One small business for two very different methods of income?

[Buzz]

Is there any sort of disadvantage or legal ramifications to selling two very unrelated products and dealing with the income through a single sole-proprietorship?

A couple hobbies are about to make some money soon and I just want to simplify things and apply for a small business to deal with taxes, licenses and such.

Would selling smart phone app's/videogames/software and live earthworms under the same company be wise?

[Fulcrum]

That's a different mix of products but I can't see it being too big of a problem.

[ybmindframe]

There shouldn't be a problem. If that's your hobby, then sell it. Keep the name of the business general since you are selling 2 unrelated peoducts

[Freelancier]

It's pretty cheap and easy these days to create an LLC in most states. If the hobbies are unrelated, then I'd consider creating a new LLC for each one, so that each had their own liability protections and that a problem with one didn't bleed into the other company's branding.

[Buzz]

It's pretty cheap and easy these days to create an LLC in most states. If the hobbies are unrelated, then I'd consider creating a new LLC for each one, so that each had their own liability protections and that a problem with one didn't bleed into the other company's branding.

I've looked into LLCs and boy so they look tempting, sadly in the U.S. state I live in it is almost pointless to create a LLC as the liability protection is almost non-existent from what I've read. Also it seems to be quite hard to start a single person LLC here. (If any Oregon business owners say otherwise to either of these problems I would be overjoyed)

I've considered doing the "doing business as..." thing and registering two or three names to do business under and simply running it all under one entity.

Both ventures are pretty low risk and require almost no investment to start or maintain, on one side you simply cook up an app' or game and toss it to a few markets and try to spread word, on the other I've been raising red wigglers (compost worms) for my garden and after two years they have multiplied like crazy and the prices have jumped considerably...also they eat almost all the trash from the foster home I work at so...free food and all :)

I have no intention of "going big" unless some software sells more than I estimate so unless LLCs provide more protection in Oregon than I have read (this would be nice.) I'm thinking one sole-proprietorship doing "business as..." is the way to go.

[HooktoWin]

Buzz, I agree with you, the DBA is an ideal standpoint. However there are some points I'd recommend looking into.


Just because you do business in Oregon doesn't mean you have to incorporate in Oregon. You can get all of the benefits and protection from another state (e.g. Delaware or Nevada) though taxes would be the same.
You can get all of the Limited Liability Protection other states offer by incorporating in another state and running in your state (it's pretty easy to do).
Your operating agreement is a big part of your protection in an LLC. It lays out how things should be handled in your business, so not creating an operating agreement means the state will decide what's best for your business, which usually isn't good.

From a technical standpoint there's no problem with a sole proprietorship. From a marketing standpoint it's very, very difficult. I'd recommend separating each item with a different DBA if your target customer for each division is different. Marketing to these businesses under the same business or DBA means you're always going to be alienating and confusing a part of your audience.

Really tough to get ahead with that.

Hope this helps,

Andrew

[Buzz]

Buzz, I agree with you, the DBA is an ideal standpoint. However there are some points I'd recommend looking into.


Just because you do business in Oregon doesn't mean you have to incorporate in Oregon. You can get all of the benefits and protection from another state (e.g. Delaware or Nevada) though taxes would be the same.
You can get all of the Limited Liability Protection other states offer by incorporating in another state and running in your state (it's pretty easy to do).
Your operating agreement is a big part of your protection in an LLC. It lays out how things should be handled in your business, so not creating an operating agreement means the state will decide what's best for your business, which usually isn't good.

From a technical standpoint there's no problem with a sole proprietorship. From a marketing standpoint it's very, very difficult. I'd recommend separating each item with a different DBA if your target customer for each division is different. Marketing to these businesses under the same business or DBA means you're always going to be alienating and confusing a part of your audience.

Really tough to get ahead with that.

Hope this helps,

Andrew

Wow I gotta look into incorporating through another state. Very helpful, thanks Andrew!

Also I did have the intention of DBA different names for different audiences (just re-read my previous post and I wasn't so clear about why the two or three DBAs) whether I settle on a sole proprietorship or LLC.

Heh..."worm" is the last thing you would want in your business name if your peddling software, I was thinking of something along the lines of "MyMiniUmbrellaCompany" DBA "WormsForTheMasses" to sell the worms and "MyMiniUmbrellaCompany" DBA "BasementBrewedGames" to sell games/apps...except with less ridiculous names.

Anyways thanks for the responses and advice guys, very informative stuff being tossed around here.