Ups and Downs

Let's start with the good news - it appears as though it was the IRS who screwed up and that everything is filed correctly from a tax standpoint. My lawyer even pointed out exactly what tax form needed to be filled out...hopefully the accountant will agree.

The bad news - though bad is probably too strong a word - is that the whole merchant account is not as easy as I had hoped. The two biggest problems I've run into is 1. not having the right billing address for the credit card (as I have their shipping address but not their billing address) which causes the card to be declined and 2. everyone wants to pay by American Express which I don't currently have set up. At this point I'm thinking I'm going to set up the AMEX account, run it for a month so that I can get these transactions processed and from here on out tell folks that we don't accept AMEX.

Speaking of that - I think my new terms are going to be that retailers' credit cards are charged when merchandise is shipped at least until I develop a relationship with them. After that I'm happy to let them have terms but it has just been like pulling teeth to get the money that's owed the company.

On a totally different note, does anyone know if it's possible to set up a subsidiary company within an existing LLC structure? Basically I have an idea for another product line but it can't have the same brand name and is a different enough product that I'd prefer to use a different company name completely. I'd ideally like to simply create a subsidiary that has all the protections of the existing LLC without actually having to go through the hoopla or setting up an entirely new company. Something to research in the new year but if anyone has any thoughts one way or another I'd love some direction.

Lastly - Happy New Year! May the upcoming year bring you incredible success, especially if you are an entrepreneur, or bring you one year closer to realizing your entrepreneurial dreams. Best wishes!