Imke Ratschko

Imke Ratschko is a New York Attorney helping small businesses, business owners and entrepreneurs with all things "Small Business Law," such as litigation, contracts, business owner disputes, shareholder and operating agreements, sale or purchase of a business, investors, and starting a business. You can reach her at 212.253.1027 or by email.

How to convert an LLC into a Corporation

There are times in the life of a business when one business form has to be converted into another.  For example, a startup may have initially decided to form an LLC in order to pass through the LLC’s losses to the owners’ tax returns, thereby allowing them to deduct such losses from their other non … Read More

Business Entity Overview

CCH has a good overview over the business entities available to the business owner.  Be mindful, though, that choice of entity is influenced by your state laws.  For example, the overview states that corporations are usually cheaper to form than LLCs.  This is not true in New York. Usual price tag for forming a limited … Read More

Do I need a Federal ID Number for My Sole Member LLC?

No, for federal income tax purposes a sole member LLC is normally considered a "disregarded entity."  Unless you hire employees, you can use your social security number for all purposes. However, for security reasons, you may want to get Federal Tax Identification Number (also known as Employer Identification Number or Employer ID Number) in order … Read More

Think of your Agreements as Marketing – Six Things to Avoid

Have you ever thought that the contracts you hand out to your customers are another part of your marketing strategy?  If not, think again.  Everything you present to your potential customers (i.e. market) is marketing.  Here are six things that can damage your otherwise perfect marketing script: 1.  Agreements that are too long.  Almost every … Read More

LLCs and Derivative Actions – Tzolis v Wolff

What can a member of an LLC do if managers or members of the LLC engage in conduct that harms the LLC?  A New York Appellate Court has held (Tzolis v Wolff, 2007 NY Slip Opinion, Appellate Division, First Department) that a member of an LLC has standing to bring a so called "derivative action."  … Read More

Preparing your Business for Sale/Starting your Internet Business LLC

I’ve pretty much had given up exercise for blogging.  But since I figured out a way to take blogging to the gym, I’ve been back.  I make it bearable by listening to podcasts, the audio version of blogs.  Today I listened to (and recommend): Preparing you Businesss for Sale – An interview with Mathew Ashburn … Read More