By Tracey Graham

When starting a business, one of the most important decisions to make is the type of legal structure for your company. This decision impacts how much you will pay in taxes, how much paperwork your business is required to do, the personal liability you face, and your ability to raise money. The business form you select is not carved in stone, as changes may occur that make it appropriate to change the way your business is structured, but planning ahead can save you a great deal of pain and loss in the future.

One structure is not necessarily better than any other. Each business owner must assess his or her own needs. For a brief description of each possible business type and a list of advantages, disadvantages, and key considerations CLICK HERE to print or download the Kansas Rural Center’s Legal Business Structure Options for Farms and Ranches. The information and resources provided in this document can help guide you in selecting a business form for a new business or changing the form of an existing business.

Legal Business Structure Options is an excerpt from Finding Your Niche, A Marketing Guide for Kansas Farms, published in January 2013 by the Kansas Rural Center. You may CLICK HERE to view the guide’s full Table of Contents and print or download other resource documents. Finding Your Niche: A Marketing Guide for Kansas Farms offers a great starting point for envisioning the potential your farm has to increase and respond to local demand.

To receive a printed and bound copy of the 200+ page guide, please order here or contact the Kansas Rural Center at 785-873-3431. A limited number of copies are available for a suggested fee of $25 to help cover printing, shipping and handling costs.