Picking the right team can be the difference between victory and defeat. True in sports, and definitely true in business. And that’s never more important than when you’re starting your own company.
I’ve broken down more than a few services available for starting your own company, and one that I’ve been looking forward to reviewing is Northwest Registered Agent Services. This full review will cover the story behind Northwest Registered Agent, what services they can offer you, and why we recommend them. If you still have questions, check out the FAQs at the end.Who is Northwest Registered Agent?
Founded in 1998, Northwest Registered Agent was founded to help small businesses be as great as they can be. They describe themselves as a “medium-sized” business. They were founded in Spokane, WA, and are proud to still be headquartered there.
They founded themselves as a Registered Agent business (more on that later), and they focused on getting that part right before they expanded into other areas. Once they had an office set up in all 50 states (which they still have) they focused on how to keep providing small-business assistance with the best customer service.
What Northwest Registered Agent Can Do For You
Like a lot of other online services companies, Northwest Registered Agent can get all your paperwork filed and delivered, air-tight accurate and on-time. Whether you want to file for an LLC or non-profit, whether you’re doing business in one state or many, Northwest has you back.
We’ll focus this portion of the review on what Northwest does or excels at that other services don’t. We’ll touch on all their other services, but these are their highlights.
Registered Agent
It’s right there in their name, and you’d better believe it’s their bread and butter. Northwest started as a Registered Agent company, and it’s still their focus. But what is a registered agent?
When you found a business, especially an LLC, you’re required to list on your paperwork with the state who your registered agent is.
This person or organization is the point of contact for any legal paperwork filed regarding your company.
Having a registered agent is important for three big reasons. One, it’s legally required in all 50 states of the US. Two, if your company is involved in any legal suit, your registered agent receives that paperwork. This is important if you want a barrier between your personal address, or even the address of your business, and lawsuit paperwork.
The third important reason to have a registered agent is that they receive all the annual report paperwork from your state authority regarding upkeep and compliance.
You can serve as your own registered agent, just like you can be your own plumber. Sure, most times it’s not an issue, but if anything backs up, you don’t want it to wash all over you or your business.
By going with Northwest Registered Agent, you know that you’re being covered by a company that’s provided this service for over twenty years, and operates in all 50 states. You never need to worry about missing pieces of legal mail, and you never need to worry about that mail coming in to your physical business location, getting in the way of your running your company.
In addition to all the other benefits of a Registered Agent Service, Northwest offers you the option of using them in multiple states. If you live in New York, for instance, you may also want to do business in New Jersey, Connecticut, or even Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, or Rhode Island.
In that case, you’d need a registered agent in all five states, and Northwest Registered Agent is your absolute best option out there. Not only because they offer bulk pricing, but because they specialize in multiple state agent services, meaning nothing will fall through the cracks, and nothing will get missed.
Free Paperwork Templates
Whether you hire Northwest Registered Agent or not, they’re a great company and resource. To prove it, they’ve put together a library of free services for anyone to use.
Not only are these free to use, but each one of them comes with a mini-tutorial on how to use the form, and why each item on it is important. Many online companies have these options, but they’re behind a paywall. Not at Northwest Registered Agent. They’re simply trying to offer the best services possible, and they’re confident that once you’ve seen how professional and proficient they are, you’ll be more than happy to hire them.
And they’re free resources go beyond basic legal forms. They even have options to help you defend and begin lawsuit actions, including those that have to do with intellectual property.
This is an important element in today’s business world, and you can never be too prepared. With Northwest Registered Agent, you know you’ll have all the resources you need, before you need them.
Excellent Customer Service
There are two ways to look at customer service: what good does a company do for you, and what bad stuff do they never do. In the case of Northwest Registered Agent, they excel at both areas.
Looking at what good they do for you, every one of their webpages has a real working phone number at the bottom, and it’s answered by a live person.
No phone trees. If you call during business hours, a real human being will help you.
They also have prompt refunds and responsive ticket resolution for any hiccups that might arise. Right on their website they admit that sometimes mistakes are made (if only every company was that honest), but that they will work hard to make things right.
As for what they’ll never do that could harm you, we decided to make a list of their promises, things that we think every business should adopt.
Additional Services from Northwest Registered Agent
Northwest Registered Agent can also help you with all your small business needs. You could call these “wrap-around” services, as they are everything you need to run your company.
Why We Recommend Northwest Registered Agent
It may be clear by now, but we highly recommend Northwest Registered Agent. They don’t try to be the cheapest because that might mean they have to cut back on their services. And they won’t do that. Their standard rate is $100 for filing, $125 for Registered Agent Services, plus the fee your state will charge.
While there are some filing services that have “free” options, we think the $100 is worth the service and expertise you get from Northwest Registered Agent. In addition, we’ll note that their charge for everything is upfront–you’ll never be hit with an additional fee later in the process.
Overall, we highly recommend Northwest Registered Agent Services, for small business formation, and for all their other services.
FAQs
No. You can act as your own registered agent, or even appoint someone else. But while you’re trying to do everything else necessary to start your business, it might be worth taking that responsibility off of your plate.
No. You can hire Northwest Registered Agent for any part of their services. But because that’s how they started, it’s still in their name, and it’s still their area of expertise.
That’s largely dependent on the state you’re filing in. Some states can get you expedited service in a day, some take over a month. In every case, though, Northwest will turn it around as quickly as the state does.