Small business is the engine that drives the U.S. economy.  And with the onslaught of the Recession, more and more individuals are contemplating starting a small business.  Yet the process, for many, can be daunting.

Very often, people with limited resources are concerned about the cost of hiring a lawyer, especially when they know that they will need consultation regarding where they should incorporate, whether they should opt for an LLC or a corporation and other legal issues important for their start-up. To address this problem – and market need - online services such as Legal Zoom have appeared enabling consumers to bypass the attorney and either incorporate or form an LLC online, quickly and inexpensively.

The Challenge

The client, an organization with more than 100 years serving the legal community, engaged our team to create for them a dedicated online business that would enable consumers to legally form a business in any state in the Union.

The client’s online business would function similar to an e-commerce storefront with shopping cart, payment gateway etc.

However a key challenge was the numerous application forms and supplementary forms that would need to be assembled in real time based on the consumer’s decisions and inputs.  Equally important, information required for each form is different for each state and often changes during the course of the year

The Solution

To ensure that all Primary and Secondary Forms were accurate and up-to-date and could be dynamically created in seconds, we developed a special Document Assembly Program.  This, in turn was supported by a custom Content Management System (CMS) that enables the client to easily make update to all forms based on changing state requirements.

The consumer is presented with the options of forming either an LLC or a Corporation.  A list of Frequently Asked Questions is available to provide information relative to the formation of each entity.

The consumer then selects a state.  Based on the state selection, a form is created which includes a list of questions that particular state requires the consumer to answer for either an LLC or Corporate formation.

Once the consumer fills in and submits this form, a series of supplementary forms are also dynamically created based on the requirements of each individual state.  Examples of these forms include:  Minutes & Bylaws, Statement by Organizer. Operating Agreement, etc.  A special internal Customer Form is also created that includes consumer information that the client requires for their internal billing and processing.

All consumer information are stored in a secure Microsoft SQL database.  The database enables the client to map inputs such as name, address, entity name, etc. to automated processes for manufacturing corporate kits and seals, to document assembly programs, to future promotional mailings and email blasts, etc.  The database also enables the client to perform analytical work such as number of incorporations vs. LLCs, customers and revenue by state, etc.