This is one of those personal stories where I do something stupid and then pretend to learn from it. I'll stick to the short version. For the past 2 years, I've been putting off incorporating my primary business. I can make a thousand excuses, but I don't really have any good reasons.
It just seemed daunting.
Being a corporation just seems like such a big thing, so I naturally assumed it would take a big, painful process. Over the past couple of years, I've researched online, talked to my tax guy, talked to a lawyer*, and on and on. Every new bit of information led to more issues I hadn't considered and, ultimately, more waffling.
The problem is, with all my research into the issues, I never really researched the actual process. I learned all about why the decision was complicated, but I didn't learn anything about how to actually get the job done.
It turned out to be easy.
After all this angst, I finally just bit the bullet and called my lawyer back. When she finally understood what I was doing, she basically said "Oh, that's easy – you can just do that through the state website." Now, say what you will about Illinois state government (and you'd be right on most counts), they somehow have managed to do online paperwork right. The process probably took me 20 minutes, including looking up a couple of questions. The next morning I got an email that basically said: "Congratulations! You're an LLC now."
Let the self-flagellation begin.
This is normally where I'd spend a month beating myself up over the fact that the thing I put off for 2 years ended up taking 30 minutes. Luckily, I'm getting old enough to realize that would just waste yet another month.
So, how do I actually learn the lesson this time? I hate to count the number of times I've put something that seemed big off, only to finally do it and realize it took a few hours (or much less). The fundamental problem is just one word: "seemed." I had no idea whether the tasks were actually big – I just assumed the worst.
Don't invent obstacles.
If there's a take-home message here, I think that's it. If you have to do something that seems big or that feels like it carries huge consequences, don't start imagining obstacles. Do your homework and find out the truth.
Figure out step one.
This is a common theme in time management, and I think it's worth repeating. My problem, in this case, was that I did a lot of research, but it was all around the potential issues and problems. I never figured out what the first step was to just getting the job done. Had I done that, I probably would've finished this a year or more ago.
Weigh the real risks.
Of course, some decisions really are risky, but there's a difference between weighing the risks and imagining worst-case scenarios. My biggest fear was doing this "wrong" (picking the wrong type of corporation, for example). Of course, the actual consequences of that are pretty small.
On the other hand, what was the real impact of letting this decision weigh on me for 2 years? Putting things off takes a real toll – organizationally, emotionally, even physically. Avoiding big decisions carries risk, too. So, get your facts straight, and take action – the alternative is just postponing your life.
*I'd like to thank Daliah at Saper Law who has repeatedly given me great legal advice without actually charging me for it. If you're a Chicago start-up or technology business looking for a lawyer, give her a call.
