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Doing Business in Other States? Get Familiar with Foreign Qualification

Posted on February 27th, 2012 by Joey Donovan Guido

Category: Grow a Business, How To Information, Small Business, Small Business News

There’s nothing foreign about Foreign Qualification — although the name often gives the wrong impression to small business owners.

What is Foreign Qualification?

It may sound like an international concept, but in this case “foreign” has nothing to do with a business that resides outside of the United States. When a small business decides to expand out of the state they’re currently doing business in (referred to as their home state, or their domestic state), they’ll need to gain approval from each additional state they’re planning on doing business in.

Any state outside of a small business’ home state is considered foreign — hence the name Foreign Qualification. When you Foreign Qualify, you are essentially registering for a Certificate of Authority in the state(s) where your company will do business. This notifies the state that your company is conducting business within its borders. Your business will be subject to ongoing reporting requirements, fees and taxes in both your state of incorporation and state of qualification.

Do You Need to Foreign Qualify?

Although each state has different contingencies and fees, there are some core factors used to determine whether a small business needs to Foreign Qualify. They include:

Whether the company has a physical presence in the state
Whether the company has employees in the state
Whether the company accepts orders in the state
Whether the company has a bank account in the state

If you are uncertain whether your particular business needs to foreign qualify, or register to transact business in another state, it’s best to seek the advice of an attorney or accountant.

Failing to Foreign Qualify

Foreign Qualification in states where you transact business is a legal requirement. Failure to do so could result in negative consequences like:

You may face fines, penalties and back taxes for the time in which your company did business within a state without being Foreign Qualified there
Liability for back taxes for the time you were transacting business but were not qualified
Loss of access to that state’s court system, meaning that if you were sued in that state, you would not be able to defend the suit

How to Foreign Qualify

To foreign qualify your business, you may need to:

Register for a Certificate of Authority in the state(s) where you want to do business
Apply for a Certificate of Good Standing from your state of incorporation, showing that your company is in existence and has met all state requirements
Pay applicable state filing fees when you submit the Certificate of Authority filing
File annual reports, pay taxes and annual report fees in the state(s) where your small business has undergone foreign qualification

What is a Trademark? How is it Different from a Business Formation Name?

Posted on February 24th, 2012 by Joey Donovan Guido

Category: Form My Business, Grow a Business, How To Information, Small Business, Small Business News, Start A Business

What is a Trademark Forming a small business can be a lot of work. It can also be confusing and overwhelming. Once you’ve finally decided on a company name, formation type, and which state is best for you to incorporate, you might be hoping that your start-up decisions are finished (at least for a little while).

But there’s another decision to be made — yet another question to answer:

Do you need to trademark your company name?

Although important, this subject is not nearly as well known as the one’s mentioned above. So I’d like to take this opportunity to define what a trademark is, and why your small business might need one. We’ll also take a look at how a trademark is different from the business formation name
you attained from the state(s) you’re doing business in.

What is a Trademark?

We’ve all seen them. One of those little symbols (™ or ®) that sit at the end of a business or product name. Most people are aware that they represent some sort of trademark, but its exact purpose isn’t always as clearly understood.

A trademark is a way to protect what is called “intellectual property.” Traditionally, it’s denoted by the trademark symbol TM or by the federal registration symbol ® if an actual registration filing has been approved by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

There is a third symbol, called a service mark (denoted by the symbol SM), which offers virtually the same protection as a trademark but is used instead to identify and distinguish services rather than products. Typically, when the term “trademark” or “mark” is used, it is understood to include service mark as well.

A trademark is generally tethered to a brand name or a design. It can be applied to a business, a product, or can be used in connection with services.

Different than a patent or copyright, a trademark essentially prevents unfair competition. In other words, I can’t start a car company called Ford, because Ford holds a federal registration symbol on their name. They want exclusive use of their name, which can most effectively be attained by attaining a trademark on a federal level (as well as incorporating on a state level).

Trademark law protects you, the owner, from competitors stealing your identity or using a name or symbol so similar that it could cause confusion for your clients or customers. By identifying a product or service’s source, a trademark or service mark also serves to protect consumers from deception.

