Opening a business, hiring your first employees and making money is exciting. As a new business owner, you have a lot going on. Unfortunately, if you aren’t careful, you may make mistakes that cost you in the long run. If you want to give your business the best...
Business Law
Knowing when to pursue a business idea
You’ve been working for someone else for several years now. You’ve picked up valuable skills and gained experience, but you’ve always felt a yearning to form your own company. An idea has recently sprung to mind, and you’re sure this is your eureka moment. But how do...
How can you offset the cost of starting a new business?
You have a great idea, and you know that it's going to work. The problem is just that you don't have the money on hand to start that business. How can you offset some of these costs so that you can still get your company off the ground and build it into the successful...
What should go into a partnership agreement?
One way to start a business, if you're not interested in running a sole proprietorship by yourself, is to start a partnership. You work with one other individual and you start the business as co-owners. When doing this, it is important to have a partnership agreement...
How do non-disclosure agreements protect your company?
Businesses use contracts to help protect the company. These contracts can cover a variety of topics. One important point that most businesses can include in a contract, even if it’s a standalone contract, is a confidentiality agreement. Most businesses have...
How you could unintentionally lose your S corporation status
When shareholders elect to make a corporation an “S corporation,” it’s essentially for tax purposes. With an S corporation, the business’s income and losses are “passed through” to the shareholders to report on their personal income taxes. This prevents “double...
Benefits of a limited liability company
Starting a new business is an exciting time, but it’s one that comes with some major responsibilities. One of the decisions that you have to make is how to structure the business. For people who are going to work alone, the decision is whether they want a sole...
Starting a business? Here’s what you should outsource
When you’re just starting to get your business off the ground and you want to expand, you want to keep your costs to a minimum. However, hiring professionals for certain jobs can help you avoid critical mistakes. Outsourcing a number of tasks can actually save you...
The reasonableness of non-compete agreements
Non-compete agreements are a fairly common way for business owners to ensure that their employees are not going to leave the company and then do something that would financially harm that company. For instance, directly working for the competition or starting a...
3 times businesses may need to change their structure
When you first start a business, choosing its structure will be one of the biggest decisions. The kind of business you intend to operate and the way you finance the company will likely influence the structure that you initially choose. Many businesses will remain the...