Managing your small business

Now the fun starts! You have done your homework, gotten good advice, and now you are ready to do business. You just want to be the best ______ (fill in the blank) ______________ in your community.

While you are reaching toward that goal, every day you have to manage:

• Your premises
• Your money
• Your marketing
• Your vendor relationships
• Your customer relationships
• Your employees
• Your taxes

This list is by no means complete. There are too many industry-specific matters to even think about listing them.

But, being the best ______ in your community is more than just making the best _____.  Within every operational area are legal issues that you'll need to address.  For example...

Managing your premises

• Building codes
• Leasing agreements
• Parking ordinances
• Insurance
• Space needs

top

Financial matters

• Check signing authority
• Credit card rules
• Purchasing authority
• Invoicing practices
• Lending agreements
• Guarantees and returns
• Bad checks
• Lawsuits

top

Marketing your business legally

• Website ownership
• Copyrights for words and images
• Protecting trademarks, service marks, and tradenames
• Laws about contests and sweepstakes
• Laws about advertising claims

top

Dealing with vendors

• Terms and dating
• Returning seasonal merchandise
• Warranties
• Loss and damage
• Consignment policies

top

Customer and client relationships

• Contracts
• Pricing
• Payment policies
• Returns and exchanges
• Warranties and guarantees
• Delivery policies
• Loss and damage

top

Managing Employees and Contractors

• Determining whether someone working for you should be regarded as an employee or an independent contractor
• Wage per hour rules 
• Workers compensation
• Unemployment compensation
• Withholding and reporting
• Discrimination in hiring, advancement and termination
• Americans with Disabilities Act
• Family Medical Leave Act

top

Managing Taxes

Taxes are a constant issue with most businesses.  I can help you both deal with and minimize the impact of:

• Federal and state income taxes
• Federal and state payroll taxes
• Real and personal property taxes
• State and local sales and use taxes

top