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This one might have caught some people off guard, as GoDaddy announced that it is now offering incorporation services in addition to domain registrations, web hosting services and all the other corollary businesses it has. It perhaps isn’t that great a leap: after all, incorporating one’s online business these days if becoming much more common, and in their quest to become a one-stop shop, GoDaddy is taking advantage of this angle to expand their profitability. Who can blame them? Let’s look at the particulars along with whether or not it may be a good idea to incorporate with them.
GoDaddy has realized the need for business owners to protect that which is most valuable to them, and offers incorporation services now on their site utilizing the Company Corporation. Their basic service is $99, and there is a deluxe version at $279, and these include expedited filing, all the relevant docs sent to you, a $50,000 corporate veil guarantee, corporate name search and reservation, registered agent service (six months only; more for additional money), for either a regular C corporation or an LLC (limited liability company) filing.
You simply have to provide GoDaddy with all the pertinent information and they’ll do the rest. Some of the things they won’t (and shouldn’t) do for you include choosing the state for incorporation, and the type of entity. They are merely processing your wishes in this regard. Those are decisions you need to make for your own business.
And therein lies the rub. Incorporating a business is an important legal step for your business, online or off. Make a mistake, or fail to get the type of help or advice you need for an endeavor like this and you may well be paying the piper for some time to come, as well as having to unravel the mess and start over.
Choosing the type of corporate entity that is best for your business can be tricky, and may not be best left to your domain registrar. This type of service is probably best suited to business owners who’ve been around the block a few times, and know what they’re doing. If you are unsure at all you should probably opt for a company that does incorporating as their primary business.
GoDaddy says the turnaround time is a few weeks, and you’ll have the docs in your hot new corporate hands. As a value, you can’t argue with the price: having an attorney do one for you will cost a bunch more. That said, I’m not sure GoDaddy will be there for you if the IRS comes calling.
As a value-added proposition, the addition of incorporation services to GoDaddy’s burgeoning bin of offers makes sense, but only for certain customers under particular circumstances. GoDaddy does a lot of things well, and you can bet there will be others adding this type of service soon.
As with anything else in the legal arena, take care to get good advice before signing up for anything like this, and not simply sign up because of a great pricing feature. It may cost you more than you can imagine.
