Amazon.com Customer Reviews
A very cheap education, worth 10 times the price! - Review written on June 08, 2007
Rating: 5 out of 5
6 customers found this review helpful, 1 did not.
If you are looking for a book that will tell you what kind of corporate entity you should put your company in, this is as close as you're going to get.
The bad news is, you will still want to hire an attorney to set up the corporation for you. The biggest benefit with the book is, you will not have to have the attorney spend his time (at $200+ and hour)explaining to you what the differences are from one type of entity to the next. After reading this book, you should be pretty much up to speed, with maybe one or two additional questions needing to be asked.
So, let's review: read a book, four hours and less than twenty bucks. Listen to an attorney: one hour, $200. Having done the math, I chose to read the book. Unless your business has too much money on its hands (in which case, I'll take some of it!) all of us corporate executive wannabes should read this book! :-)
A tedious read, but good nonetheless. - Review written on April 22, 2006
Rating: 5 out of 5
26 customers found this review helpful, 2 did not.
This book is chocked FULL of extremely valuable & educational information from cover to cover. When getting into any entrepreneurial endeavor, the whole legal/tax side of things can be very confusing and intimidating, even to the point where many people just don't bother since there is so much to learn. Luckily, there are books like "Own Your Own Corporation" that sum it all up for us with a clear, concise and understandable writing style.
When a business is not registered as a corporate entity, the business owner is liable for all kinds of disasters which can happen in the blink of an eye. Moreover, corporations can save a business owner significant amounts of money through tax breaks and loopholes that the government happily allows for corporations. If you're serious about starting a solid business that will be around for years to come, you need to learn this information and get a good attorney who will ensure proper corporate coverage for your company.
This is not the typical Rich Dad book in that most of the info is more than Robert Kiyosaki's lessons about money. A lot of it is very left-brain, informational reading that isn't necessarily "fun" to read about, but very important to understand nonetheless. If you can develop a basic awareness of what the different corporate entities are about, you can hire an attorney to handle the rest for you. Either way, the basics of this book are absolutely vital for any business owner to understand.
I would recommend this material to any serious business owner.
Part of the Base Knowledge you need to be Self-Employed - Review written on March 26, 2006
Rating: 5 out of 5
9 customers found this review helpful, 3 did not.
What this book does is explain about corporations in simple, easy to understand plain English. There are books that tell you how to go about forming your own coporation but this one suggests that you have an attorney do that. I'm not so sure the attorney will be that much help. What the attorney will do is talk to you about the name of the corporation, the officers, etc. Then he will go to his para-legal and have him/her enter this into their word processor and charge you a thousand dollars.
The advice about what a corporation does, how it does it and why is excellent background information. If you decide to incorporate or not, (there are some advantages both ways) at least you will understand what the law says and what people are telling you.
There is a good bit in the book about taking your corporation big and eventually taking it public. Very few corporations ever go that far, so this information is interresting but may not be of much help.
Well written, clear and easy to understand, this book covers part of what you need to know about companies if you plan to be self employed.
Only one-third of this book is useful. - Review written on March 01, 2006
Rating: 2 out of 5
32 customers found this review helpful.
Only one-third of the book covers what a typical Rich Dad Poor Dad reader would expect: how to use corporations to protect one's assets. The information in this section is really helpful and interesting, especially for beginners. The author provided great examples to illustrate key points. The writing overall, however, could be improved by having better summaries of each chapter and by defining every new legal term used in the book (for example, the book never defined "indemnification" but it used it frequently).
Another one-third of the book covers how to start a company and take it public (have it listed as a public stock). I don't think any typical Rick Dad Poor Dad reader has this purpose in mind for their businesses or real estate purchases, so this second part of the book is utterly useless and irrelevant to most readers. The last one-third of the book basically lists the laws for incorporation for each state, which is useful, but I'm sure the author could have provided a webpage to list all this information.
Another thing to consider is that this book might be outdated. It was published in 2001, and laws may have changed by now (this review is written in early 2006). For example, the double-taxation policy of dividends was changed after the publication of this book. I think the author might have overcome this by providing updates to important relevant laws through a website or something similar.
