Canadian provinces should simplify incorporating

In most Canadian provinces, a lot of small businesses skip the incorporation option because of burdensome paperwork and elevated costs associated with it. But not in Quebec. In what is being called a progressive approach to small business, Quebec allows businesses to incorporate, but bypass a lot of the troublesome processes that other provinces require.TOO MANY REQUIREMENTSCost and time are two of the most important factors for a small business. Right behind revenue. And incorporating impacts both. Well really all three I guess.For most other provinces, when you incorporate a business, you as the shareholder are required to:Establish a board of directorsHold shareholder meetingsKeep records of the aforementioned board and shareholder meetingsAdopt by-laws, such as issues around corporate governanceAppoint an auditorThose items thusly require professional services (ie: lots of $$), to ensure they are done correctly. If you're a small one or two person operation just starting out, why would you bother spending the time and money to complete those things if you don't need to.TAKING THE OTHER PATHS TO BUSINESS CREATIONSo if not incorporating, then what? You could go Sole Proprietorship. That is the easiest and least expensive set-up available. It gives you as the owner sole control and the tax reporting is simple.On the flip side, you have unlimited personal liability (you and the business are one and the same - and well, that's a bit scary). It's difficult to raise any sort of capital or equity financing. And it's very difficult to sell.You could start a Partnership. The advantages are you share the risk with your partner. You share the management duties of the company and the tax reporting is also simple (no separate corporate tax return).However, you run the risk of having a conflict with your partner. If your partner wants to screw you hard, they can rack up a lot of debt in the company which you are now personally responsible for your portion of. When it comes time to sell, buy-outs or sell-outs can be tricky as well.(Partnerships actually kinda sound like sh*t when you think abou it....)THE ADVANTAGE IS IN THE INCORPORATIONIncorporating truly is the way to go, if you can afford it and can stomach the headaches. You have limited personal liability (umm yes please!). It's far easier to raise capital with lending institutions. If you want to do any sort of business with the government, this is generally a requirement of theirs. And you can also get fancy with how you pay yourself. Salary or dividends are options available to you if incorporated and that sort of flexibility allows you to optimize your tax situation.So why isn't the rest of Canada getting on board with this? No damn clue! Quebec has had this in place since 2010! This is common in other countries around the world already.It seems common sense that a company of 1 owner and maybe a staff or two, doesn't need a board of directors, shareholder meetings and all the other stuff. Governments should be encouraging and helping entrepreneurs create companies that grow the economy and employee base, not burying them in red tape.Thanks for reading this far! If you liked it, maybe I could entice you to sign up for my small & family business newsletter which publishes content like this 3 times a week-ish. ♥ see hubwealthy.com/wealthy