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IP, or Intellectual Property, refers to the inventions and creations of a business. There are 4 basic types of legal protection you can acquire to protect your business’s IP: Patent:  A patent holder has the right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention. Trademark:  The owner of a trademark has the right to prevent others from using a word, symbol, or some device which is used to distinguish the business owner’s goods [...]

You owe it to yourself and to your business to be very focused and deliberate in how you price your products and services. Your approach to pricing could be the difference between the success or failure of your business. And let’s not lose sight of one of your most important priorities in business – to be profitable and generate positive cash flow. That’s what pricing is all about. Setting the price of each product or [...]

Microsoft OneNote is a powerful organizational tool that deserves serious consideration from everyone in business, school and at home.  OneNote is designed to enhance productivity with its strong integration with the other standard Microsoft products such as Outlook, Excel, Word and PowerPoint. Information is stored in a concept similar to the three-ring binders. Within each notebook, you have sections (like tabs in a notebook) with pages within each section where your information is stored. You can [...]

For owners of retail stores, restaurants, and other brick-and-motor businesses, your storefront is one of your most valuable assets.  If you’re leasing commercial property, it’s important to know and understand the various types of commercial leases that are available.  Some of the most common types of commercial leases include: ●  Gross ●  Modified Gross ●  Triple Net (NNN) ●  Absolute Net Each of these different types correspond to different landlord-tenant liability allocations for commercial lease [...]

Are you tired of paying extra for things that make a bank’s job easier? It’s time to join up with a bank that doesn’t charge you as many fees and puts their customers first.

This is the 1st in a series of 3 blog posts on the general benefit and applications of quality online video. Glad I asked. Let’s start by clarifying this. When referring to “video,” I’m referring to well thought-out, relevant, results-driven video. Marketing video. Because… remember:  video that accomplishes nothing is art…. and most of us don’t have room in the marketing budget for art. Ok, now that we’ve got that out of the way…  here [...]

Dave Sather’s Money Matters Lately, we’ve had numerous conversations with clients, as well as others, who have found themselves “asset rich and cash flow poor”. They have put themselves in this predicament by owning illiquid real estate assets. Often, these illiquid assets are from privately formed real estate partnerships which come with a slick sales pitch offering attractive cash flows at a time when traditional interest income continues to be pathetically low. With money markets [...]

You wear at least two hats when you own and operate a business. One is the employee/manager hat. That is the role where you get paid (or should be paid) a salary for services rendered. The other is the owner/investor hat. That is the role where you receive (or should receive) dividends or distributions of profit. That is your return on investment (ROI) in the company. In the book Simple Numbers, Straight Talk, Big Profits [...]

Get what you need to know…when you need to know it It is 3:30 on Wednesday afternoon. Joe is focused like a laser on the proposal he has been working on for a promising new customer. Out of the corner of his eye he catches a glimpse of Lydia, his office manager, hovering just outside the doorway to his office. When he looks up, he instantly recognizes that sheepish look on her face. He has [...]

Part 1 of a 2 part series There are a number of legal issues small businesses need to address.  Not handling these issues can be very expensive to you! 1. Ownership Formation Create an ownership structure before you enter into any agreements.  The type of entity you form enables you to clarify the ownership of the business and articulate the responsibilities of the owners.  Properly setting up a separate entity can provide you with personal [...]