Hawthorn Law

Branding Yourself… How to Properly Name Your Business

This is the second part of the ultimate business building legal checklist. Last time we discussed all the preliminary matters you must consider when starting your online business. Today we are going to address branding yourself. This is an often overlooked but vitally important topic for online sellers.  

Branding Yourself… What’s In a Name?

Honestly? Everything. This is one of the most important steps you will take in starting your business. Please don’t overlook this VERY IMPORTANT step of the process.

• Review this blog post
  on how to properly name your business.
• Do a proper trademark search to make sure that the names you have chosen don’t violate anyone else’s intellectual property. Here is a resource on how to do this.
• Run an internet search on all the major search engines to make sure that a competitor hasn’t already taken your name. Search Google, Yahoo! and Bing, and make sure to check for variations in your business names.
• Run a search on a domain name database to see if your domain name is available. We recommend doing the search on https://instantdomainsearch.com/ and doing a secondary search on http://www.namecheap.com.
• Check to make sure the social media profiles for your name are available, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest.
• Assuming you haven’t found any problems so far, run a search on the US Patent and Trademark Database for your proposed business name to insure that nobody else has registered the business name first.
• Finally, head over to the Secretary of State’s Website in your state and make sure the name is still available.

Still feeling good about the name you chose? Good. Pick one and let’s move on. In the next installment of this series we will discuss how to pick a proper corporate entity, get your taxes in order, and other juicy nuggets.

If you don’t want to wait, you can download the whole business building legal guide here.

Where Should I Incorporate?

Do you find yourself running to your lawyer or online forum and asking “where should I Incorporate?”

Once you have decided on how to name your business, the next step is to figure out where you should incorporate. Many entrepreneurs over think the question of where they should incorporate their business.

Honestly, this should be one of the easiest parts of starting your entrepreneurial venture.

They hear grand stories of all the Delaware corporations, but then again, they have heard that there is no income tax in Texas or Florida… (there isn’t)

But they have also heard great things about the favorable business climate in Wyoming or Nevada… Click here for more on why you should rethink filing your business in Wyoming or Nevada.

Business Law Basics… What you Need to Know

I realize that I haven’t blogged in awhile, and for that I am sorry! But I’ve been hard at work on my new book, Business Law Basics, which I’m proud to announce is now LIVE on Amazon!

Here’s a few snazzy details of what you will find when you buy this book…

Business Law Basics… Get Informed, Protect Your Butt, and Watch Your Business Grow

Business Law Basics is an entry-level legal handbook for online entrepreneurs and startup businesses. “BLB,” as I like to call it, begins with the stories of Fred and Sally, two corporate admins with entrepreneurial dreams to break free from their 9-5 jobs. Although Fred’s story ends in bankruptcy and illustrates many of the mistakes that I have seen all too often from my entrepreneurial clients, Sally is able to create a lasting and successful business by following good advice and covering all her legal bases along the way.

BLB uses these stories to compare and contrast what makes successful startups successful, and what causes all the others to fail.

From there, Business Law Basics walks you through an extensive discussion of various legal entities, giving the pros and cons of each. You will learn how a properly structured legal entity can protect you legally and save you money at the same time. So if you want to know more about sole proprietorships, partnerships, S and C-corporations and Limited Liability Companies (LLC’s), this is a tremendous resource.

Finally, you will find a value-packed list of the 10 most common mistakes made by entrepreneurs on a daily basis. From failing to plan, to naming issues, to not having contracts in place, this list has it all. 

So whether you are just starting out with your online business, or you are a seasoned entrepreneurial veteran, this legal handbook will have something in it that you can put to use in your own business today.

And if you download the book today, it includes a link to my second, more comprehensive book that will be coming out later this month – and you can get a copy of that for free by signing up for our launch list.

LLC vs Corporation – Which is Right for Your Business?

Let me start by saying that there is no “one size fits all” business entity for your business. The two most common options are LLC’s (aka Limited Liability Companies) and Corporations.

So which entity is a better choice for your business? An LLC or a Corporation?

In this article, we are going to discuss the advantages and disadvantages to forming an LLC vs. forming a Corporation, and then we will talk about which entity might be right for different types of businesses.

Caveat – For purposes of this article we will be talking about the C-Corporation primarily. The S-Corporation is a tax election that is filed with the IRS and can apply to both corporations and LLC’s. Confused? You should talk to your accountant or a tax lawyer…

Forming a Single Member LLC? Read this first…

If you have started an online business (or are thinking about starting an online business), then chances are that you have also looked into how to create a single member LLC.