May 8, 2018

As a business owner, you might be looking for the best opportunities that will allow your business to grow and be nurtured in a secure environment. This can be accomplished by incorporating your business. Incorporation is the formation of a business or non-profit organization into a corporation. There are many benefits for you and your business in doing this. And if you are a business owner in the state of Florida, the benefits of incorporating there can be even greater.

The benefits of incorporating your business in general are pretty appealing. For example, you personal assets are protected against creditors’ claims and lawsuits when you incorporate your business. In a corporation, stockholders and other officers are only legally responsible for the amount of money that they invested. In addition, corporations can own personal assets like homes or vehicles. These assets are protected in the event that one is personally embroiled in court proceedings or bankruptcy.

When you incorporate your business, it is easy to transfer any portion of ownership to other parties in the corporation. Also, various types of retirement plans and funds are set up with greater ease for a corporation. And, corporations are taxed at a lower rate than individuals. Other benefits of incorporating your business include the fact that stock can be sold in order to raise funds for the corporation (less personal funds out of your pocket!), a corporation can continue for an indefinite period even if deaths of any prominent members occur, and since corporations attain their own credit rating unique to the individual who started the business, the credit history of the corporation is not tied directly to the chief officer.

Because Florida acquires so much of its revenue annually from tourism, there is great reason to believe that bringing your business to or starting your business in the state of Florida will not only help add to the great business and industry there, but will help your business to thrive, no matter what service you provide or products you sell. There are even greater benefits for your business if you consider incorporating in Florida over other states.

For starters, there is no personal income tax in Florida. By incorporating your business in Florida and opting for “S” status, you are not required to file a state income tax return after the first year. This will help you reap huge benefits in the long run. Also, the state of Florida has no minimum asset requirement for incorporating a business. That means that you don’t have to plunk down a lot of cash out of your pocket. This is especially beneficial if you are a small, young business and do not have a lot of personal assets to put into the business.

Another benefit of incorporating in Florida is that you don’t have to have more than 1 person involved in your company. Some states require that a different person be seated for each corporate position. Florida does not have that prerequisite. Shareholders and other officers in your corporation (if there are any) can also remain anonymous, because the Florida Secretary of State office does not insist on a list of people that are involved in your business, or any of their personal information, such as phone numbers or addresses.

The state of Florida makes it very easy to be an incorporated business owner there. It business-friendly tax laws and lenient requirements make it seem almost too good to be true for business owners. By considering incorporating your business in the state of Florida, you can feel secure knowing that you and your business will be shielded from burdensome legal issues, and that you and your business colleagues will enjoy success in one of the most popular states in the United States.

One of the best areas to scuba dive within North America is in the Florida Keys, a long string of islands just south of Miami. For any scuba diver traveling to southern Florida, even a quick day trip to the Florida Keys is worthwhile. There’s great scuba diving all along the Keys from the first community of Key Largo, through to the middle at Marathon and all the way to the end where Key West is located. One can get to Key Largo in about 45 minutes from Miami and the protected Pennekamp marine park in the surrounding waters offers much more marine life to see than the waters off Miami or Fort Lauderdale. Key Largo in particular is a scuba diver’s town with numerous dive operators and some retailers who carry diving equipment and gear.

One of the great things about scuba diving in the Florida Keys is the variety of dive sites for every level of diver. Many of the nicest coral reefs loaded with fish are located in beginner level dive sites like Molasses Reef and French Reef. With depths of 30 to 50 feet, these are perfect dive sites for newly certified scuba divers as well as those who wish to do night dives. There’s even some good wreck diving in shallow dive sites like the Benwood wreck where the resident marine life will not disappoint any diver. For more advanced divers, there are some spectacular deep dives featuring large wrecks like the Duane, a former coast guard ship sitting upright. The most recent ship that was sunk for scuba diving is the Spiegel Grove which again is for advanced divers.

Many scuba divers from North America and other parts of the world come to the Florida Keys for their open water certification dives as well as more advanced training. Accommodations are plentiful right in the communities along the Keys and range from simple motels all the way up to high end resorts. Many have special packages just for scuba divers where there’s an arrangement with one of the local dive operators. There’s also relatively inexpensive accommodations in Florida City which is the closest community back in the Florida mainland about 20 minutes from Key Largo. After the day of diving, there are lots of restaurants serving fresh seafood for even the hungriest of divers.

Another attractive feature of Florida Keys diving is the cost. Especially for the quality of the dive sights, the cost of diving here is lower than in many of the Caribbean destinations like the Bahamas and Cayman Islands. For those who are not ready to try scuba diving, there are some decent sites to snorkel in the Keys including one of the best in the U.S. at Looe Key. The marine life that can be seen here has convinced quite a few snorkellers to finally pursue scuba diving certifications. The Florida Keys has enough other activities to do besides scuba diving to keep non-divers busy. There’s interesting shopping, water sports, beaches (near the western part) and even two places to interact with dolphins. Of course, there’s also the funky scene at Key West.

The one aspect about scuba diving in the Florida Keys that some divers may not like is that the dives are not guided by divemasters from the various scuba operators. Divers who are used to following a local divemaster like the diving in destinations like Cozumel, will just have to team up in buddy groups here in the Keys. Despite this drawback, the Florida Keys still offers great tropical scuba diving without leaving the USA.