I received and email froma student explaining he had incorporated in Delaware, given their advantages, lined up special banking, and then ran into cross-state licensing issues, and wondered what to do... I quoted I think Johnson: "Many a slip twixt the cup and the lip"
and then went on...
I understand getting licenses, filing forms, structuring things is psychological helpful, but it can actually stymie your opportunities. One advantage you have is your flexibility. I'd advise against locking yourself down even before you have made a dime.
I have not run into this before because I knew in advance what the problems would be. I do have a sole proprietorship and a Straight C corporation I own, but each exist only to serve the customer. I would have waited on all of this licensing and banking until your first incoming funds from a transaction came into your personal account. Then I would take that money and then deposit it into a bank account and get any licensing. As you go down that list of actions none of it serves the customer. So I would do nothing else until money is coming in. My attitude is what form our business takes depends on the needs of our customers. So far you are only doing research. You do not need to be registered with the tax collectors to do research. (Although you may write off the cost of this research on your fed taxes, without any licensing or bank or anything else.) Of course, this presumes first we get customers.
Export management company can have a specific meaning in law, and if so, can be hugely expensive, and require overhead (which may be why you anticipate hiring people 4Q/11.) My guess is you are following a template that in time you will realize was designed to launder money for only huge companies, not a small or start-up company. You'll have to pursue massive volumes with tight margins to play that game, which is very difficult to pull off.
There are alternatives, and they require none of the above. In Chapter eight of the book I lay out an alternative.
Have you tested your hypothesis with the Chileans? Such as you approach qualified buyers, and speaking to decision makers, have said, "I believe if I offer you Bauxite at $200/ton, 1000 ton MOQ, FAS Long Beach, 14 days after order, you will buy from me on a Letter of Credit confirmed to my local bank?"
The hard fact is until you test the hypothesis, it is all wishing and hoping. Until you test the hypothesis, none of the above matters. When you test the hypothesis, it is very likely you will get a "no..", yet it will be "no, because..." at which point you can get to work overcoming the objection. Again, overcoming objections is research and you need none of the above to do research....
I understand getting licenses, filing forms, structuring things is psychological helpful, but it can actually stymie your opportunities. One advantage you have is your flexibility. I'd advise against locking yourself down even before you have made a dime.
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