Starting a South Carolina Company
A South Carolina entity can be filed to help your business get a few great benefits for your business. If you look at the largest corporations in the United States, they are most often Corporations, but this doesn't mean that they are the best for your small or medium sized business. If you decide to register a business in SC, you will want to check with your attorney or CPA to make sure that you make the right choice for you. More small businesses file S-corporations or limited liability companys as they offer more benefits that can be used by the business owners.
Your filings must be signed by an Attorney
The South Carolina LLC is interesting because they take their corporate filings very serious in South Carolina. I say this because they do something in SC that isn't done in any other state. The State of South Carolina is very unique in that they require your filing to be signed by a South Carolina Attorney. This was probably done to ensure that 1) the filings are accurate 2) that the attorney lobby in the state is healthy and funded well. Jokes aside, this is something that you must do in the state. Lastly, you can pay an attorney for this service if you don't know any attorneys personally, or you don't have anyone else who can help you provide the signature.
Form a South Carolina LLC
As we mentioned above your filing must be signed by an Attorney and this is the primary unique feature related to setting up an LLC. The following must also be completely for your formation:
- A qualified name must be registered and this is done by doing a name search, and then choosing a name is that is available and not in use. The name must also end in "limited liability company", "L.L.C.", or "LLC"
- The business address and mailing address must be provided.
- A registered agent must be named and a physical street address provided. This cannot be a P.O. Box and the RA must be an agent who agrees to forward all mail to appropriate management.
- The articles of Incorporation must be signed by the Organizer of the business.
Incorporate in South Carolina
The corporation filing in South Carolina, or Incorporation, is filed in a similar way as the LLC mentioned above. When you incorporate in South Carolina, similar to the LLC, you must also have it signed by a licensed attorney in the state. The is a process that can be done by any attorney, and you can even pay a service just for the signature. Here are some of the steps that you must go through when filing your Corporation in SC:
- A name must be registered after conducting a name search, and then choosing a name is that is available and not in use. The name must also end in "limited liability company", "L.L.C.", or "LLC"
- The mailing address and business address must be provided.
- A registered agent must be named and a physical street address provided. This cannot be a P.O. Box and the RA must be an agent who agrees to forward all mail to appropriate management.
- The articles of Incorporation must be signed by the Incorporator of the business.
Finding a Buisness Name for a Crop in South Carolina
The South Carolina business name search is easy for Corporaitons. Just do a search on the Secretary of State business name search site. You will need to make sure that you conduct the search for any names that may be similar or close to what you are filing. The state will search for confusingly similar names that may be confusing to customers and creditors. An example of this is "Happy Trails Camping, Inc" and "Happpy Trails Camping, Inc". You may have to look closely, but the two names are only different by one character and this could be confusing so the states may reject this.
South Carolina Secretary of State Links:
