So I've been teaching piano and voice lessons out of my apartment for about 3 years now, and I'm finally getting serious about protecting myself. A friend told me I should form an LLC, but I have no idea where to start. I teach maybe 20 students a week, mostly kids, some adults. Do I need a lawyer for this? Any recommendations on services or things to watch out for? Thanks!
Business
I need an LLC for my private music teaching business. Any recommendations?
Depends on your state, but honestly for a solo music teaching biz you might not even need an LLC. Have you looked into just getting a good liability insurance policy?
LLC is probably overkill. I've been teaching guitar for 12 years as a sole prop with insurance and never had an issue. Save your money.
If you do go LLC, don't use those cheap online filing mills. I used one for a different business and the registered agent service was a nightmare to cancel. Ended up paying $200/yr for nothing.
I used LegalZoom for my LLC, it was fine. Not cheap but not terible. Though in hindsight I could've just filed the paperwork myself on my state's website. It's literally a form and a fee.
Right, the form is easy. The hard part is knowing whether you need it in the first place and keeping up with the annual reports so you don't get dissolved.
Also, if you're teaching in your apartment, check your lease. Some landlords have rules about running a business from the unit. An LLC won't fix that problem.
For real. My neighbor got evicted because her HOA found out she was doing tutoring out of her condo. LLC didn't help her one bit. lol
That's wild. But also people need to read their HOA docs.
Different angle: an LLC can help if you ever want to bring on another teacher or split income. But if it's just you, the main benefit is liability separation, which insurance also covers. Talk to a CPA in your state before you file anything. It's worth the $100 consultation.
+1 on the CPA. I wish I'd done that before I formed mine. I ended up paying self-employment tax on stuff I didn't need to.
Can't you just do an S-corp election later if you outgrow the LLC? I thought that was a thing.
You can, but it's more paperwork and you'll need to pay yourself a reasonable salary. For 20 students a week, I wouldn't bother unless you're raking it in. Which, teaching music... probably not.