Category: Startup Issues

Most people would not consider 2Pac a source of wisdom or inspiration–but entrepreneurs are not like most people. Every entrepreneur knows to seek mentorship and guidance, but successful entrepreneurs know these sources should not be limited to those with fancy offices or degrees. If you take the time to listen to his work, you will…

“Not to trust another human until he’s checked out by every kind of background check you can check.” That’s the lesson one entrepreneur unfortunately learned after a business partner mismanaged their ventures’ funds. His partner’s mismanagement had catastrophic consequences for their companies and employees. Does this mean you should hire a private investigator? Well, that’s…

Entreprenuer.com recently published an article entitled “A Spartan’s Guide to Business” in reference to the blockbuster “300.” The article highlights 3 business lessons that are to be learned from the movie: Your CEO needs to be a strong leader. Train your employees and foster a culture that promotes loyalty. You need to have a strong…

If you’ve started a business recently you’ve probably heard about Pre-Paid Legal. Basically, you are provided “access” to an attorney for a monthly fee. Think of it as legal insurance. This may be beneficial to some small-business owners, but I offer a suggestion: Rather than pay Pre-Paid Legal $35 or so monthly, pay yourself $35…

Once you’ve outgrown your garage, your home office or your executive suite, you will probably consider leasing commercial office space. The best advice I can give you, the entrepreneur, is to treat the office space lease process the same way you might the car buying process. If you don’t, you could end up legally responsible…

I wanted to follow-up with you concerning the importance of taking preventative legal steps when starting your business. Googling this weekend, I found a blog entry from Rhonda Abrams, author of The Passionate Entrepreneur on Yahoo! Finance. Here’s an excerpt: “Taking care of your company’s legal health is like taking care of your personal health:…

A recent Wall Street Journal article detailed the steps you should take to avoid collection problems when expanding your business across state lines. The article suggested prevention was by far the best defense. I believe that’s right, but I’ll make a much broader statement: Prevention is the best defense for any potential business problem. As…

Today at Macworld, Apple formally announced their jump into the cell phone market with the iPhone. There are two main lessons that every entrepreneur, whether Apple-lover or PC-enthusiast, can take home from this landmark event: (1) You need to protect your intellectual property early. Steve Jobs said Apple has applied for over 200 patents for…

Launching a startup business with a friend can be an exciting and rewarding experience. However, I suggest you take a moment and really think about what the potential consequences might be. Starting a business is tough and having a friend involved will only make it more difficult if things go sour. Most importantly, your friendship…

Fortune Small Business recently ranked the top 10 U.S. states for small business taxation: 1. South Dakota 2. Nevada 3. Wyoming 4. Alabama 5. Washington 6. Florida 7. Mississippi 8. Colorado 9. Texas 10. Michigan While potential tax savings should not be the sole reason in deciding where to start your business, it should play…