If you want to start a for-profit business, the U.S. Small Business Administration (as of February, 2015) offers six legal structures: Sole Proprietorship; Cooperative; Partnership; C-Corp; S-Corp; and LLC. I established my health and safety consulting business in 1999 as a LLC. The SBA’s information, however, appears to have not caught wind of another business structure.
In 2010, Maryland passed the first state law that allowed for a Benefit Corporation or B-corporation. The B-corporation is a for-profit business that includes “positive impact on society and the environment in addition to profit as its legally defined goals.” (See Wikipedia). B-corporations are trending. In 2014, B-corporation law became effective in Arizona; Colorado; Connecticut; Florida; Nebraska; Nevada; Oregon; Rhode Island; Utah; and West Virginia. Effective January 1, 2015, Minnesota and New Hampshire jumped on the B-corporation law bandwagon. Thirty (30) states are now on board and the wagon should be full in a few years.