Due to the 2019-nCoV (also known as coronavirus) outbreak, many businesses start working remotely. Students are forced to continue to study with distance learning courses. Those who stay at home use various means to entertain while being quarantined. As air companies make their employees redundant and cut expenses in fear of recession, online streaming services and online education platforms enjoy their growth. Netflix, Google and similar companies are extremely popular these days.

Many clients think about converting their offline business to online as they need to continue to operate. But as many offline shops, cafes, sport clubs, theaters are closed for unknown period of time, others move their shops to websites.

The good news is that you can incorporate a company online, while you stay at home with your loved ones. This is a really good time to think about diversifying your business. And this is a perfect time to invest your efforts in creation of an online company.

Why do I need to incorporate a company?

This is the most common question. The Internet allows you to sell goods and services without having any company or even registration as a sole entrepreneur. Everyone can sell something on Ebay or just use a free template to start a website without any company formation. So, why is it required to incorporate a company and invest money in registration fees?

Of course, there are always risks that a company you start will not give you any dividend and will only suck your money. But one should not forget that it is not possible to run a legal business without official incorporation.

So, you need to incorporate a company if:

• you want your business to operate legally;
• you want to have a reputable and professional business;
• you place your products and services on market platforms, such as Ebay, Etsy, Amazon, App Store, Google Store etc.

What are the benefits of the UK for company formation?

Like many other countries, the UK enable the incorporation of a company without any hassle in the shortest possible time. The cost of company formation is competitively low. You can enjoy tax benefits, if your company will not be a resident for tax purposes. Despite political situation, the UK remains to be a solid country with legislation being positive for business.

How quickly can I set up a company in the UK?

Provided that you have all documents ready, it takes 2 business days to set up a company in the UK.

I want to set up a company as quickly as possible: can I do it by myself? Or should I hire a representative?

If you are not a UK resident and you do not have an address which you can use for registration, then most probably you need to hire a professional agent which will act as your representative, assist you with all documents and cooperate with official authorities.

The agent will fill in all official forms and will guide you throughout all necessary steps. Further, the agent will submit your documents to the Companies House and receive corporate documents to confirm successful incorporation.

How do I prepare my documents remotely as I still need to visit a notary office?

The Companies House accepts foreign official documents (such as a foreign passport), only if such documents are translated into English and the translation is certified by notary. It means that you will need to translate and certify specific application documents in your country.

Most of the countries allow you to cooperate with notaries remotely or again ask your agent for assistance, so that you will not need to go to the notary by yourself.

Ecompany.ltd has published many articles about the full list of documents to be submitted to the Companies House for company formation. You can easily find detailed instructions on our website. We are always ready to assist our clients on any questions they may have in connection with required documents.

How quickly can I open a bank account? Do I need to visit their office?

After your company is successfully registered with the Companies House, you can open a bank account in the UK or an online account. The latter is a perfect alternative to traditional banks. In contrast to banks, online payment institutions enable you to open an online account within a day or even a few hours. All communication is done online. Most online payment providers require that you send a scanned passport or ID accompanied with a utility bill. After the AML procedure, your online account is opened.

You can use your online account to accept payments, send payments, transfer your funds to your bank account or withdraw money. Some online payment providers allow to have a physical card which can be used as a mean of payment around the world and in order to withdraw money.

As you can see we live in interesting times. What seems to be difficult can be converted to your benefits.

Ecompany.ltd specializes in company formation in several countries across the globe. Our key benefit is that we provide business solutions for online businesses: from company formation to company management, from legal to translation services and many more. Please feel free to contact us.