I'm considering consulting out of state. What kind of incorperation?

[Ben Scott]

On Mon, Jan 28, 2013 at 10:28 PM, Bill Freeman <ke1g.nh at gmail.com> wrote:
> I have a potential gig on Long Island on a 1099, but will remain domiciled
> in NH.  I figure that I should become a LLC or sole proprietorship or
> something.  Suggestions?

  FYI: I believe you're already a sole proprietorship, by default.  A
"sole proprietorship" is basically just somebody working on his/her
own.  In particular, as a sole proprietor, there is no distinction
between the business entity and your personal self.  Your business and
you are one and the same.  You are Bill Freeman, and so is your
consultancy.[1]  If someone decides they want to sue your consultancy,
they sue you personally.

  All the other ways of forming a business (of which I am only vaguely
familiar) create a separate legal entity for the business.  Then your
consultancy is no longer Bill Freeman (the warm body), but a separate
thing.  If someone sues your consultancy, they're not suing you
personally.  Of course, as Ed Lawson points out that, as sole owner
and employee, this may be a mostly academic distinction.  :)

-- Ben

[1] I expect there may be some subtleties to sole proprietorship that
make my statements not strictly true, but I believe this is the
general idea.