For all these reasons, I'd recommend the interested reader to explore other sources first. Unfortunately, I can't recommend other books yet. If there doesn't seem to be any other good sources, then consider reading this book only if you can buy it used or borrow it from the library.
Not as in depth as I would liked it to have been - Review written on October 27, 2005
Rating: 3 out of 5
27 customers found this review helpful, 3 did not.
After reading Rich Dad Poor Dad, I bought several books that I felt would be of assistance to my purposes of incorporating and learning how to become more self sufficient. And maybe because my incorporation needs are more modest than this book really addresses, I'm being too critical.
That said, I believe that this book speaks to a certain group of people who already have in place a business and may or may not be operating it as a partnership, LLC, S or C Corp etc. This book speaks to the virtues and problems with each.
However, I looked for a little more individualistic advice like Rich Dad Poor Dad seemed to offer. This book doesn't address incorporation at that level at all. True, there's detail enough for me to learn about the different types of incorporation, but not enough to speak to me and say, "as an independent contractor in this type of field, you would do well to incorporate as a X".
Yeah, that's a lot of hand holding, I know, but frankly, this is new territory for me. And if you're reading this book, I would think it would be for most. So, yes, I'd like it to have been a bit more detailed than it is.
As an overall, broadstroke book - it is very good. If you know that certain corporation types are unnecessary for you, then you can skip reading large portions of the book.
Very useful - Review written on September 01, 2005
Rating: 5 out of 5
3 customers found this review helpful.
Incredible book gives you all the basics and more.
For all those people that think you need to be an advanced businessman to read this book, I'm 21 and don't own any type of business.
It's not an easy read, but if your dedicated, it gives you enough information to start your own corporation. My favorite parts of the book are the examples about the available laws, loopholes, tax breaks, etc.
If anyone I know decides to start a business, I'm prepared to walk them through, or at least guide them in the right direction (that's how good this book is).
Don't get me wrong, you might and most likely will need a lawyer, but at least you know which corporation to start with (depending on your business).
If nothing else, this will show you the importance of a corporation and how not to mess up if you already have one.
Groovy Corporate Info - Review written on May 28, 2004
Rating: 5 out of 5
11 customers found this review helpful, 2 did not.
Easy to read. I formed a C corporation with Mr. Sutton's firm after reading this book. They took care of all that legal mumbo jumbo so I could focus on building my business.
I was trapped in big corporations for 20 years - this book helped me understand how to get started...and the "right way" to protect my assets as an entrepreneur.
I only have time to read 2-3 business books a year. I'm glad this was one of them.
The best one I've read - Review written on October 15, 2003
Rating: 5 out of 5
14 customers found this review helpful, 2 did not.
I've reviewed a couple of other corporation forming type books. This one is the best I've read yet. Deals with Nevada corporations. Explains taxes, benefits, loopholes, etc.
Probably not totally complete, afterall, if you're a lawyer, you need something that is thicker and harder to understand, I'm sure, but for the rest of us, this book seems to cover the iformation well enough.
I'd recommend it to any thinking about starting a business or any that are in business and have not yet incorporated.
Must read for anyone forming a corporation or business. - Review written on October 05, 2003
Rating: 5 out of 5
53 customers found this review helpful, 4 did not.
Garret Sutton does an excellent job explaining various corporations to meet particular needs.
C, S and LLC corporations are covered thoroughly. I was talking to a friend the other day who is in the process of srting his own business. He didn't realize (many don't) the different corporations that are available.
Own your Own Corporation will give you the knowledge to take to your attorney and start your own corporation properly. You'll be in control.
Taxes and lawsuits are two of the biggest deterrents to building and keeping wealth. Sutton explains how to substantially reduce taxes (even FICA!) and insulate yourself from the something for nothing crowd that love to sue successful business people.
Own Your Own Corporation is a must read for anyone in business or anyone who is contemplating forming a corporation and laucnhing a business.