Starting Your New Business As An LLC

So you and your friends want to start a new business together. You’ve got a great idea, made a great plan, and have verified demand to the extent possible.

So now how do you organize your business?

The best business organization for your new venture may be a Limited Liability Company (LLC).

LLCs have tremendous flexibility but learning their ins and outs can be confusing. A good way to get started might be to read some of the sample forms below and then ask Google about the terms you’re not clear on.

An example of pretty much every LLC form is available below. However, these forms need to be customized to your specific situation:

northwestregisteredagent.com has bunch of free LLC legal forms available for download. Here is the link to the download page for these forms:
- Step 1: LLC Organizational Forms
  Articles of Organization
  LLC Articles of Organization for any state.Articles of Organization (for Guam)
  LLC Articles of Organization for your LLC in Guam.
- Step 2: Initial Meeting and Capitalization of the LLC
  Meeting Minutes
  If your LLC holds annual meetings, use this meeting minutes template to track it.LLC Operating Agreement
  A limited liability company operating agreement for any state.Manager-Managed LLC Operating Agreement
  Limited liability operating agreement for any state specifically written for a manager-managed LLC.Single-Member LLC Operating Agreement
  Limited liability operating agreement for any state specifically written for a single member-managed LLC.Multi-Member LLC Operating Agreement
  Limited liability operating agreement for any state specifically written for a multiple member-managed LLC.LLC Capital Contribution
  Document intial contributions to the LLC by all members using either the LLC’s operating agreement or this LLC capital contribution template.LLC Membership Certificate
  A limited liability company membership certificate.
- Step 3: Get an EIN for LLC
  LLC EIN
- Step 4: Open a Bank Account
  LLC Bank Account
- Step 5: LLC Maintenance Forms
  LLC Member Resolution
  LLC Members can use this document to make resolutions for the limited liability company.LLC Manager Resolution
  Managers of an LLC that have been granted authority by its members can make resolutions using this form.Articles of Amendment
  Make changes to your LLC’s Articles of Organization, Certificate of Formation, or Certificate of Organization using these Articles of Amendment templates.LLC Operating Agreement Amendment
  Amend your LLC’s operating agreement at any time with this form.LLC Capital Contributions Bill of Sale
  If you’re looking to fund an LLC with personal assets in exchange for membership interest, use this template to show their value as a contribution to initial capital.LLC Membership Interest Bill of Sale
  If you want to sell your LLC, you can sell your memberhip interest in the LLC using this bill of sale template.

All of the above forms are important and relevant but the operating agreement is the heart and soul of your LLC.

Here is an outline of a basic operating agreement from Resource (1) below. This outline can give you a quick introduction to the issues that your operating agreement needs to address:

I. Organization

A. Formation and Qualification

B. Name

C. Principal Office

D. Governing Law

E. Term

F. Registered Agent and Office

II. Membership Interests

A. Initial Members of the Company

B. Percentage of Ownership

C. Membership Classifications

D. Management by Voting Members (if Member-Managed)

E. New Members

F. Capital Accounts

G. Liability of Members

H. Transfer and Assignment of Interests

III. Allocations and Profit Distributions

A. Allocations of Profits and Losses

B. Distributions

IV. Meetings and Voting

A. Notice of Meetings

B. Quorum

C. Meetings

D. Voting

E. Proxies

V. Management and Duties

A. Election

B. Delegation of Powers

C. Compensation

D. Indemnification of Members and Managers

VI. Miscellaneous

A. Books and Records

B. Financial Records and Reporting

C. Liability of Members

D. Indemnification

E. Dispute Resolution

F. Dissolution