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Navigate legal structure options without getting overwhelmed.

Not legal advice: This tool is for educational purposes only. It does not provide legal, tax, or financial advice, and using it does not create an attorney-client relationship with ConsultaPedia or its authors. Legal structure decisions have real tax, liability, and compliance consequences that vary by state and individual circumstances — always consult a licensed attorney or qualified tax professional before forming or changing a business entity.

Private, no-account workspace: Your responses are used temporarily to create this tool's analysis. ConsultaPedia does not save your responses or results in a user database.

This tool evaluates your liability concerns, tax preferences, and ownership structure, then weighs your answers against seven business entity types to recommend the best fit.


Business Needs Survey

1. How many owners, partners, or members will this business have?





2. Will every owner, partner, shareholder, or member be a U.S. citizen or U.S. permanent resident?





3. How much personal-asset risk are you willing to accept if the business is sued or can't pay its debts?





4. How do you want business profits to be taxed?





5. Do you need to split profits or losses differently than ownership percentage (for example, one owner receives 60% of profits while owning 50%)?





6. How do you plan to fund this business? (Select all that apply)








7. Will you need different classes of ownership (for example, voting vs. non-voting shares, or preferred vs. common stock)?





8. What revenue do you expect in year one, and where do you expect to be in 3-5 years?





9. Do you plan to hire employees, and will you offer equity-based compensation such as stock options?





10. Does your business operate in a heavily regulated field (such as finance, healthcare, or insurance) requiring licensing or specific compliance filings?





11. Will you have owners, operations, or sales outside the United States?





12. Will intellectual property (patents, trademarks, or proprietary software/content) be a core business asset?





13. What are your long-term goals (5+ years) for this business?






14. Is the core purpose to generate profit for owners, or to serve a public or charitable mission?





15. How much time and money can you commit to formal recordkeeping (meeting minutes, resolutions, separate accounting, registered agent fees, etc.)?






Please complete the Business Needs Survey. Suitability Scores will then appear here.


Developed by Dr. Ralph Jagodka, Ed.D., former Interim Director of the East Los Angeles County Small Business Development Center and author of "How To Organize, Start and Manage a Small Business" Full bio. © 2026 About This Page