Trademark vs. Business Formation

There’s an important distinction to be made here between federal and state — one that directly correlates to trademarks and business formations.

When you form a company in any U.S. state, or states, you are filing a business formation (LLC, S corp, C corp, nonprofit …) within each respective state. Part of this process is doing a business name check to determine if your preferred company name is available in that state.

Many small business owners believe that this is all they need to do to protect their name. In reality, there could be another company forming under the same business name in other states. The point here is that company names are being approved on a state level.

A trademark comes into play when you want to protect your name on a national (federal) level. Let’s say that Ford didn’t attain a federal registration symbol. I couldn’t go into their state and form a company with the same name, but I could file for a trademark on the federal level. As you can see, this can cause all types of problems — including lawsuits.

Forming your small business, and continuing to meet your state’s requirements, typically provides you with limited liability protection. But your company name is not fully protected unless you also attain a trademark. And if you want to build a brand like Nike, Apple or Ford, you’ve got to get a stronghold on your company name so it’s yours and yours alone.

Free Trademark Search

The United States Patent and Trademark Office offers a free search tool, called TESS Search Trademarks, to help you determine whether or not a particular name is available for trademark.

Tips for Small Business Branding: Creating a Winning Website

Posted on February 10th, 2012 by Joey Donovan Guido

Category: Entrepreneur, Grow a Business, How To Information, Marketing, Small Business

CreatingaWinningWebsite In a previous article, we focused on the importance of choosing the right small business name, and how this choice is the first of many branding decisions that will either add to, or take away from, the image and ultimate success of your business.

Today, I’d like to take a look at another facet of branding that plays a key role in the success of your small business: your website.

Before we get started, let’s take a look at a component that should be visible on every page of your online presence — your logo …

Logo Design

Rumor has it that a picture is worth a thousand words. If the name of your company is important, just think about how important your company logo or graphic is. When it comes to branding, your logo is at least as important as your company name. Your job is to make sure it’s eye catching and memorable — and that it supports your business name, products and overall philosophy. In other words, it’s not something you want to decide on quickly, and unless you’re an artist you’ll probably need some professional help.

Creating a Website

The question isn’t will your small business have a website, the question is what will it look like?

Every small business will have a different budget, which will in turn determine the caliber of web designer you hire to create your site. But there are some core elements that every successful website needs to have:

It Needs to Look Good
Keep your website’s design clean and uncluttered, and make sure your company name and logo are prominently, yet tastefully, on display. A small budget is no excuse to create a website that’s unfriendly or unattractive. If you want to grow a business, it needs to look nice.

It Needs to be Easy to Navigate
Your website has to have seamless function. Navigation bars and drop-down menus need to be designed with clarity and simplicity in mind, and they need to work well. It’s often tempting to want to create web pages that are very dense. Resist this temptation, or your web pages may be perceived as complex and confusing. On your website, it should be easy to find stuff, easy to pay and easy to find help. Think about the user experience. It will certainly be on the minds of your customers.

Killer Content
The copy (often referred to as content) on each page needs to contain certain components. It needs to speak in a voice that’s clear, and that your customers can relate to. Copy needs to be written in a way that’s engaging and relevant to the reader, and the benefits of your products or services need to be highlighted (and truthful). There’s also a need to have an SEO (Search Engine Optimization) strategy in place to ensure that the search engines can easily find your website.

According to Jon Wuebben, the author of Content Rich, SEO is, “the practice of using a variety of techniques to improve a site’s ranking on the searcch engines. These things could include editing or adding HTML code and working with site navigation features and employing linking strategies.” SEO also involves the frequency, quality and placement of keywords and keyword phrases. Reading the suggested articles in the next section will shed more light on SEO.

It Needs to be Google Panda Compliant
Have you heard of Google Panda? In a nutshell, Google Panda is an algorithm that filters websites into two groups — sites it likes and sites it doesn’t like. The sites that Panda “likes” are upgraded in Google’s search results, while the ones it doesn’t like get downgraded. It’s critical that you understand the contingencies that Panda has in place. For a detailed analysis, please read the following articles:

These are some of the best practices to keep in mind when creating a winning website. Design, function, content and SEO all play a pivotal role in how your website will rank with the infamous Google Panda.

