According to research published by Statista, a limited liability company is one of the most widely used business entities across multiple countries. The majority of new businesses formed in France between 2012 and 2014 were limited liability companies, and in Italy 955 thousand of 4.4 million companies were limited liability companies. 

However, in France, by 2020, simplified joint-stock companies had become the most prevalent entity type, accounting for 66.7% of all businesses created in 2020. In Italy 2.7 million of 4.4 million companies were owned by individuals, freelancers and self-employed individuals, making limited liability companies the second most common form of entity. 

Statistics from Belgium provide a different perspective, as from August 2019 to August 2020, almost double the amount of limited liability companies went bankrupt as private businesses. However, this probably indicates that there are more limited liability companies than private businesses, rather than that limited liability companies are more prone to bankruptcy. 

Generally, although preferences change overtime according to changes in local economies and the global economy, limited liability companies have remained one of the most popular business structures globally. 

LLCs in the United States (US)

Like other jurisdictions, the limited liability company (LLC) is a popular choice in the US. 

An LLC has the benefits of a corporation in that there is a separation of personal and business assets, which protects business owners, or members, from liability. It also has certain features of the less formal business entities such as sole proprietorships and partnerships in that there are restrictions to becoming a member of an LLC. In a corporation, ownership can be bought. In an LLC, changes in ownership must happen by a defined agreement between existing members. In terms of formalities, an LLC has more than a sole proprietorship or partnership but less than a corporation. 

Forming an LLC

Although LLCs do not have as many formation requirements as a corporation, there are still several requirements which can be difficult to understand and cumbersome to carry out, especially since these requirements vary between states. Prospective business owners should therefore consider approaching an LLC incorporation service. Each of these services have pros and cons which need to be considered prior to incorporation. The Pros and Cons of an LLC formation with IncFile, an LLC incorporation service, are discussed further herein as an example, as since opening its doors in 2004, IncFile has assisted over 500 000 clients and has become one of the most popular online LLC incorporation services. 

1. Pros

One of InFile’s major selling points is that it charges $0 for its incorporation service, although state fees will still need to be paid, and this includes a year of free registered agent services. InFile also provides a lifetime of alerts, which help keep businesses on top of important deadlines such as applying for new licenses and filing annual reports. The fact that IncFile performs these services well is evidenced by the thousands of online positive customer reviews.

    2.Cons

One thing to beware of when using InFile’s incorporation service is the myriad of upsells. These upsells can result in their products being much more expensive. Furthermore, while IncFile’s customer reviews are fantastic, their customer support is slightly less so, with emails and phone calls often going unanswered. 

Overall, forming an LLC with InFile provides excellent value to any prospective business owner. For budget conscious entrepreneurs, the $0 price tag, which includes preparation and filing of the LLCs articles of incorporation and performing a name availability search, will likely be a significant selling point. However, IncFile also offers some more premium packages. The gold package at $149, in addition to the services already mentioned, includes obtaining an EIN number and opening a bank account on behalf of your business, as well as various tax services. The platinum package at $299 includes obtaining a domain name and business email, as well as expedited document filing. 

IncFile’s simplicity and reliable service makes it highly recommendable. However, business owners should also consider alternative LLC incorporation services such as ZenBusiness. 

Final Thoughts

The proportion of limited liability companies to other business entities varies overtime when looking at global statistics. Despite this variation, this type of entity is consistently either the most or second most preferred business structure across jurisdictional divides. This is true of the US as well, where an LLC’s popularity is in part due to liability protection and specialized ownership structures. Anyone looking to incorporate an LLC in order to run their business, should probably consider using an LLC incorporation service, such as IncFile, in order to assist them.