Many of us know stories of small businesses succumbing to fraud committed by employees and third parties whether that is employees embezzling funds or third parties scamming business owners out of the company’s cash flow. In either event, individuals can be quite clever in disguising fraud or passing off a scam as legitimate. Business owners should be prepared to spot signs of fraud and have tools in place to prevent fraud in the business.
Driving to and from work in the Midwest, it is hard to miss the dandelions. Such dandelions are a daily reminder to address the dandelions in your accounts receivable. Whether you have one or two past due accounts or a hundred past due accounts, failing to take action can cause your company’s dandelions to spread.
For business owners, time is often a precious commodity. Carefully reading vendor contracts do not often rank high on a business owner’s priority list. Vendor contracts can be long and cumbersome and not something to glance at quickly. Alternatively, when vendor contracts are signed online, important terms may be overlooked if the business owner selects “I Agree to Terms and Conditions” rather than reading through important provisions.
Selling a company can be a long and detailed process. Throughout this process, have an advisory team in place including an attorney and accountant who are experienced in mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Your advisory team can help you through the 10 steps necessary to sell your company. The steps are discussed in detail below.
Business partnerships are hard. What if you and your business partners couldn’t get along? Or, what if you and your business partners couldn’t agree on a major business decision resulting in deadlock? How do you move past such a roadblock? A company’s well written operating agreement or buy-sell agreement should address these concerns.
Employees may be rewarded or incentivized through equity compensation as a way to (i) attract and retain employees and (ii) align the financial interests of employees with the shareholders of the company. If a business owner decides to offer employees equity compensation, the owner has a variety of options of how to award equity.
The series limited liability company ("LLC") is a relatively new way to organize business ownership. The series LLC has all of the benefits of a traditional LLC, such as flexibility and limited liability, with some added benefits that may appeal to your business such as the potential for a reduction in administrative costs and the further isolation of liabilities.
There are many different types of protections available for a business owner’s name. The most basic protections come from having a legal name, whereas a trademark can carry with it national (and sometimes international) protections. This blog provides a simple breakdown of some different types of business names and the protections they provide.
Most business owners know the SBA can provide many different benefits for small business owners. What you may not know is that the SBA also provides certifications for particular types of business owners, including minorities, veterans and women. Obtaining these certifications could give a business a competitive edge in seeking new business opportunities and establishing credibility in the market.
The Ennovation Center, an Independence incubator program for entrepreneurs, opened in 2010 and has been serving small business owners ever since. The Ennovation Center is located in what was previously the Independence Regional Medical Center, allowing it the unique capability of housing a wet-lab and five fully equipped kitchens in addition to group work spaces, conference rooms and private offices. The Ennovation Center focuses on three business areas: bio-tech, culinary, and business & technology.
Entrepreneurship is a wonderful thing; however, at some point, entrepreneurs may decide to sell their businesses for a number of reasons ranging from an impending retirement to partner dispute to new entrepreneurial pursuits. Establishing the seller’s desire for a sale makes for a better sale strategy and allows the seller to find the right buyer.
If a startup does not manage to entice the right investors, the company is often left to seek funding through bootstrapping or bank loans which may be hard to obtain. Without access to the right investors and capital, startup may not be able to grow and succeed. For business owners in Kansas, the Angel Investor Tax Credit may be the additional incentive that entrepreneurial companies need to attract investors.
Initial public offerings or “IPOs” transition a company from being private to going public. Most often companies go public to raise capital, but companies may also raise capital though other means such as a private offering. Alternatively, some companies may be required to go public based on their size of the company and the number of shareholders such as Facebook. Regardless of company size, entrepreneurs should consider whether going public is right for their companies. Some advantages and disadvantages to going public are explained below.
Most entrepreneurs are always looking for ways to incentivize and reward key management and top performing employees in order to keep them within the organization. A common incentive is to offer ownership in the company to key employees through a stock plan. While ownership may seem to be an attractive option, adding an owner to the business creates risks for the current and potential new owner.
Email: sseck@seckassociates.com | Phone: 913.815.8481
