I would like to register an LLC in California for my freelance textile design/styling operation. I'm seeking any advice on the topic!

Yes! But is very tricky. I have a C Corp own two LLCs. You should have separate board of directors in the C Corp that are not owners in the LLCs. Pay through bonuses rather than salaries and aggregate expenses of the LLCs as op. expenses as SBUs of the corp. The reasons for having a C own LLCs can vary, my reasons were that it allows me to join or create new ventures without having to formalize them with dedicated teams, just cycle my team to different efforts while seperatig expenses, not reporting publicly what is being worked on, and if the product takes off the formation is already there to grow the product into a division or umbrella product of my main company. LLCs are easy to form, while C corps are not... One example would be having a conglomerate of investors under a c corp and have advisors and creating an LLc for each new rental construction development project completed. Each is his own, if something goes wrong the LLC covers the C entity- this protecting its investor members. Best of luck! Humberto Valle #unthink

A startup is in essence the "art" of juggling. Of course you need some sort of "income" to pay for rent, food while your startup or business begins to generate cash flow. Ideally you should have at least 6 months of saving, sufficient time to give you a clear outlook of what will happen with your business. But some businesses start generating cash liquidity at faster pace. What is definetely certain is that you will need "leverage" in order to get your business started: savings, past clients, loans, investor capital, or even grants. Happy to jump on call and explore more :)

Hello! Aside from the typical website platforms, I would recommend using Twitter's hashtags and user handles. Try following and using the ones that your potential prospect or otherwise ideal partners would be following and start sharing about your work, your progress, and outreach for a potential partner. If possible try to be local when doing so. But obviously, some to use include Startups.co, Basecamp, Inc 500, yesPHX, BetaBulls, MPV, Lean Startup, Lean Methodologies, TechCrunch, etc.

The ways I've done this in the past are 1) Find some customers that are willing to hire you (or your product) but know that you'll only be free nights & weekends to support/work with them. 2) Find a "partner" (co-founder or other) that's got a flexible schedule that can help build the business while you're at work. 3) Block out nights, mornings and weekends to build the business till you have enough orders to cover 50% of your salary. This might mean 7pm-11pm most nights, and 4 hours each day Sat & Sun. Make progress (sales $$$) and momentum. All that being said, it's risk reward. Sounds like you want to avoid taken the risk, and I get that .. but the upside is always smaller. Unless you put yourself in a position to have to succeed (ex: quitting your job) then you may never make the scary decisions that are required to build a company (like cold calling, going in debt, making a presentation, etc). I'm on company #5 with many other side projects started nights & weekends .. so I get it - but don't be afraid to bet on yourself and go all in.

I do a lot of business with people on Elance (which is now being merged into Upwork and is going away, so stick with Upwork). The real challenge for US-based workers (which you may or may not be) is the price competitive nature of jobs when competing against an international workforce. There are always going to be great workers in every country and sometimes in certain areas you just can't compete on price. For example, I do a lot of business with great people in the Philippines and their work is excellent, they speak perfect English, and they are very affordable. What I usually tell people who are first getting into the space is to be honest about that in your profile and do some jobs for near-free with private pricing so you can build up your profile with good ratings. There are some disadvantages to this approach, but I find it helps to get some jobs under your belt with employers. One of the keys is going to be differentiation. You have your industry listed but skills, language, specific experience, and other niche items are really going to help here. I'm a consumer of a lot of Upwork contractors so I'm happy to do a call and discuss my experience with you. I work with people all over the world on a regular basis and I've built my business around these assets.