392 - Stop Paying for Bullshit [2027 Edition]
On today's episode I'm talking about the latest scams, bullshit you can avoid as a business owner, and what to look out. I record an updated version of this episode almost every year (you can listen to past Stop Paying for Bullshit versions on episodes 10, 102, 259, and 312). This week’s episode is brought to you by the Contract Club® . All the contracts you need, all in one place. Just pay the cover, and you’re in for life. Join now for $200 before the price doubles on December 1st. The main purpose of this episode is that you need to have a base knowledge and understanding of some tax and legal basics in order to get the most out of who you're hiring so you don't get f*cked over. Bullshit You Need to Stop Paying For 1. Overpriced registered agents - Hiring a registered agent is not necessarily a bad idea, it can protect you from your home address being listed with the state or you may not live in the state where you filed your LLC, though you usually want to form your LLC in the state in which you live. But, you can find registered agent services for $75-$150/year. I worked with a client almost 10 years ago who was paying an online service $300/year for a registered agent. Way too much! 2. Companies that offer LLC filing services - Essentially you're already filling out a bunch of forms and then just paying them to file them for you and then you don't really know what your ongoing obligations are. I had a student in Unf*ck Your Biz who had a bookkeeper and a CPA but filed her LLC with an online filing service and was not aware she also needed to file annual statements of information and pay her annual franchise tax along with filing a franchise tax return. That's something her CPA really should have flagged, but it's a good thing for you to know so you can ask your tax preparer. Because she went four years without paying these fees, her bank account got levied for ~$3,500. And I've had this happen to several other students, but instead of the levy their LLC was involuntarily dissolved. In addition, these filing services don't walk you through anything, they just give you the forms you can get yourself on your state's website. And because they don't explain anything to you, I've had clients who used these services and filed incorrectly, like a corporation when they needed an LLC which also led to them paying way more in taxes. 3. Spam mailers - Labor law posters are big example of this. When you form your LLC, there are people who monitor those registrations and then send you notices saying under state law XYZ you're required to have labor law posters. Buy ours for $X. If you are actually required to have them, you can get them from the state. These companies try and charge you for things that you may actually need, but doing it under the guide of trying to appear like a state agency to mislead you into spending money. 4. Trademark registry letters - I've seen letters that quote $1,500 for trademark registry. And I don't even I don't even know what this one is because you apply and register your trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. That's what you pay an attorney for. We've filed over 200 of them. But then as soon as you file, you get these scam letters like, "Allow us, private company that sounds like a government entity but isn't, to register your trademark. You need to send us $1,500." and it's a complete scam. Anytime you file a trademark, all communication should go through your lawyer, via email from the trademark office. 5. BOI filing compliance letters - Sometimes companies try to scare you into paying them to file your BOI for you. It's probably a scam, especially because that's been temporarily frozen in under the Trump administration. Anytime you get a letter asking you to pay any money, check to see who it's coming from and note that any of these emails should have a .gov email address. 6. Electing S Corp status too early - I get so many ads and social media posts saying to form an S corp to save you $10,000+. The truth to this is that yes, S corps can save you money, more on that in future episodes, but the amount you save is often overstated by the people trying to sell you the service and if you're a brand new business owner not making much money, usually less than $70,000+, then an S Corp would actually cost you more money that it would save you. 7. Overhyped tax deductions - If you don't need it for your business, don't buy it. You're spending more on whatever it is you're buying than that deduction is saving you in taxes. New Bullshit to Look Out for in 2027 8. 1099s you don't need to send - The threshold to send 1099s went from $600 to $2,000 for 2026 payments. Those things are being updated on a regular basis, stay tuned for a whole episode on 1099 rules in January. 9. Subscription creep - Software prices keep climbing. Keep an eye on what you're paying for and how much you're actually using them. 10. AI - I can't blame you for using AI for so much in your business, but it can be bad news if you're using it too much. Make sure you're not stacking AI subscriptions like Chat GPT, Claude, Jasper, AI notetakers, the list goes on and it adds up. And don't use AI contract generators. They may seem cheap upfront, but the generic contract you get may be compiling clauses that aren't relevant or enforceable which would cause your contract to be thrown out if you end up in a legal issue. Also stay clear of AI logos and brand names because content generated purely by AI cannot be copyrighted. And please, be very wary of AI legal and tax advice because it can cause all kinds of problems.