If this all seems daunting, you are not alone. But if you take it one step at time, you’ll have a website that serves you, and your customers, well.

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Staples Small Business PUSH Contest

Posted on February 6th, 2012 by Joey Donovan Guido

Category: Entrepreneur, Grow a Business, Promote My Business, Small Business, Small Business News

Win a free TV commercial to promote your business with Staples’ Small Business Push Contest.

How it Works
Create a 15-second video that includes your small businesses name, description and location of your business, as well as what makes your business unique.

That’s a lot to pack into a mere 15 seconds, but making the effort to create the best video possible gives you more than a chance to win one of Staples five grand prizes — it also gives you an opportunity to gain a greater understanding of your small business.

Who’s Eligible
According to Staples, the contest is “open to legal residents of the 48 contiguous U.S. and D.C., who are 18 years of age and older as of date of Entry and who are employed at a small business.”

Staples defines a small business as, “a privately owned corporation, partnership, LLC or sole proprietorship; a for-profit business; having less than 50 employees; and must not be a franchise. Certain types of businesses are ineligible.” Please refer to the Entry Guidelines listed on Staples Official Rules page for more details.

How to Enter
Visit Staples’ Contest Page on Facebook. Click “Like” to gain full entry into the contest page and complete the on-screen registration form. Finally, you’ll have to upload a video or record a video via a Webcam (“Video”). Be sure to include your small businesses name, a description and location of your business, as well as what makes your business unique. Videos may be no longer than 15 seconds, and must be no larger than 20 MB. Visit the Official Rules page for a full list of technical requirements regarding your video.

The Deadline
Contest ends at 11:59 p.m. EST on March 14, 2012.

Public Voting
In addition to being judged by a contest sponsor, Staples has included a public voting component to the contest. “All eligible Videos will be posted to the Gallery during the Contest Period for viewing/voting by the general public. Once posted, Sponsor reserves the right to remove an Entry, in their sole discretion if they find the Entry violates the Official Rules in any manner. Visitors will have the opportunity to visit the Gallery each day and vote for their favorite Entry. Limit one vote per person per day. Voters must be legal residents of the 48 contiguous U.S., who are 18 years of age or older.”

Prize Details
There will be five (5) Grand Prize Winners. Each winner can choose from either of the following packages:

1) $50,000.00 worth of broadcast TV advertising in winner’s local TV market, and a $500 copy and print bundle (awarded as a Staples Gift Card).

2) $40,000.00 worth of broadcast TV advertising in winner’s local TV market, a $500 copy & print bundle (awarded as a Staples Gift Card), and $10,000 to help offset taxes (awarded as a check).

For more info on prize details, public voting rules and determination of grand prize winners, please visit the Official Rules page.

Best of luck in the contest and with your small business!

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Delivering Outstanding Customer Service

Posted on February 3rd, 2012 by Joey Donovan Guido

Category: Business Inspiration, Customer Retention, Customer Service, Grow a Business, Small Business

Outstanding-Customer-Service Customer service is a cornerstone of success.

In many instances, it’s more important than the products or services you offer.

I’d like to share a true customer service story that goes above and beyond the typical expectations of a customer. It happens to be about one of our own BizFilings customer service team members: Adriana.

One of the services BizFilings offers is Registered Agent Service in all 50 states. There are times when a customer will call to cancel their service — typically because they want to take on the responsibility of Registered Agent themselves, or because they are closing their company.

Adriana has a very specific way that she handles this type of interaction.

Of course, she honors the customer’s request and cancels the Registered Agent service. Nothing out of the ordinary yet, right?

But then Adriana does something extra special. She lets her customer know that she’s going to follow up with them once the change of Registered Agent Service occurs.

“Once the paperwork is submitted to the state, it could take weeks before the change is officially accepted. It’s helpful for people when they don’t have to think about it. I just e-mail or call them once the state accepts the change. I really like the fact that we’re encouraged to be helpful with our customers.”

This story exemplifies the philosophy of our customer service team. Our top concerns are making each customer’s experience as easy and pleasant as possible and developing an honest, trusted relationship with them.

