The Business of Business

     When I was 7 years old I started working at my first job. I was hired by my Dad to learn the family business. Therone Frazier and Sons was a small sanitation business in rural St. Louis, Missouri, USA Chesterfield, Missouri to be exact. At seven I didn't know that I needed to pay attention to the stories I was told. Therone explained how he started the family business. I laughed so much I lost the point of the story of how the business began. I was told it started with a horse and wagon. Henry Joseph Frazier was the Patriarch of the family. Therone said he was given the business at a young age. I don't think he was seven. Like I said I missed the main point of the story. 

      I think now I need to tell you I am the youngest of the five sons. This means I will not inherit the Empire from Fred Sanford. This also means I will be a worker and not the Owner, the President or the CEO. One day Therone Frazier looked at me and said today you go with me. The two of us left at 06:30 am and went to an area not in the normal route. Again he was talking to me about the business. At the end of the day he said "what do you think; can you handle this if I give it to you?" Every Saturday after that we left early and I worked hard. I have to remind you that in 1973 race was a very large part of the area. Henry's wife Maggie was a small lady that looked almost white. Therone explained that I was given this area by a group of men. "Normally we wouldn't go this far west. There are people that want you to have your own business to look after. Therone sold the business when I was fourteen. I learned something during the selling of the business. Not using your own name takes away from the personal touch; but it makes the business easier to sell. More organized sanitation companies were growing and taking over the rural routes. Therone Frazier would start another business years later and I learned another business lesson. Know the point of the Legal Entity. 

.     I was 31 years old when the phone rang and Therone Frazier the man that raised was on the phone. "Are you busy after work? I could use some help this week." He explained what he needed help with at that point. I agreed to meet him after grabbing some clothes. I was working as a Mortgage Broker/Mortgage Banker at Missouri Mortgage Savings in Chesterfield, Missouri, USA. Frazier's Custom Lawn Service was now my second job working for the family. I had that feeling of Deja vu. I was listening to him talk about fuel cost, lawn mower maintenance, and insurance. I never heard "Legal Filing." I am thinking back to make sure I didn't hear Legal Entity or Legal Filing. I do remember Custom Lawn Service. I heard him tell me "It's harder when the service is professional." I was looking out the window of the truck when he asked, "do you remember Maurice Dow?" "Darren." I looked Maurice owns DowCo... Wait did he just mention "Legal Entity." 

     I was now working at Service By Air. The owner often boast that it was a 100-million-dollar operation. That brought about the office problem eventually of Office Sales and Corporate Sales. Stephanie said you are no longer an  Office Salesperson. I didn't understand the problem. Scott and Stephanie are a husband and wife owning a level of office S.A.R. Logistics they both have the same initials to their names. "I will just sell and let S.A.R. and Corporate figure it out. I was a hundred percent commission at that point and needed to file all expenses on my own. I never filed for a Legal Entity. I was using my social security number to file all income. Which brings me back to Frazier's Custom Lawn Service. I was asked if I wanted to be a partner in Frazier's Custom Lawn Service I read and signed the contract. When I left, I never asked for the shares or profits do me. It was a Family Business.  When I left Service By Air now SBA Global Logistics I needed to return to college. All sales positions at the corporate level require a degree most companies ask for a bachelor's degree. 

.     Once you have decided to form a legal entity you need to choose the type of legal formation. Sole Proprietor, Single Member LLC, Multiple Member LLC, or Corporation. The LLC is not a corporation it is a Limited Liability Company. A Corporation is a completely different type of filing. Filing a DBA is not the same as filing a corporation. However, it does make you a legal owner. Doing Business As - if there is a corporation the state or federal Government has to be granted permission to file the DBA if the corporation is still on state records as being legally operating and in good standing. I currently have several legal entity filings with two or more states.

     The legal filings were done for a reason that no one understands. There are ways to be legally liable for theft, damages, death, and defamation of character that make legal filings necessary. It is always helpful to separate the financial responsibility between business and personal when multiple people are involved. Once the legal entity is formed there is a huge difference between signing a document as an individual and signing the document as the owner of the business. It is crazy I filed for an LLC and was given a license to sell retail items as an individual. Then I filed for a way to sell as a retail business. I learned corporate filings are not the same when filing an LLC DBA. You are only able to file an LLC DBA when a corporate filing is in place for the DBA. When granted the DBA you are the company in that state. Having two or more state DBA's makes you the DBA in almost all 50 states if you file the LLC in the other states. However, you do have to file all legal documents to remain in good standing in each state registered. 

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By Darren Dwayne Frazier

By Highland Productions LLC