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I'm in the US (Georgia), and the first thing I did to limit liability is to form an LLC (simple overview: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limited_liability_company)

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I realize the laws are different between the two states, but how expensive and time-intensive was the process?

I had an independent accountant do the majority of the work for me for a total of $750. This included virtually all the setup, including verifying the name wasn't taken, filing the paperwork (state and local), all the official docs, getting TaxID, etc.

The process only took a few weeks from start to finish, which was a nice surprise.

In the UK setting up a limited company costs under £100, can be done online and takes a few hours.

Setting up an LLC in NC is $200 initially, then $200 every April. I didn't quite grok that at first, because I'd filed my LLC paperwork in March, then needed to pay the $200 again in April - should have just waited until May.

Getting an EIN from IRS is free and took about 10 minutes.

Not sure about any local paperwork you'd need to file in NC - I didn't have to file any in Franklin county.

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