Starting a new business or LLC is time-consuming; you might be considering outsourcing this process to a professional service. Additionally, depending on how your business is registered, you might need to have a registered agent to collect paperwork on behalf of your company. If you are searching for a way to outsource your business start, the handling of legal documents, and the managing of your business, you might consider using a formation service. Formation services give new business owners the opportunity to outsource aspects of a business start-up so that they can focus on other day-to-day operations. Popular formation services include Northwest Registered Agent and ZenBusiness. Each of these services provides highly valuable services but tailor to unique pain points and different needs. Here is our comparison of Northwest Registered Agent vs ZenBusiness.
Northwest Registered Agent vs ZenBusiness
While Northwest Registered Agent and ZenBusiness offer a very similar service, we couldn’t help but feel enamored by the offerings that Northwest Registered Agent provides. Additionally, even when you are getting the same services with both companies, with Northwest Registered Agent, the package is customizable, something that you can tailor and scale to your business needs or the multiple needs of different businesses!In addition to going above and beyond in customer support, Northwest Registered Agent provides a 100% guarantee to never sell your customer data or private information. They also package their services based on your very specific needs, available in every state, with an easy to understand price breakdown. One of the biggest perks is that they provide everything that you would need to file paperwork on your own, such as a free PDF download of the state’s Articles of Organization, and a free account that provides tools and walk-throughs for submitting the paperwork and maintaining a business online. This streamlines the process of starting a business, especially if you are looking for more complex business structures or multiple businesses in multiple states.
With Northwest Registered Agent, you have more of an offering in what is available and you definitely aren’t getting a cookie-cutter solution! Here’s our breakdown, and why we stand by our statements!
Northwest Registered Agent Overview
Northwest Registered Agent is a business support service that provides business start-up and business management. You can consider this company to be a support service for both new companies and for maintaining compliance and services on an ongoing basis. Their services include registered agent service, forming a company, registering an existing company in another state(s), Wyoming Domestication, mail forwarding service, virtual office service, FCC 499-A telecommunications registered agent, FMCSA BOC-3 Trucking compliance, VOIP business phone number, and yearly business compliance filing. You can work with Northwest Registered Agent in order to obtain a registered agent who will file, send, and receive paperwork on your behalf. This can be a long-term service operating as your business registered agent (in a situation where one is required), or they can do the initial business set up and you’ll be on your way. The company also provides free legal docs, guides on starting an LLC and corporation.
Their packages are customized by the business need, which includes things like hiring a registered agent, starting a business, maintaining a business, and filing legal forms.
ZenBusiness Overview
ZenBusiness is a formation business, which is a service-oriented company that will file paperwork, operate as a registered agent, sign your business up for an employer identification number (EIN), and more, in the state that your business is seeking to register. Their service offerings range based on business type (LLC or corporation) and state requirements but generally include three types of plans: the “starter”, which is $49 billed annual, the “pro” which is $199 billed annually, and the premium, which is $299 billed annually. Here is what a breakdown looks like for an LLC starting up in Massachusettes:
Features of all three services include document filing, registered agent, Operating Agreement template, and 100% Accuracy Guarantee. Pro services also include an EIN, Banking Resolution Template, and a Worry-Free Compliance. Premium features include rush filing, business domain name, business website, and business email address.
You can add on services to your starter pack (like the filing rush fee and a website). Other perks to using ZenBusiness also include a name availability search, phone and email support, a credit card offer, and an online document access center.
Differences Between Northwest Registered Agent vs ZenBusiness
Northwest Registered Agent prides itself on a few markers that set them apart from the competition. As a family-owned business, Northwest Registered Agent has provided excellent customer service since its inception in 1989. They provide a Local Corporate Guide, guarantee consumer privacy, and offer a large number of free resources. Northwest Registered Agent also offers a lot of free guides and customization in its services. For example, if you wanted help maintaining a business, you could use their services for mail forwarding or virtual office set up, doing business in another state, annual reporting, filing for EINs, etc. Or you could download a free guide about Doing Business As (DBA) and name search, asset protection, publication and residency guides, and many other important business-related necessities. The specificity of services that ZenBusiness offers differs drastically from Northwest Registered Agent. ZenBusiness offers a lot of the same services as Northwest Registered Agent but in a comprehensive package. This means that you may choose the Pro package and pay for services you don’t need like expedited filing and a Banking Resolution template. ZenBusiness provides services that aren’t available with Northwest Registered Agent, such as a business website, domain name privacy, business email address, business domain name, Google Ads credit, corporate bylaws, virtual business guide, free accounting consultation, and a special credit card offer.Additionally, with ZenBusiness’s expedited filing offerings, Premium purchasers can have their paperwork filed in 2-4 business days; Pro plan member paperwork will be filed in 5-8 business days, whereas standard forms in the starter package are filed in 2-3 weeks.
Similarities Between Northwest Registered Agent and ZenBusiness
Northwest Registered Agent and ZenBusiness are very similar in some of the services that are offered. For example, both offer formation services and provide clients with the registered agent, preparation and filing service, name search, customer support, business guides, and EIN. Therefore if you are looking for support in starting a business, filing your state’s required paperwork, and signing on a registered agent, you can expect a very similar service from both Northwest Registered Agent and ZenBusiness. Additionally, you don’t necessarily need to be swayed by benefits like web hosting and name search as these tools are available as free or affordable services. The good news is that both Northwest Registered Agent and ZenBusiness provide a highly supportive formation service so that you can get your LLC or Corporation off the ground faster. If you are looking for a customizable plan and solid customer support (which can be extremely important during a stressful startup time), we recommend going with Northwest Registered Agent.
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