We’re Here to Help
Adriana, and the rest of our outstanding customer service team, can be reached between 8am and 7pm CST, at 800-981-7183. Or, you can send us an e-mail anytime. We’re always happy to help.

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Small Businesses Resources, Part 1: The Association of Small Business Development Centers (ASBDC)

Posted on February 1st, 2012 by Joey Donovan Guido

Category: Entrepreneur, Grow a Business, How To Information, Small Business, Small Business News, Start A Business

Small-Business-Resources If you’re an entrepreneur, or small business owner, there’s a very good chance that you can benefit from getting involved with the Association of Small Business Development Centers (ASBDC).

They provide excellent resources — both locally and nationally — for networking, funding ideas, free forms, community connections and much more.

In a Nutshell …
“America’s Small Business Development Center Network is the most comprehensive small business assistance network in the United States and its territories. The mission of the network is to help new entrepreneurs realize their dream of business ownership, and assist existing businesses to remain competitive in the complex marketplace of an ever-changing global economy.” — ASBDC

To make full use of the resources the ASBDC provides, it’s a good idea to take a look at both their national website, as well as the local website.

ASBDC National Website
Here, you’ll find an abundance of resources including:

The ASBDC Blog

A gateway to special offers, discounts and opportunities

Free webinars from ASBDC partners

Helpful links for small businesses regarding information, products and services

Business resources for veterans of America’s Armed Forces

Disaster assistance

There’s also an annual conference which, “brings together over 1,400 Small Business Development Center (SBDC) professionals, trainers, consultants, management, and administrative personnel.” The 2012 annual conference is September 11th.

Let’s Talk Local (SBDC)
Each local small business development center (SBDC), offers unique opportunities for entrepreneurs and small business owners based on the needs of each individual state and city.

There are programs in place focusing on topics like startup business solutions, youth entrepreneurship programs and veterans business programs — to name a few. Some local SBDCs offer networking events that bring small businesses together. Of course, attending classes or presentations will also give you the opportunity to meet other business owners — making your professional circle larger and stronger.

Local SBDC websites are chock-full of information, but you can also call to speak to someone the old-fashioned way — by phone. I have spoken to my Wisconsin SBDC, and I can honestly say that the representative I spoke with was extremely knowledgeable, pleasant and happy to answer questions and offer direction to relevant resources.

As an entrepreneur or small business owner, you need every edge you can find to build and maintain a successful business. The SBDC is an excellent place to find this.

Related Links:
SCORE
SBA.gov
Startup America

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Turning Your New Year's Resolutions into Reality

Posted on January 19th, 2012 by Joey Donovan Guido

Category: Goals, Grow a Business, How To Information, Leadership, Small Business

Did you make any business or personal
New Year’s resolutions this year?

If so, bear with me while I ask a redundant question:

Do you want your resolutions to become reality?

Of course you do.

But in order to do so, you’ve got to transform your resolutions into actual goals.

To follow are four major steps that will help you create detailed, attainable goals — upping the odds for manifesting your New Year’s resolutions into reality.

1. Discover your goals. If you’ve already determined your New Year’s resolutions, you’ve already accomplished this first step. If not, take out a piece of paper (or open a Word doc) and click here for details on discovering goals.

2. Clearly define your goals. I like to say that vagueness will leave us directionless, but a goal that is brimming with details gives us a “high-definition” view of what our future looks like. Take a moment to think of your small business as a trip you’re planning. A clearly-defined goal is like the address (destination) you enter into your GPS. Without the destination, your GPS can not plan a step-by-step route to get you where you want to go. More on defining goals.

3. Setting your goals. Speaking of step-by-step, the next part of the process is creating a step-by-step plan of action. It’s imperative that each step is manageable, or what I like to refer to as “bite-sized.” Here’s how Zig Ziglar and Napoleon Hill, two of my mentors, describe the process of developing your step-by-step plan of action:

Identify EXACTLY what you desire
Spell out exactly why you’d like to reach these goals
List the obstacles you need to overcome in order to get there
Identify the people, groups and organizations you need to work with to get there
Identify what you need to know (learn) in order to reach these goals
Develop a plan of action
Set a date on it. When do you expect to get there?
Write it all down!
More on setting your goals

