Thinking of leaving the good old 9-5? Before you take the leap and start your own enterprise, it's extremely important that you evaluate both the rewards you earn and the risk you will encounter. You should carefully analyze the effect that business will have on your life. And now you should make examination of the pros and cons of self-employment.

Here are the pros and cons of starting operating your own business

Pros :
1. You can be your own boss
2. The profits are all yours
3. Additional creativity
4. You can set your own hours
5. You can choose your employees and your customers
6. Tax advantages

Cons:
1. Extended working hours
2. Lack of regular paycheque
3. Fear of failure
4 .Stress

This site is a resource for any small business owner (or wanna be). Post questions, post answers, share your information. Who knows, you may be able to make some contacts or help someone avoid a pitfall you may have had in the past.

Should you incorporate?

My lawyer is in favor of it, primarily because he's gonna get $1000 if I say yes. I understand that if I incorporate, any business liability falls on the corporation.

My accountant thinks I ought to incorporate, because if someone is not satisfied with the service I provide them, they can sue me for anything, then my assets (including personal checking account) can get frozen and cause all sorts of inconveinence. I'm thinking, though, that something like that would be rather unlikely, as the offended customer would have to pay their lawyer mega-bucks to hassle a small business owner, and it seems to me that something like that is
unlikely to happen. On the other hand, the hassle of messing with corporation papers is a sure thing.

Having a corporation to shield you from liability is only part of the deal. You are in Texas, so you probably can't set up your own corp legally, but I set up mine in Florida for a couple hundred bucks with proper supervision. The key to shielding yourself is having an accountant that understands the tax codes and ramifications and keep your accounts straight, and an attorney that can also help properly shield any personal assets. For example, if Texas has homestead laws, he may suggest that you might want to become a homeowner to protect your assets.

Understand that all of the major tax advantages and perks in this country are not driven by or collected by individuals, but by corporations. To tap in to them, you have to have a corporation. All of your business expenses are shouldered by the corporation, and your personal income is only the excess that you draw out, allowing you to deduct expenses that you might not otherwise be able to deduct with a proprietorship.

Also understand that you must follow the rules exactly, with corporate meetings
(even if it is just yourself) every year, proper signing of documents, filing
corporate reports (read pay a tax each year just for having a corporation), and
keeping accounts separate. The ongoing paperwork isn't really that hard, and
the benefits are amazing.