Name: -$10 per year.
Google Workspace: -$7 per month.
Total Fees: -$42
Novo Bank: +$40 when you sign up using this link.
Amount to turn your hobby into a real business... $2
This is expecting that you already have a phone, a laptop and equpitment or you can use the venue's equpitment.
Get ready, being a successful business is hard.
Ready To Rock?
Now that you know the importance of an LLC, you're ready to take your music business to the next level. Talk about it with your band, your family, and start making your music dreams come true, safely and smartly.
Eternally,
Drew Schroeder
CEO, nightlife promoter, public speaker on networking, sales and enjoyment in the music industry.
Burnt out, overwhelmed or stuck? Schedule a 1 on 1 private session with me here
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