You may have a million-dollar idea -- maybe it's the next cupcake, or a new app. Whatever your product is, before you take it to market, it's important to determine the legal structure of your company. And that can be complicated. Should you incorporate? How about forming an LLC? What if you want to start as a sole proprietor? And what kind of liability do you exposure your personal assets to under each?
For those in Orange County, CA, there is an affordable seminar (just $25) this week, sponsored by the Orange County Small Business Development Center and held at Rancho Santiago Community College District in Santa Ana. Here are details.
Rancho Santiago Community College District, 2323 N. Broadway Rm 107, Santa Ana, CA 92706-1606
Description:
The workshop covers basic legal issues faced by small businesses in California. You will learn the most common costly legal mistakes that most small business owners make. We will discuss how to determine the best legal structure for your business, the pitfalls to avoid in contracts, partnership agreements, and leases, employee versus independent contractor, and how to protect your brand and much more. Here's your chance to get answers to your business legal questions.
Had to share this great post that appeared on ocfamily.com. For all the women who fantasize about success as an entrepreneur, read this post first. The last thing you want is to hang the "open" sign and then be told to close up shop.
For generations women have been thought of as the "softer" sex. We are inherently more compassionate, more collaborative and more nurturing. Men, on the other hand, are known to be more aggressive and more competitive -- all traits prized in the corporate world. The skills women possess have been undervalued. But that may be changing.
Futurist and author Ian Pearson, who wrote "You Tomorrow," says that as technology replaces humans in the workforce, the world will seek more eye contact, more touch, more care. In fact, following the "knowledge" economy may soon be the "care" economy. Women are well positioned to succeed.
Take a look at the Harvard Business Review's post by John Baldoni on the differences between men and women, related to self awareness. A Hay Group report from 2011/2012 says that women far outperform men in "empathy" (33% vs. 15%); "conflict management" (52% vs. 29%); "influence" (32% vs. 21%) and "self awareness" (19% vs. 4%).
The blog post suggests that in order for women to succeed in business (a.k.a. the corporate world) they must demonstrate both feminine and masculine traits, while men need only show masculine characteristics.
It's no wonder women are opening their own businesses! Why play the game! While just 4 percent of women are at the helm of the Fortune 500, that may not matter in the care economy. Those women launching their own businesses may soon make up a large percentage of the Fortune 500, wiping out the stereotypical lone woman at the top syndrome.
This week the U.S. Senate held a hearing called "Strengthening the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem for Minority Women," chaired by United States Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La. Among those testifying in a bid to reauthorize the Women's Business Ownership Act was actress Eva Longoria of "Desperate Housewives" fame. The actress-turned-activist is founder of the Eva Longoria Foundation. According to a release issued by the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship, Longoria said, “Since 1988, the Small Business Administration has offered training and financial assistance programs through their Women’s Business Centers. However, without reauthorization from Congress, funding for this program is stuck at the 1999 level. If Congress really wants to create jobs and increase our global competitiveness, it needs to invest in programs like the Women’s Business Centers, which give Latinas the resources they need to create thriving small businesses.” Longoria shared details about a project on which she has partnered with Howard Buffet, Warren Buffet's son, to fund more than $2 million in microloans to Latina entrepreneurs. The goal of the Senate hearing was to reauthorize the Women's Business Ownership Act - last done in 1999. The act provides increases in access to capital and credit to women business owners, as well as access to federal contracts and extra funding for technical assistance and business counseling programs. Watch Longoria talk about Latina entrepreneurship at the Women in the World Summit.
Wells Fargo has always been a big supporter of women- and minority-owned businesses. Many other banks boast the same kind of support, but Wells Fargo is committing to that statement in a big way, by pledging some $55 billion in loans to women business owners by the year 2020. The company made the announcement in early March.
This is a cumulative amount dollar figure that has been adjusted over the years as the burgeoning market of women business owners has evolved. The bank first established a $1 billion-over-three-years lending goal 18 years ago but soon after increased their targeted lending amount. To date the bank has funded more than $38 million in loans to WOBs.
The San Francisco bank is the nation's fourth largest.
The U.S. Small Business Administration has pledged to streamline regulations and cut the red tape of applying for an SBA loan. Greater access to capital with less paperwork is the goal, says outgoing SBA administrator Karen Mills. (Mills has announced she will be stepping down from the post to which she was appointed in 2009). The following changes have been proposed and may impact 504 program loans:
The Personal Resource test to be eliminated
Borrowers won't have to reach maximum levels of personal financial resources to qualify.
