The Launch Blog: Expert Advice from the CorpNet Team
Starting a Business: What Roles Do You Need to Fill?
When you first start your business, whether you are set up as a sole proprietorship, partnership, a corporation, or a Limited Liability Company (LLC), you may take on all the work yourself. After all, you consider yourself a great multitasker, so why not do it all yourself?
You’ll learn this lesson sooner than later, but I’d rather you do it now and save yourself a lot of headache later: you’ve got to delegate to be an effective entrepreneur. That means that from Day 1, you should have the right people on your team that will help you skyrocket to success.
Owning Real Estate in a LLC: Pros and Cons
Owning investment properties can be an exciting and lucrative decision. However if you're considering an investment in real estate (whether a vacation rental, long-term rental, or for re-sale), be aware that these properties can also create liabilities.
How Does Your Small Business Generate New Ideas?
When you first start a business, every day can bring something new and innovative to your business. But what if you run a more established small business? Wouldn't you benefit from some new ideas as well? Here are four ways you can bring innovation back to your brand.
6 Ways to Lead by Example
Running a company — and therefore being in charge of people — is both a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing because it’s fulfilling in so many ways. But it can be a challenge because every day, regardless of how you feel, you have people looking to you for guidance. You’ve got to be on your toes and ensure that you’re doing your best to lead by example so that your staff emulates what you do and works their hardest for your company.
Here are 6 tactics I’ve found effective in my leadership strategy.
Trademarking a Business Name: Do You Need To?
I get asked a lot: does incorporating my business automatically trademark it? The fact is: being incorporated keeps anyone else in your state from using the name, but it doesn’t protect that name in the other 49 states. For that, you need a federal trademark.
Starting a Business? Can You Afford it Right Now?
No matter how good your business idea, no matter how passionate you are about your new idea, no matter how thorough your marketing plan, there is one factor that can completely put a halt to you starting a business.
Incorporate a Business: the Best Way to Protect Your Assets and Save Taxes
We’ve written before extensively about all the benefits of incorporating a business, so I thought I’d take a different approach. Let’s look at some scenarios where being incorporated would help you in your small business.
What I Love About Having My Business Partner as My Valentine
One thing that makes CorpNet.com unique is that it's run by husband/wife team, Phil and Nellie Akalp. In honor of Valentine's Day, Phil answers a few questions about working with the one he loves.
What's the best thing about working with your spouse?
Well…we have A LOT more to talk about at dinner and on date night. Although it’s important to separate the stressful part of our work lives from our personal lives, I find it very beneficial to our relationship to share and discuss the exciting and/or creative parts of our business…even during “personal time.” We really “connect” when we are excited about something at work. Thus it’s always a good idea to discuss a new project or idea…but we NEVER discuss accounting, taxes, or legal matters on date night.
Forming an LLC – Big Benefits for Small Business
When it comes to choosing the right business structure for your business, the LLC is worth consideration. Not only does it make it possible to be a shareholder if you’re not a US citizen, but there’s also no limit to the number of shareholders you can have.
How to Create an LLC
I’m a Senior Document filing expert here at CorpNet.com, and let me tell you: customers frequently come to me because they want to know how to form an LLC.
Now, I’m not sure why, but a lot of new small business owners assume that forming an LLC is a complicated thing. It’s not, actually. But it is one of the best things you can do to protect your personal assets and your business.
7 Places to Find Inspiration for Your Small Biz
Ah, a new year and a fresh start for your business. I’ll admit, sometimes my ideas for CorpNet get a little stale, so I have to look for inspiration to rejuvenate my brain. Here I share five places you, too, can be inspired with creative ingenuity for your brand.
Let’s Make This Year The One We’re Honest With Ourselves as Entrepreneurs
As people -- more specifically as entrepreneurs -- many of us feel obligated to put up a shield to hide what’s really going on. When we’re asked how things are going with our businesses, we’re more inclined to focus on the highlights rather than the brutal truth. That truth might be that we’re working too much and getting sick a lot. Or that business has ground to a halt. Whatever that truth is, we feel it makes us vulnerable, and we feel like that compromises our ability to succeed.
5 Small Biz Excuses That Shouldn’t Follow You into the New Year
Do you ever find yourself blaming everyone around you when things don’t go the way you want in your business? Maybe it’s “the economy” that kept you from hitting your sales numbers this year. Or your lack of employees that had you in the weeds all year. Whatever your favorite excuse, put the the kibosh on it in 2015.
If any of these sound familiar, make a New Year’s resolution to strike them from your vocabulary.
5 Signs That Your Hobby is Ready to Be a Business
You’re passionate about your hobby, whether that’s hand sewing baby clothes or creating terrariums. And maybe you’ve started to make a little money selling these items. So when should you take your hobby to the next level and build a real business?
Here are five signs that it’s time to take your hobby up a notch.
10 Inspirational Tips for Entrepreneurs
Ask anyone who knows me, and they’ll tell you I’m full of inspirational advice for entrepreneurs. Now and then, I like to share what I’ve learned here to our blog readers. Hope you find them useful!
