How To Incorporate and Start a Business in California by J. W., Esq. Dicks, Franklin M. Mount

If you are clueless as to how to start a corporation in the State of California, this book is a great place to begin.

A few things about the title of the book are slightly misleading, which I will get out of the way upfront. First of all, this book in no way encourages you to start a California corporation on your own. This is not a do-it-yourself kit that walks you through the process of forming a corporation. Rather, it is largely aimed at helping you to decide what type of business entity is appropriate for your company, and how to get started. It gives comparisons between C-Corporations, S-Corporations, LLCs, sole-proprietorships, partnerships, etc. It comes to the author's slightly biased (but correct) conclusion that all but corporations are inappropriate for most business use.

Another problem with the title, but which is more of an oddity than a real issue, is that the cover and title refer to forming a corporation as "A Simple 9-Part Program". Once you get the actual book though, you will find that the cover and title vary slightly from what is advertised. It is actually "A Simple 6-Part Program"! I am not sure what happened to the 3 other "simple parts", but they somehow disappeared between the time I ordered the book, and the time I received it! Odd, but unimportant.

One other point, there is not a great deal of information in this book specific to the State of California. Most of it is more general in nature concerning corporations. Also, some of the info is slightly dated, as it was published in 1998. The reference section definitely could stand to be updated with website addresses, rather than just mailing addresses and phone numbers. The vast majority of general information still applies though, and has not changed since the time this book was initially written.

The author of this book is a lawyer, and urges you to go through one when starting your California Corporation. For anyone even considering doing something as foolish as filing to become a corporation on their own, this book will set them straight. The book does help you with many items that you would likely have to pay an attorney extra for though, such as providing templates for many forms, and answering many questions that would cost you big bucks to get your attorney to answer. All in all, it is an excellent value, and will save you quite a bit of time and effort when it comes to finding answers to simple questions as to how to get started. Although you will not really be able to run a corporation after reading this book, at least you know exactly what you are up against, and where to get started. The author's writing style is excellent, and the book was enjoyable enough to read, for such a relatively dull subject. - William Van Hefner, Editor at The Digest

Amazon: $11.87
Barnes & Noble: $15.25
Powell's: $16.95