Thank you guys for joining us for the next module. Here we will be discussing what it takes and the complications and the rewards of starting your own brokerage. So let's dive right into it. OK, so we're going to kind of go over the factors that come with creating your own brokerage. The first cost is going to be your business establishment cost. What that means is creating an LLC for your company. Now, you might be asking, well, do I necessarily have to have an LLC for my company? And the answer to that is no. If you wanted to operate your brokerage as a sole proprietor, you totally have that option, but I would definitely encourage you to make the investment of purchasing your own LLC for the business deductions and the tax write-offs that you can have from creating your LLC, okay? So there's a lot of write-offs. and deduction advantages that you're going to get with an LLC that you would not have operating as a sole proprietor. Not only that, in the event that you were to one day be sued for your brokerage, if that brokerage is under your, if you're filing that brokerage under just your personal information, that means that whoever is suing you has the right to come after any finances that your business has created or any personal finances that you have outside of the business, okay? Which means home, house, cars, any personal assets that you own. whether monetary or non-monetary, are up for grabs in the event that somebody sues you and wins, okay? So you definitely want to try to keep your business separate from your personal affairs, okay? So it's always best to go for an LLC when having business, okay? So that is going to run you anywhere from three hundred to five hundred dollars. I think that can also vary by state. And it also depends on if that is something that you set up by yourself or if you hire somebody to set up for you. There are a lot of third party companies that will help you to create your LLCs. And things like that. So the price is just going to vary. But I think a pretty good roundabout average that you can expect to spend on that is going to be between three hundred and five hundred dollars. OK, the next cost is going to be your MC or your motor carrier authority. If. you know, you have watched this course by now. We all know what that is. Okay. And you need that license in order to operate your business. Every brokerage has to have a motor carrier authority. There are no ifs, ands, and buts about that. And authorities are purchased through the FMCSA website. Okay. In the amount of three hundred dollars. Okay. The next, uh, the next expense we are going to occur is a surety bond. Okay. And I know you all are like, well, what is that? So a surety bond is a legally binding contract that ensures obligations are met or in the case of failure that recompensed will be paid to cover the missed obligations. So what that means, guys, is, you know, let's say you have your brokerage and a carrier completes a load for you, okay? But let's say for whatever reason, you're refusing to pay that carrier for reasons that were not defined in the broker agreement, okay? Let's just say you just, you know, you go off the deep end and say, you know what, I just don't like you. I'm not gonna, I don't wanna pay you. or something crazy, you know, obviously being sarcastic, but let's just say something happens that's not defined in the contract and you make a decision to not pay that carrier. Well, that carrier can file against your bond in the event that that happens. And that bond is going to ensure that they get paid. Okay. So, and you don't want that because that can increase your bond expenses. Okay. So you don't, you don't want that type of situation. So make sure that you're meeting your obligation. Okay. As defined in your broker agreement. But anyway. Back to this bond. So a security bond, when getting a security bond, there are consideration factors, okay? And those are going to determine how much you pay for your bond. So let's just back up a bit. So freight brokers in the U.S. are required to by the FMCSA to obtain a seventy five thousand dollar broker security bond. The cost of the bond is a percentage of the seventy five thousand. And that's what's called your premium. OK, that's what's called your your monthly premium. OK, and that's determined. by the security bond company that's issuing the bond, okay? So as I have listed over here, some things that they're gonna take into consideration is your personal credit score, okay? They're going to take your years of industry experience into consideration, any current or previous bond claims, okay? Business financials and fixed and liquid assets, okay? So- all in all what you could look okay this is a annual okay this is an annual rate of anywhere between nine hundred to about eighteen hundred dollars per year okay all right moving right along next we have the unified carrier they cost about the same so all that is guys is it's a program that requires individuals are companies involved in interstate and international commerce to register their business just check the price and if you're about the same pay an annual fee so again this is something that is required for you to have um luckily it's only seventy five dollars okay and you can register and pay for that at the u.r I'm sorry ucr They'll also give you more information about what exactly this is, but it's something that we all have to register for as brokers. Moving right along, hardware cost. This is going to vary depending upon your needs, but basically what we're looking at here is maybe a laptop or a desktop. monitor or possibly even dual monitors. It just depends on what you consider your needs to be. And I know you're probably like, well, you tell us what our needs should be starting up. I always tend to follow the path of simple is best, especially when it comes to