Pros and Cons of ZenBusiness Services

ZenBusiness has many services that can help budding entrepreneur start their business. They are a relatively young company but have quickly become a leader in the industry. Their services are competitively priced and designed to save a new business owner time and money. 

But, like every company, there are pros and cons to utilizing ZenBusiness. Here we will lay out the pros and cons of ZenBusiness services so that you can decide if they are the right choice for your business needs. 

What Does ZenBusiness Offer?

ZenBusiness can help you get your business off on the right foot by handling your business entity formation. Whether you’re starting a limited liability company (LLC) or a corporation, ZenBusiness can handle the state filings required to form those entities. This can save you considerable time and ensure that the process is done correctly.

ZenBusiness also offers registered agent services. A registered agent is a person or company authorized to accept official correspondence and documents on behalf of your business. 

Most states require that you have a registered agent, and that person or company must be available at your registered agent’s address during normal business hours. If you act as your own registered agent, you must be available at your registered address during those hours, which can keep you from doing what you need to do to grow your business.

ZenBusiness registered agent services will give you flexibility and ensure that no important documents are missed.

ZenBusiness also offers many business document templates, including an operating agreement, which is a critical document that defines the ownership and profit distribution structure of your LLC. Having an attorney draw up an operating agreement and other necessary business documents can be very expensive. Utilizing the ZenBusiness operating agreement and other documents can save you considerable money.

ZenBusiness also offers compliance services, ensuring that you meet all your state’s filing requirements and saving you time.

Pros of ZenBusiness Services

Here we will get into the specific pros of what ZenBusiness has to offer.

Good Value Plans

Two of the three of ZenBusiness’ business formation plans offer great value. 

Their Starter Plan, at $49, includes a business name availability search, your business formation, a free accounting review, and full customer support. The ZenBusiness price for this plan is less than that of their leading competitor, which charges $79.

Their Pro Plan is $199 annually and includes everything in the starter plan, plus the operating agreement template and their annual compliance service. It also includes expedited filing, which means that your LLC or corporation will be formed faster.

Both the Starter and Pro plans offer excellent value compared to the competition. The operating agreement template in the Pro Plan can also save you a considerable amount in attorney fees.

You can also add registered agent services to any of their plans for $99 per year, which is a great price compared to the competition.

Great Customer Service

If you read customer and professional reviews of ZenBusiness, you’ll find much positive feedback on ZenBusiness’ customer service.  They have chat, email, and phone support, all of which have very quick response times.

Customers report that representatives are very professional and helpful, answering questions and resolving issues efficiently.

Easy Purchase Process

When you visit the ZenBusiness site, you can immediately start to enter your business information and get service recommendations based on your needs. The site walks you through the process, allowing you to make your selections quickly and easily. 

In about 15 minutes, you can go through the whole formation process, checkout, and then sit back, relax, and wait for your state business formation documents, which you will receive electronically within a few weeks at most.

Once your business is formed, you can access your documents online at any time.

Excellent Ratings

ZenBusiness has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau with 4.27/5 stars in customer reviews.

Again, positive customer reviews centered around great customer service. They also mention how easy the site is to use and the speed of the business formation process.

ZenBusiness also has an Excellent rating from TrustPilot, with 4.6/5 stars in customer reviews. 

The theme continues, with customers touting the wonderful customer service they received and the smooth processes. 

Corporate Social Responsibility

ZenBusiness also is a company that actively promotes entrepreneurship, as well as diversity and inclusion in the workplace. 

They have awarded grants and loans to small business owners, and they support organizations that are dedicated to promoting positive workplaces for employees.

Cons of ZenBusiness Services

While ZenBusiness has much to offer, they are not perfect. 

Premium Plan Is Expensive

The third business formation plan offered by ZenBusiness is the Premium Plan, which comes in at $299 per year. The only things the plan offers that their $199 Pro Plan does not are some web services that you can get for a lower price from web service companies like GoDaddy. 

Overall, compared to their Pro Plan, you don’t get a lot for your money with the Premium Plan.

Pricy A La Carte Services

ZenBusiness offers many a la carte services that can be added to the plans, but their prices can add up quickly. You can also purchase these services alone without purchasing a business formation plan.

A prime example is the Employer Identification Number (EIN) service. ZenBusiness charges $99 to obtain your EIN for you from the IRS. This is very expensive, considering that you can go to the IRS website yourself and easily obtain an EIN in a few minutes, and it’s free.

Another example is their Certificate of Good Standing service, which costs $100. At some point during the course of your business, a lender or a vendor may request that you give them a Certificate of Good Standing for your LLC or corporation, which will simply show that your business is current on all state filings and fees. 

You can obtain this form yourself from your state, usually for an extremely nominal fee. Some states do not charge a fee at all.

Cancellation Issues

In the reviews from BBB and TrustPilot, some customers reported having issues canceling their ZenBusiness services. They spent considerable time trying to cancel and were charged fees that they had difficulty getting refunded. These were fairly isolated incidents, however, with most customers reporting satisfaction with their ZenBusiness experience.

In Closing

ZenBusiness does have pros and cons, but overall, the positives seem to weigh out the negatives by far. ZenBusiness clearly has many satisfied customers, which is really the best measure of a company’s services. A company like ZenBusiness can make your life as a business owner easier so that you can focus on growing your business. They can also save you money, so it’s worth taking a look at what ZenBusiness can do for you!