Business Formation and Contracts

I have set up companies and written contracts for small businesses for twenty years. Before that I built technology businesses of my own.

That second part matters more than it sounds. I have signed the front of a payroll check, not just the back. I have had a partner, a handshake that turned out to mean two different things, and a contract I wish had been three sentences longer.

When you tell me what you are trying to build, I am not translating it into law from a standing start.

Forming the company

Most small businesses in Missouri should be an LLC. The filing itself is the easy part — the state charges fifty dollars and it takes minutes. What matters is the operating agreement, and that is the document most people either skip or download.

An operating agreement is where you decide, while everyone still likes each other, what happens when someone wants out, someone stops working, someone dies, someone divorces, or the two of you disagree and neither will budge. Every one of those is survivable if you wrote it down first and expensive if you did not.

What a formation with me includes: the entity filing with the Secretary of State, a registered agent, an operating agreement written for your actual business rather than a template, your EIN, and a conversation about how you should be taxed.

Single-member LLC formation: $1,500 flat. The state's fifty dollar filing fee is an expense on top of that.

Multi-member formation: $2,500 and up.

What makes a formation complex

The line is simple: the moment there is more than one owner, you are not filling out a form, you are papering a deal.

Two owners means deciding the equity split, who manages and who does not, who put in what and what happens when someone has to put in more, how money comes out and in what order, whether an owner can sell to a stranger, what happens to a share on death or divorce, and what you do when you deadlock. An uneven split, a guaranteed payment to one owner, or an owner whose contribution is work rather than money each add another layer.

Where a business is bringing in a partner, there is also a question about who I represent, and we settle that in writing before I draft anything.

A straightforward two-member LLC with an even split sits at 2,500 dollars. A bespoke one is a quote, not a menu price, and I will tell you which yours is before you commit to anything.

Contracts

Formation is one afternoon. Running a business is the rest of it.

I draft and review the agreements small businesses actually use: customer and client contracts, service agreements, subcontractor agreements, independent contractor agreements, vendor and supply terms, commercial leases, non-disclosure agreements, and the buy-sell and ownership-change documents that come later.

I also read the contracts someone else put in front of you. A twenty page master services agreement from a company with a legal department is not a negotiation you should enter alone, and usually only three or four provisions actually matter.

What I do not do is hand you a marked-up document and leave. I will tell you which terms are worth fighting over, which are standard, and which ones you can give away to get the one you need.

Talking first

The initial consultation is $175 for thirty minutes.

I charge for it deliberately. People are excited about a new business and they want to talk about it, and that is the right instinct — but thirty focused minutes where you leave with actual answers is worth more to you than an hour of free enthusiasm. If you want longer, say so when you call and we will set up a full hour for $350.

Bring what you have: what the business does, who else is involved, whether money has already changed hands, and what is worrying you.

Who I am probably not right for

A business raising venture capital, issuing stock options, or setting up a Delaware C corporation for outside investors needs a firm that does that every week. That is not me, and I will tell you so on the first call rather than learn it on your dime.

Talk to me

Call or text 816-888-0632.