4. Overcoming obstacles. Let’s face it, we’re not working in a controlled environment here. It’s very likely that obstacles will present themselves as we strive to attain our goals. Here are some practical ways to manage obstacles when they arise:

Learn to respond instead of reacting
Seek our positive input from people, books, seminars …
Have a flexible plan that has room for revisions as needed
Develop your long-term vision so that you don’t lose sight of your goals when obstacles arise.
Avoid them all together by being aware of potential problems before they arise
More on overcoming obstacles

As you can see, there’s a considerable amount of work involved in the process. But this is your business and your life we’re talking about. At years end, I’m sure you’ll want to look back and see success, not frustration because your resolutions never manifested into anything but a big idea.

Take the time to turn your New Year’s Resolutions into attainable goals. You’ll be glad you did.

Good luck!

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Don't Judge Your Small Business Based on the State of the Economy

Posted on January 13th, 2012 by Joey Donovan Guido

Category: Entrepreneur, Grow a Business, Leadership, Marketing, Small Business, Small Business News

Small-Business-State-of-the-Economy If you’re an entrepreneur, or a small business owner, it might be tempting to run your business based on the state of the economy.

When the economy is bad, there can be a tendency to want to play it safe in the decisions a small business owner makes. This is true across the board — from products, to marketing, to the types of people that are hired.

Playing it safe, especially in a poor economic climate, may seem like the best way to help your small business survive. The problem is that safe thinking leads to products and services that are merely acceptable. But when customers are being more careful than ever with how they spend their money — they’re looking for something that’s exceptional, not acceptable.

Survival mode rarely leads to innovation or growth. Instead it leads to mediocrity, because fear of making a mistake leads to ultra-conservative decisions.

I’m not saying to throw caution to the wind, but settling for acceptable when you’re capable of exceptional is never a good idea. Nor is it the most fun, profitable or fulfilling choice.

There’s no doubt that there’s a higher volume of work and effort involved with reaching exceptional. But the results are worth it — for your customers, your employees, your bottom line and the future of your company.

It’s time to move your small business out of survival, and into exceptional.

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Creating a Vision Board: A Tool for New Year's Resolutions

Posted on January 5th, 2012 by Joey Donovan Guido

Category: Entrepreneur, Goals, Grow a Business, How To Information, Leadership, Small Business

VisionBoard Every January, millions of people make New Year’s resolutions. Most of the time, these are either verbal or written resolutions. But there’s another powerful way to set your goals for the upcoming year — a vision board.

What is a Vision Board?

More than a simple craft project, vision boarding is a tool that helps us craft the life and business we want.

“A vision board is a tool used to help clarify, concentrate and maintain focus on a specific life goal. Literally, a vision board is any sort of board on which you display images that represent whatever you want to be, do or have in your life.” — makeavisionboard.com

What’s great about vision board, which is essentially a collage, is that it’s something you can place in a prominent spot in your home or office (or both) and easily refer to it on a daily basis.

Being Mindful is the Key

If we’re mindful when we’re creating our boards, and mindful each day when we review them, we’re filling our heads with positive input that’s both relevant and specific to us. Muhammad Ali once said, “what you are thinking about, you are becoming.” He was right.

What we’re thinking about will affect what we talk about. What we talk about affects the actions we take each day — which ultimately shapes our reality. The more we align our thoughts with our goals, the more likely it is for us to act on them and ultimately accomplish them.

What You’ll Need to Make a Vision Board

Every person making a board will need a poster-sized piece of foam core or oak tag. What’s nice about foam core is that it lays flat and is more durable than oak tag, but either will suffice.
A collection of images from magazines, photo albums, the internet, books — or anything else — that represents what you would like to attain. Whether it’s good health, or a healthy bank account balance, the images you choose should be meaningful, and clear, to you.
You’ll also need scissors, glue or glue stick, markers, tape, or other scrap booking supplies you might like to use.
Most importantly, you’ll need to take some time to think about exactly what you want your business and life to look like. Without a crystal-clear vision of what you want to manifest, your vision board won’t have much value or impact.

Happy New Year, and good luck with your vision boards.

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Archive for the ‘Grow a Business’ Category