Revised Rule on Affiliation
Those businesses that are affiliated with another company and don't currently qualify as a small business, may be categorized as such under the new plan.
Elimination of 9-month rule
Removes the mandate that only expenses incurred during the last nine months before a loan application is submitted may be counted.
Want to know more about SBA loan options? Here's an easy-to-understand guide.
If you are a company who has targeted the nearly 10 million companies owned by women as potential purchasers of your products, it's worth your time to take a closer look at who they really are. They are a mighty niche market interested in buying everything from office supplies and equipment to marketing services to employee benefit plans. One of the commonalities is that women support companies that support causes important to them. Some 75 percent of women-owned businesses also support charitable causes through their company's revenues. WOBmedia.com, under its former name of Wobwire.com, published its survey of women business owners in 2012. The results are worth reviewing. In its "Share Your Woman-owned Business Story" survey, more than 150 women responded from the following states: California,
Illinois, Ohio, Virginia, Michigan, Texas, Oregon, Georgia, South Carolina,
New York, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Florida, Washington, Alabama,
Arizona, Tennessee, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Colorado, Nevada and
Louisiana. Their companies ranged in size in terms of numbers of employees and annual revenues. Like any marketer, the more you know about your prospect, the better your chances of adding them to client roster. Click here to read the entire survey results.
Part of my pledge to my blog followers is to share products I love. I'm not a product reviewer, so it's not a pay-to-play thing. I just like to share really innovative and unique concepts, created by women business owners. Here's my latest...
Have you searched high and low online for the right pair of shoes for yourself? Ever wish you could just design the perfect pair? Well now you can. At Milk & Honey, you pick the heel height, the material, the color -- it's all up to you. It's the ultimate experience for shoe lovers. And when they ask you where you got them, you can simply say, "I designed them myself."
Check out the Milk & Honey website. I've also included a video in which the CEO and co-founder, Dorian Howard, shares what it was like to launch her company.
Creative thinking results in business expansion for interior
designer Hillary Nichols
Hillary Nichols, Hillary Nichols Interiors
You’ve heard the advice on how to think more creatively: “Think
outside the box,” experts advise. Hillary Nichols, owner of Costa Mesa-based Hillary Nichols Interiors, has turned that theory inside out with a new product her
company has just launched – a brand extension for her four-year-old interior design
firm, created to expand her business. For the customer who does not have the
budget for a complete design consultation, Nichols now delivers her services in
a most unconventional way. INSIDE a box.
“For the most part, the service that we offer,” says
Nichols, “is a luxury service. While we are very fair in our pricing and we
definitely try to give our clients a great value, people I’d meet would often
say, ‘I’ve seen your website and your work and it’s so amazing, but I could
never afford to hire you.’” Now they
can.
“I came up with the idea for the Box of Design; a very
turnkey solution for someone who wanted a room designed, but didn’t have that
large chunk of money to invest,” Nichols says. “But they wanted the advice.
They wanted the roadmap. They wanted a color palette, and a style, and an
inspiration, and a floor plan.” Clients often simply want to know where do I put the sofa and where do I buy that, she says.
For about one-third the cost of traditional design services,
clients can have access to Nichols talents. The tradeoff is that they have to
pitch in and do some of the work. With instructions on exactly how to do it,
clients measure their rooms, take photos of their space and answer a list of
questions that help their online design team create a dream room for them.
“Four weeks later,” says Nichols, “we send them a complete
interior design in the box.” It’s even tied with a bow.
Clients receive design boards with custom sketches, floor
plans, color palettes and suggestions for furniture and accessories. The Box of
Design also includes a very specific shopping guide on a flash drive. The
entire project is also delivered digitally with active links so clients can click
on a suggested item and purchase it.
What began as a strategic move to offer a different price
point for customers also yielded another benefit. Because all client
communication is done online, it’s not necessary for them to be local. With a
single new product, Nichols has expanded her geographic footprint, and
potential revenue, exponentially. She’s moved from a dedicated workspace in her
home office to the co-op Design Center in Costa Mesa where a dozen or so other
designers work (architects, fashion designers, etc.). The creative energy in
the building fuels ideas and imagination of those that rent space.
“I don’t think interior design should just be available to
the wealthy,” Nichols says. Her business now also fuels the imaginations of
those who can now afford interior design services.
Here's a fun look at some of the items in her Costa Mesa office:
Nichols' Costa Mesa Office is in the Design Studio
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