Single member LLCs provide much less protection than most people imagine.

1. Any debt the business needs will require your personal guarantee. Even something as simple as getting a business cellphone.

2. They don’t protect you from liability for your own negligence. If you’re a very small company with no employees, almost everything someone would sue you for (for which you aren’t already personal guarantor) will arguably be down to personal negligence on your part.

It’s different if you have employees or other members because an LLC protects your personal assets against liability caused by their negligence.

But I constantly hear the advice that people operating as freelance devs should start an LLC as the very first thing they do and that’s silly in most cases.

What most people who start a single member LLC are really looking for is liability insurance.