Do I need to have a registered company in order to open Server Hosting?

[OpenSource]

Hi there!
I was thinking about opening a simple Game server hosting website. My question is would I need to have a registered company / firm in order to do so? Thanks!

 

[Harry]

Is your question coming from a legal or a perception-based standpoint?

If the former, then it'll depend on what country you'd want to operate out of and what you specifically mean by 'registered', be that incorporation of a limited company or registration with your local tax agency/data protection agency/commercial register/assumed business name, etc.

 

[Ritzum]

If you'll be making money, your supposed to. If you are planning on being successful in providing hosting services, you'll definitely want to be registered as at least an LLC.

in my, non legal attorney opinion.

 

[Cooper Hale]

No. Plain and simple. Put everything you earn from the business back into the business.

 

[NameAidan]

Hi there!
I was thinking about opening a simple Game server hosting website. My question is would I need to have a registered company / firm in order to do so? Thanks!

If you are making something small like below $600 a month then you really don't need to. But anything over $1k a month and yes you should otherwise you could get into legal trouble if you for example are making $5k a month.

 

[HeyItsSkay]

This applies to the United States.
Short answer, yes.

Slightly longer answer, still yes. You'll want to register your company. How you want to do it varies however. You'll want to do some research on which type of business you'll want to register as, as there are several differences between each type. These types include; sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company (LLC), and a corporation. I'm not going to go into too much detail here, but the main difference between a sole proprietorship/partnership and an LLC/Corporation is the debt liability. In the former, the owner/owners are 100% liable for any debts the business may incur, while for the latter, the owner/owners only have limited liability (hence the name Limited Liability Company). Another factor is cost, LLC's and Corporations are expensive to start, there are fees and other costs that make it this way. Sole proprietorships are also easy from a tax perspective as you would be only paying taxes for the business on your personal income taxes. The way to establish all of these varies state to state so as I stated in the beginning, be sure to research each of these and for your state in particular (mainly for sole proprietorship as you can found an LLC in another state but of course there are high legal fees for LLC's).

Thats all for now. I also hope you're from the US since if you're not then this explanation really has no value for you.

 

[koshr]

Unless you are providing the service for free, yes.