What Is a Limited Liability Company (LLC)?
Limited liability companies (LLCs) have been generating a lot of buzz in the news lately — and for good reason: where the corporation fails, the LLC prevails. [more…]
How to Succeed in Your Home-Based Business
Although no one can guarantee that your home-based business will bring you the fame and fortune you hope it will, if you work hard, price your products and services right, and keep your customers satisfied [more…]
Obtaining a Liquor License for Your Bar
Every bar that serves liquor must have a license to do so. Different agencies regulate the process in different states. Make sure you start the process of getting your license early in the timeline of [more…]
Planning Your Basic Bar Drink Menu
Most bars are fully stocked bars, so patrons can order their favorite cocktails, such as a gin and tonic, Crown and Coke, or margarita. But many bar owners create specialized drink menus to steer patrons [more…]
Defining Your Business Model
A business model isn't something you build from the ground up. When management-types ask about a business model — as in, "So what's your business model? [more…]
Small Business Ownership: How and When to Write Formal Contracts
Business contracts outline important agreements you (or your business) enter into with others. If you own a small business, you should familiarize yourself with writing a good agreement, or contract. Sure [more…]
Developing a Personal Code of Ethics for Consulting
Ethics are important for anyone in business. They're particularly important to consultants because of the high level of trust that organizations grant them and because of the access that many consultants [more…]
Busting Myths about Working from Home
Many myths are floating around about home-based businesses. No doubt you've heard some of them. You may even believe some of them. Regardless of what you may or may not have heard, the simple fact is that [more…]
Taking an Existing Business Online
Planning is everything! You have a much better chance for success when you map out a strategy for selling online than when you just put up a Yahoo! Store and hope to sell something. There are major differences [more…]
Sole Proprietorships: Flying Solo
The simplest business structure is the sole proprietorship —the IRS's automatic classification for any business started by an individual. Most new businesses with only one owner start out as sole proprietorships [more…]
Understanding Zoning, Licensing, and Permits
No matter which governments — federal, state, or local — have jurisdiction in your particular place of business, you can bet that they all have something to say about how, when, and where you can — and [more…]
The Birth of the Limited Liability Company (LLC)
The limited liability company (LLC) didn't come out of nowhere. Business entities with the same characteristics as LLCs have been around for many years. The origin of LLCs can be traced back to the Germans [more…]
Billing for Your Consulting Services
How you bill your clients for your consulting work depends on your consulting contract or, in the absence of a written contract, any other agreements you may have made regarding billing and payment. If [more…]
Before Filing Your Articles of Organization for Your Limited Liability Company
The articles of organization is your limited liability company's (LLC) most important document. Why? Because you can't even be an LLC until you create and file your articles of organization with your Secretary [more…]
Erecting Your Restaurant on Solid Legal Ground
Your attorney and your accountant can help you decide how to set up your business. You have a number of options from going it alone to setting up a partnership to incorporating your business. Your decision [more…]
Creating an Out-of-State Limited Liability Company
If your limited liability company (LLC) isn't a bricks-and-mortar business — maybe you're running an Internet company or a consulting or service business that isn't restricted to a particular state — and [more…]
Consulting Skill: Listening to a Potential Client
A consultant's primary responsibility is to help clients find the best solutions to their needs. This means asking questions and then listening — really [more…]
Designing a Better Business Organization
Being a manager is one of the most difficult — and potentially one of the most rewarding — jobs that anyone can take on in an organization. A successful manager must continuously improve systems and processes [more…]
Creating a Risk List for Your E-Commerce Venture
The most important step you can take to evaluate your e-commerce plan is to take a close, realistic, — even pessimistic — view of it. Have your project team look at the plan and point out the places where [more…]
Seeking Financial Foundation for Your Restaurant
Most people can't completely fund their own restaurants, so they need to look for outside investors. Investors can include partners (both silent and not-so-silent), people looking for a new investment, [more…]
Bringing in Partners
A business partnership is when two or more people team up in the ownership and operation of a business. Several large, well-known businesses have started out as successful partnerships [more…]
Sorting Out Business Legal Structures
Business type and tax preparation and reporting go hand in hand. If you work as a bookkeeper for a small business, you need to know the business's legal structure before you can proceed with reporting [more…]
Playing the Competitive Field
Competition is the driving force in nature and it's also the core of the free enterprise system as we're lucky to know it. Competition occurs whenever winning attention is necessary for selection and survival [more…]
Problem-Solving for Consultants
In consulting, problem-solving is really where the rubber meets the road. While problem-solving, you review the data that you sliced, diced, and otherwise processed to develop a set of solutions, one or [more…]
When to Consider Reviewing Your Business Plan
Giving your business plan a good once-over one time a year may not be often enough. Reviewing your business plan annually is fine under most circumstances, but if your business environment is experiencing [more…]