5 Marketing Tools I’m Grateful For
In honor of Thanksgiving this month, I wanted to share the marketing tools I'm loving right now. These are tools that you should check out, since they're free or extremely affordable, and help you do more in less time.
6 Pieces of Advice You Shouldn’t Listen to When Starting a Business
It’s funny how when you hit a certain milestone in your life, everyone’s there with unwanted advice. Like when you are expecting a baby. Getting married. Or...starting a business.
10 Things You Should Know About Incorporating Your Small Business
If you’re considering incorporating your small business, read this first. This is not a decision to be taken lightly, so make sure you’re aware of what you need to know and do to run a corporation.
Answering Your Questions About LLCs
If you’re considering forming an LLC, you’ve probably got questions. Fortunately, we’ve got answers. We’ve helped thousands of people form an LLC, so you could say we’re kind of experts on the subject.
5 Entrepreneurial Lessons My Kids Have Taught Me
While the obvious lessons we learn about entrepreneurship come from our own professional experience, I find that sometimes they pop up in unexpected places. Like my children.
8 Top Secret Tax Tips the IRS Doesn’t Want You to Know About
When it comes to filing your small business taxes, it can seem overly complex. After all, what qualifies as a deduction? Are you filing as the proper status?
Don’t let tax season overwhelm you. Believe it or not, the IRS isn’t out to get you, but they do want you to play by the rules. These tips will help you alleviate the stress you feel this time of year and help you maximize your refund.
10 Ways to Break the Ice at a Networking Event
It’s a classic scenario: you arrive at a networking event armed with business cards and ready to make connections. But once you get there, you can’t seem to pull yourself away from the wall and mingle with everyone who acts more confident than you feel.
5 Tips for Being a Happier Entrepreneur
People are drawn to the entrepreneurial lifestyle for a variety of reasons. Some dislike having a boss or dealing with office politics. Others are tired of the cubicle monotony or feel like they can do it better on their own. And most entrepreneurs are driven by a passion for what they do and a desire to carve out their own future.
Yet too often, that initial passion is dampened by the realities of running the show. Working for yourself or starting a business is difficult work. There’s no guidebook or map to show you the way. You might encounter a few bad customers, people who don’t pay their bills, competitors who undercut you, and business partners who don’t treat you fairly. With too much work, entrepreneurs can become tense, anxious, and unhappy.
Dawson and Associates Has a “Great Marriage” with CorpNet
Linda Dawson, owner and CPA at Dawson and Associates, works closely with CorpNet to help startup clients get up and running. She says CorpNet and her company have "a great marriage" in that they both work together to help small business owners start a business. In...
Getting Your Business Legal
For people -- more specifically women -- who start a business, they’re adding more to their existing to-do lists. In addition to shuttling the kids to soccer, planning dinner, and managing the household you now have to register your business, choose a name, set up a site…the list goes on and on!
I have made a career for myself out of helping entrepreneurs in their journey to starting a business. The biggest decision you’ll make in legalizing your business is choosing what type of business entity works best for your brand. Here’s an overview of your options:
Creating a Five-Year Business Plan
It may be hard to envision what your company will look like in five years, but smart businesses at least try to project where they want to be in the future. Having a five-year business plan can help you create a vision of where you want to take your business.
Start with the End in Mind
Have you ever considered what your exit strategy is for your business? Meaning: will you sell it down the road? Transfer ownership to a family member? Run it until you die? Even if you can't imagine ever stopping what you're doing, consider the question. Maybe you'd like to move on to a different type of business in a few years. Knowing how long you'd like to run your business and how you'd like to exit can help you in creating your five-year business plan.
5 Ways to Ward off Entrepreneurial Stress
Entrepreneurs are notorious overachievers. They’re accustomed to pushing forward without a playbook, yet the exhilaration of starting and managing your own business also comes with a heavy price - stress. That’s because small business owners tend to work long hours, with little separation between work and play.
If that sounds all too familiar, read on to learn several everyday tips to combat the stress of entrepreneurial life:
Is it Time to Look at Your Business Structure?
Another tax time has come and gone. If you’re self-employed operating as a sole proprietor, tax time can be yet another reminder that you haven’t addressed your business structure yet. Maybe you started your business as a side project, and a sole proprietorship made sense. But is it best for your needs now?
The end of tax time is a perfect time to reassess what’s next for your business and legal structure. Here are some things to consider.
Are You Ready to Start a Business?
Think you’re ready to start a business? This post will help you determine whether you’re ready to become a small business owner, or if you need to do a bit more developing before diving in. Just answer each question honestly to see where you stand.
How Becoming an Entrepreneur is Easier Than it Was 10 Years Ago
For those of you who started a business before the age of social media, blogging, and websites, you can attest: it’s a lot easier to be an entrepreneur these days.
Back then, we spent more time on the phone cold calling, and direct mail was booming. Networking was done face-to-face, and we couldn’t always track our marketing efforts. My, how times have changed.
