Here are answers to some of the most common questions we field everyday…
Do I Need to Obtain Business Licenses for the Aged Corporation in My Home State?
Part of your purchase of an aged corporation from us includes a Foreign Entity Registration in your Home State. As a good business practice, we do recommend that you should obtain a local Business License.
What is a Federal Tax ID # and why do I need one?
An Employer Identification Number (EIN) is also known as a Federal Tax Identification Number, and is used to identify a business entity, just like a Social Security Number identifies an Individual. If you want to open a Business Bank Account and/or hire any Employees, then you need one. All of our Aged Corporations come with a valid EIN # included for FREE.
What is a Registered Agent, and can I be my own Registered Agent?
A Registered Agent is a business or individual designated to receive service of process (SOP) when a business entity is a party in a legal action such as a lawsuit or summons. The registered agent’s address may also be where the state will send the paperwork for the yearly renewal of the business entity’s charter. The registered agent for a business entity may be an individual member of the company, or (more often) a third party, such as the organization’s lawyer or a service company.
Do I Need a Registered Agent in the State of Incorporation?
Yes, you do – That is Required. We provide Free Registered Agent Service for the first year after your purchase, but then you will need to either purchase the on-going Registered Agent Service from us or find another provider online and purchase from them.
Can I change the name of my Aged Corporation? What are the Pros and Cons?
While you are free to change the name of your Aged Corporation, we don’t advise it as a name change goes against the concept of an Aged Corporation as a negative mark in terms of most funding programs. The best advice we can give you is to simply file a Trade Name (or dba) for the Brand Name you would like to use for your Business. For example, “My Aged Corporation Inc” could “do business as” using the Trade Name of your choice.
What is the difference between purchasing a 2 Year-Old Aged Corp Vs. an older Aged Corp?
The only difference is that about 20% of the Creditors will require more than 2 Years in Business, and as such, these Creditors will only be available to the older Aged Corporations. However, the 2 Year-Old Aged Corps will qualify for 80% of the Creditors available. With this being said, most of the corporations we sell fall in the funding “sweet-spot” between 3 to 7 years which tends to receive the greater amounts in terms of funding.
How does a Virtual Office work? Can I receive Mail and operate my Business from another State without having to travel back and forth?
A Virtual Office is a Mail Forwarding Service that usually includes Receptionist Services and acts as the Physical Address and Location of a Business. A Virtual Office makes it possible for a Business Owner to operate a Business from anywhere in the World without being physically present in the State where the Business is incorporated.
I understand there are different kinds of Virtual Offices, what kind do I need?
(Follow closely on this as it can seem confusing.) It is not a good idea to use a Virtual Office Address as your Business Address because funding applications are often denied simply because your Address is a Virtual Office Service. These locations are easily identified by lenders during their due diligence of your application review. By a simple Google search of the street address you have, lenders can see is the location is providing Virtual Offices as multiple businesses will come up in the search. A Virtual Office shows to lenders that you have nothing truly invested into the location you say you’re running your business from. To avoid this denial trap, we recommend you find a business that might have an office or two to rent out in their building. Small law firms, insurance agents, and private practice counselors often have an office to fill. These locations look good on a Google search, verses a Mailboxes USA or Regis Virtual Office location. Many of past clients have simply negotiated with the business owner to provide a mail forwarding service for an agreed upon rate…instead of renting out their office space which you’d never use. Having a business address in your home State is also important, one that is separate from your home address.
Why do I need to use an Aged Corporation for lenders?
It is not necessarily required that you use an aged corporation, however, the aged corporation gives you INSTANT “Time in Business” to meet the minimum time in business requirements of the majority of lenders. If you don’t have at least 2 Years in Business, most lenders will not even want to accept your credit application – That’s why the aged corporation, when setup correctly with all the credit-ready features we offer, is such a powerful tool.
Do I have to pay Dunn & Bradstreet to get “Rated” or to obtain my DUNS # in the 1st place?
No, you don’t. That is one of the biggest confusions when it comes to building corporate credit. D&B is REQUIRED to assign you a DUNS # as Creditors start reporting your Payment Activity, and they are also required to “rate” your business’ credit profile once you have enough Tradelines and Financials. D&B will try to sell you various products and services at various points in the credit building process, but you do not need to buy them, and we do not recommend that you buy them either.
Should I purchase any Credit Building Services from Dun & Bradstreet?
No, this is not only unnecessary, but could possibly hurt you. After you have your aged corporation, if you contact Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) for any reason, they will attempt to sell you services such as corporate credit building services. These services, although they appear to be helpful at your initial analysis, are actually NOT helpful at all in our opinion and can hurt your business instead of help it because the purchase of such services may trigger an immediate AUDIT of the corporate entity, and during this audit, D&B may identify ownership changes and other movements you make with the corporate entity, which is something you typically do not want exposed. You do NOT need to purchase anything from D&B, no matter how convincing they may be.
Aged Corporations & Unsecured Financing: How can I obtain Unsecured Financing using my Aged Corporation?
Although aged corporations can and will allow you to obtain more unsecured financing, and obtain it much faster, if you lie on your loan applications you could find yourself in stormy weather. After all, what are you planning on doing with the loans proceeds? Hopefully you are planning on building a successful business and not using the money as retirement funds or gambling chips. Just be honest and you will obtain the financing you need safely and legally. As you start out, unsecured funding amounts are usually quite low.
Getting BIG MONEY Funding: What’s the trick?
There really is no trick. Lenders want to see that they are making a sound investment into lending your corporation money. A central factor to their decision comes from the person you designate as the one who oversees your corporate cash flow. This is why we suggest you attach a CFO to your corporation, whether that is yourself, your spouse, business partner, or another individual you contract with who will lend you their 700+ personal credit profile. The lenders will evaluate the credit worthiness of your corporation largely based on the strength of your CFO’s personal credit profile. It is assumed that if a person knows how to manage their own personal finances well and with respect, then those principles will carry over into the corporation. See our page on Become A CFO to understand how this process works.