ZenBusiness pros and cons
ZenBusiness offers business formation services as well as a host of other services for new business owners. These include registered agent services, compliance services, and business document templates including an operating agreement, which is a critical document for a limited liability company (LLC).
If you’re considering using the services of ZenBusiness, you should be aware of the pros and cons of their services. Here we will discuss those pros and cons to help you make your decision.
You can also read more about ZenBusiness.
Pros of ZenBusiness
Competitively priced packages
The ZenBusiness Starter Plan is only $49 and includes a business name availability search through your state and the formation of your business, whether it’s an LLC or a corporation. It also includes an accounting consultation. You’ll have access to your formation documents online at any time, plus full customer support.
This plan is a great value for new business owners who just need help getting their business up and running. You can choose to add additional services including registered agent services and an operating agreement for additional fees.
The fee is less than the cost of a comparable plan from LegalZoom, which is $79.
The Pro Plan from ZenBusiness, at $199 annually, includes all the services included in the starter plan with the addition of an operating agreement template and an annual compliance service. The compliance service ensures that you meet all your state filing deadlines so that your business stays in good standing.
They also provide two document addendums if you need to update your formation documents by changing your business address or other information.
With the plan, you’ll also get expedited filing so that your new business will be up and running faster.
Considering the additional services that you get with the plan; it offers a good value.
Again, you can add other services if you choose.
Good customer service
ZenBusiness offers chat, email, and phone support. Their representatives are knowledgeable and professional. They have a good track record of resolving customer issues, and their responses to questions are quick.
The ZenBusiness site is also very easy to use. You can purchase your business formation package quite simply, and the process takes less than 15 minutes.
Positive customer reviews
ZenBusiness has a good rating from the Better Business Bureau, and you can find many positive reviews on the BBB website.
Many positive reviews revolve around their excellent customer service. Customers wrote about phone support being very helpful and friendly, and also proactive in identifying potential problems. Customers also raved about their helpful chat support.
ZenBusiness also has a score of 4.7/5 on Trustpilot. Many positive reviews, again, revolve around exceptional customer service. They also mentioned how fast the formation process was and the user-friendliness of the ZenBusiness site.
Socially responsible
ZenBusiness is structured as a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC). A PBC is formed with a goal to benefit the public, as well as to make a profit. The official benefit they offer is “to promote entrepreneurship by providing accessible products and responsive support.”
In addition to providing services to entrepreneurs, they have awarded loans and grants to small business owners and they promote diversity and inclusion in entrepreneurship.
Cons of ZenBusiness
Some a la carte services are expensive
If you purchase A La Carte services from ZenBusiness, the prices can start to add up. For example, if you add their Employer Identification Number (EIN) service in addition to your business formation package, the extra cost is $99. You can easily obtain an EIN yourself through the IRS website at no cost.
They also offer a certificate of good standing service for $100. You can obtain a certificate of good standing yourself on your state’s website, and the fee to do so is generally quite nominal. If you purchase the ZenBusiness service, you’ll pay $100 plus the state fee.
Surprise charges
While most ZenBusiness reviews are good, there are some negative ones, may of which revolve around surprise charges after purchasing their business formation package. Customers also discussed having difficulty resolving these issues.
Premium plan is not a good value
The Premium Plan includes everything in the Pro Plan with the advantage of rush filing, as well as a business domain name, website, and email.
Rush filing means your LLC will be formed in 1 to 3 business days, as opposed to 10 to 14 days with standard filing and 4 to 9 days for expedited filing.
The advantages of this plan are the rush filing and the business website services. However, you can handle website services for less by using a web hosting site such as GoDaddy. At a cost of $299 annually, you don’t get a lot more for your money compared to their Starter and Pros Plans.
Difficult cancellation
Many negative reviews were about difficulty cancelling the service. They mentioned having to call over and over again to get their account cancelled, all to no avail. Some were even told that they had to dissolve their business with their state before they would cancel their ZenBusiness account. While there were not a lot of reviews that talked about this issue, it’s still concerning since it can be a costly problem.
In closing
As most services do, ZenBusiness has pros and cons to consider before you make the decision to purchase their business formation and other services. We feel that the pros in this case weigh out the cons, particularly since most customers of ZenBusiness seem very happy with what they received. The decision, of course, is yours.
