
California has firmly planted itself into the upper half of America’s top states for business in 2023. Ranking in 25th place, its strong points are its workforce, access to capital, tech, and innovation. This makes it a great place to start up your own small business.
In fact, many people have gone that very route as 4.24 million small businesses operate in California. This is expected to continue growing in the coming years, with small businesses being responsible for 48.2% of all employees in the state.
Of course, running a business in California means facing higher taxes and increasingly difficult regulations to contend with. The state is known as one of the most heavily regulated in the nation, with businesses having to deal with tons of permits and compliances that may be hard to keep up with on your own.
There is also the high cost of living and expense of doing business here in 2023, so you may want to have a registered agent that can help you navigate these pros and cons well. You’ll find a few prime reasons to get yourself a registered agent for The Golden State.
It’s a Must for Legal Compliance
Among the many legal business requirements held by the state of California is having a registered agent. If you are unable to designate one when you operate your business, you will be penalized and may incur additional fines. It is illegal for a business entity to operate in the state with a registered agent for service of process.
Thankfully, finding a registered agent in California is not that difficult. There are many trusted agent services that can quickly provide you with a registered agent with experience relevant to your business and the role itself. Of course, you can actually appoint yourself or one of your employees as a registered agent as well.
That said, this requires a totally separate filing process and defeats the purpose of many of the benefits of having a registered agent.
It Protects Your Privacy
Aside from the legal compliance that requires you to have a registered agent, you should also look into the privacy benefits that having one provides.
When you have a registered agent, it is their designated official address that becomes available to any person or entity that wants to send communications your way.
This is a great buffer for any unwanted solicitation and keeps your business completely separate from your personal life.
So, as far as the general public is concerned, your own address won’t be displayed for anyone to see. With the rising accounts of crimes committed against vendors across Los Angeles and other cities, it’s worth having that extra layer of protection for your own business.
It Ensures Good Standing
One of the biggest mistakes you need to avoid when starting a business in the Gold Coast is overlooking legal requirements.
Taxes, health codes, zoning restrictions, and labor laws are just some of the essential factors you need to stay on top of.
In Cali, the requirements are tenfold and you are expected to keep up with tons of compliances on a regular basis.
While a registered agent is not meant to be a complete stand-in for all legal concerns, they do help ensure that you maintain good standing in terms of promptly receiving and managing legal requirements.
They handle communications from the government, including official notifications, and other legal documents that concern your company. So, any legal obligations will be attended to more efficiently.
It Makes Communications More Efficient
Proper channels for communication are essential when running a business. This is especially true when you’re running a hybrid setup that may see you off-site for a significant portion of your day.
You want to have business continuity and be assured that you will receive prompt communications regardless of when you come into your main base of operations.
In fact, a couple of the Essential Strategies for Effective Hybrid Workplace Management are fostering a sense of connectedness and securing clear communication channels.
Just as you provide different applications for employees to make use of, so should you have a point of contact for documents and service of process.
It Provides More Flexibility
At the end of the day, you will also be glad to have the services of a registered agent so that you have more flexibility.
This allows you to run your business even if you are not physically at the “office.” That is not only an advantage for work-life balance but also gives your more room for scalability should you wish to expand.
It’s also helpful if you have to make changes that interrupt your space, like renovations or having to move your business location.
The business is not halted in terms of receiving important documents and communications since your registered agent is always available.
They also get to receive documents at any time and will forward it to your preferred location as needed.
