The government has taken an aggressive move that helps many small business owners on their taxes -- the mileage reimbursement rates for the second half of 2008 (July 1 - December 31) will increase 8 cents to 58.5 cents per mile. For those businesses that drive all over town to serve clients, this will alleviate some of the pain!
I used to consistently comment in my presentations on choosing and protecting your business name that a business must find a business name where the associated domain name was available with a ".com" extension -- 3-4 years ago, no one thought to try a ".net" or ".biz" extension. These days people buy up every possible domain name extension connected with their domain name to ensure their name and brand is protected online. This strategy is pretty affordable and helps to ensure no one is pretened to be you. Alternatively, though, it's becoming harder and harder to find unique business names where you can find a domain name that readily connects to the business name. Today I met with a local marketing strategy and branding company called Authenticity and we discussed how this plays into branding. Surprisingly, many domain names associated with creative business names have not yet been registered and more surprisingly, other unique names can be purchased at a fairly reasonable price (under $3000). I have found a similar scenario with respect to business owners looking to purchase the trademark and/or domain name of a company. Many active trademarks are not being used to their maximum capability and the owners of these marks are often willing to sell the mark for a nominal amount of money. Business owners should not assume that a business name, trademark, or domain name is out of play simply because it is owned or registered by a third party. It's often worth the time to contact the owner and make an offer -- the worst they can say is "no". If you do get a "yes", the next step is a Purchase Agreement that outlines the terms of the purchase including the price, payment terms, transfer of rights in the intellectual property, and the terms of the cessation of use of the selling party, among other legal protections.
I am working with city licensing on two fronts right now -- the first is for a home renovation (my own) and the second with regard to a client who is buying a retail store that is being built out by the seller. As to the first permit, it is noteworthy that the City of Bellevue is taking almost 10 weeks to process building permits which is outrageous -- Seattle runs about 4 weeks. As to the latter, and more relevant to this blog, the buyer called the Health Department to understand the timing for the inspection only to find that the seller did not file any plans or permits with the City or with the Health Dept prior to commencing the build-out as required by law. Needless to say, neither the Health Dept nor the City are pleased with the sitaution. It is very important that the appropriate business licenses are in place with the State, City and appropriate licensing departments. The Washington State Department of Licensing Business Division has a list of approximately 30 pages of specialty licenses -- given the number, the chances of your business falling into one of their categories is pretty high -- and that's just the state! If you're opening a business, adding new products and services, or purchasing a business, you must ensure that all releavant licenses are in place.
I've had numerous small business owners looking to conserve cash recently ask me about using an online service (such as Legal Zoom) to get legal matters such as incorporations and trademarks done on the cheap. They want to understand why they should pay a lawyer twice or three times the price of the online shops. The answer is whether you need (or want) legal counsel or just the transaction done. It is important to have these transactions done right so that the business is structured in the optimal way to succeed and be protected from risk. For incorporations, it is important to be informed about your responsibilities as a business owner of an LLC or corporation both before the entity is set up and in the ongoing maintenance stages. Many of the online services don't put together comprehensive documents for Washington State but the business doesn't know that -- they are relying on the online service to sell them the full package. More importantly, if the business owner doesn't know what the ongoing maintenance requirements are, how is he or she able to comply and retain the liability protection the individual needs? As far as trademarks go, the counsel a business owner receives from a lawyer is a critical element of the trademarking process. The online services will not help the business owner in understanding what part of the mark to protect and how to do so most effectively. There are situtations where these services work - typically when the business owner uses them to save money after they have sought counsel and the transaction is simple and straightforward. By having a lawyer avaialble to review the documents to ensure they meet the business' needs, the business owner may be able to save money and feel confident that the business is protected.
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