For Women SANE Enough to Start Their Business
Ideas are a dime a dozen. New ones are generated every day, all day long. But, the person who takes the first step to protect that idea by filing a patent application is usually the one who gets to lay claim to the idea. Unlike a trademark or copyright, in patent law, the first to [...]
Protecting your company’s intellectual property is critical for small business owners. Now that we’ve talked about trademark and copyright protection, let’s discuss trade secrets. Trade secrets are often overlooked by small business owners when considering intellectual property assets. Trade secrets consist of information that your company does not want divulged because of the competitive advantage [...]
Last time we talked about trademarks. Now, let’s focus on copyrights. Copyright literally means the “right to copy”. Books, reports, songs, websites, lyrics, melodies, pictures, software, poetry and other original, creative expressions can all be copyrighted (protected) by filing an application for registration with the U.S. Copyright Office. However, these original works are protected whether [...]
What do your logo, your tagline, your website, your client list and the industry white paper you wrote all have in common? They are your company’s intellectual property and should be protected as if your business depends on it, because it very likely does. How? It depends. Let’s start with trademarks. If you want to [...]
As we discussed last time, at some point, you will have to deal with delinquent invoices. Clients who fail to pay, or pay slowly are serious threats to a small business, so they must be handled swiftly and directly. Here are my recommendations. First, as soon as the invoice goes past due, call the client. [...]
For any small business, cash is King. Without a doubt, the single most damaging risk to you as a small business owner is negative cash flow. One of the many reasons for negative cash flow are slow or no paying clients. They can sink you faster than you can say “small claims court”, if you [...]
Are you thinking about quitting your day job to open your own business? Or, has the decision to leave your job already been made because you were laid off or fired? Should you look for work or take this opportunity to pursue your passion? Here are 10 questions you should ask yourself before you plunge [...]
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