I’d like to draw your attention to the concepts of two authors: Robert Kiyosaki (the author of the famous book Rich Dad, Poor Dad) in his book The Cash Flow Quadrant, and Michael Gerber in his book The E-Myth Revisited. In The Cash Flow Quadrant, Kiyosaki draws a chart with four quadrants, labeled E, S,… Read More »
Posts Categorized: Small Business
The Dangers of Interns, and of Not Paying Your Friends to Help Your Business
Linda has just formed an LLC. She has a great new idea for a business. She has no money as she has no clients yet, but her friends love her and want to volunteer their services. She has vaguely promised them some sort of eventual profit or ownership percentage when the company becomes more successful…. Read More »
Employee or Independent Contractor? You Don't Get to Choose.
My client, Marylou, has just started a small business. In this case, we formed a corporation for her dry cleaning business. Marylou is the new president of ABC Startup Dry Cleaning, Inc. She barely has enough money to pay rent and buy equipment, but she can’t run a dry cleaning business by herself. Marylou needs… Read More »
The Best Way to Buy a Small Business
Bob, one of my business clients, wants to own a coffee shop. He calls me and tells me he has found one for sale—and in the perfect location. That coffee shop is owned by a corporation. The corporation is really just the owner and his wife, but the corporation is the legal owner of the… Read More »
Would You Like to be Partners with your Partner's Spouse?
I have a business acquaintance named Fred, and Fred has a partner named Janet. They make a great team. Fred is a classic entrepreneur type, ready to go off in six directions at once as soon as an idea hits him. Janet keeps his feet on the ground. She’s great at systems, finances, and Fred… Read More »
Small Businesses Bouncing Back
New hires, expansion, growing demand, increasing sales. According to this article in the Boston Globe last week, all signs are pointing to renewed growth for small businesses. Sixty-five percent of all new jobs are created by small businesses, according to the Small Business Administration and have added almost 1.3 million jobs over the past year…. Read More »
Do You Have Perfect Pitch?
The elevator speech, so named because you should be able to describe your business and get the listener to want to hear more in the time an elevator ride takes, is a skill every small business owner needs to know. There are numerous articles on the internet about how to best craft a short… Read More »
Ellen Victor is quoted in the Long Island Business News
Yours truly was quoted in the most recent edition of Long Island Business News on the importance of business succession planning and partnership agreements. Read it here.
S-Corp or C-Corp? What's the Difference?
When you first form your corporation, it comes into existence as a C Corporation. If you do nothing more, your corporation will remain a C Corporation. A C Corporation becomes an S Corporation only when special tax treatment is sought by filing Form 2553 with the IRS. http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f2553.pdf Although a small business lawyer can… Read More »
Four Corners of a Contract, Demystified
What is the Four Corners Rule? The “Four Corners Rule” states that if the language is not found within the written words of the contract, then outside evidence will not be considered. This includes any oral agreement you’ve made. How Does this Work? So, for example, you’ve agreed to buy widgets from a manufacturer. Your… Read More »