A number of people might argue that a college education isn't necessary, but I think it is important to get a college degree before becoming an entrepreneur. The education you receive may or may... (more)

First remember that you'll need information to help you make the right business decisions, not information for information's sake. The website at cens (more)

Your first objective should be to make sure you have an investment opportunity that will be of interest to venture capital firms. If your startup isn't scalable, defensible, have high growth... (more)

Your rights as a minority shareholder depend on whether you have a written shareholders agreement and, if not, the default provisions contained in your state corporate law. Sometimes,... (more)

There are a few places that you'll want to look to see if anyone else is using the same company name. First, if you are filing "Beauty Room" as a DBA -- short for "doing business... (more)

The first step for you is to take every opportunity to increase both your capital and your experience. It's not easy to save money while in college but it is possible. Work as you have the... (more)

You're focused on an important component of investigating any franchise -- the success rate. Assuming that by "success" you mean how many units don't fail, this is easy to determine. In... (more)

This one of the most important and contentious topics in the franchise industry over the past 20 years. Many, but not all, franchises grant an "exclusive territory" to their... (more)

Do you have friends in business in your area? Do you respect their judgment in business matters? If you do, who do they use for those services? The best way to find accountants and lawyers... (more)

It's important you find a wholesaler who you can work with and trust. There are some steps you can follow to ensure you find one that fits those needs. First, and this may sound obvious,... (more)

Talk to the faculty first. The institution has to participate to legitimize a work-study situation for some kind of course credit, and then everybody wins. Most business schools love to put... (more)

Nonconfidential overviews are often used in situations where companies are seeking investment capital, grants, or promoting venture opportunities. It's a way of communicating your business... (more)

Luckily for you, this leopard showed his spots early in the game. You may be right -- that your partner has violated certain provisions of your operating agreement. Putting in all the money and... (more)

Unfortunately, there's no way to prevent someone from suing you. You can be sued, even if you didn't do anything wrong. For example, reasonable minds could differ as to whether you were negligent... (more)

Many businesses have been struggling in the past few years. Here's the bottom line: 1. It's nearly always hard to sell a business that's not operating successfully, especially in a tough market.... (more)

These are three great questions so let's take them one at a time. First, there are many important steps you'll take when investigating any franchise but the three most important are: 1)... (more)

Instead of utilizing a website, you need to utilize a web presence, which consists of carefully planned placements of content about your business on other highly-trafficked websites. Here’s the... (more)

I am assuming that the reason that you do not want hourly workers putting in time on company-observed holidays when exempt employees are not at work is because the hourly workers would not be... (more)

More traffic and better conversions can come from many different types of marketing initiatives, so here’s a basic summary of the main ingredients that typically go into increasing website traffic... (more)

A business owner can't do much to avoid the pitfalls of paying commissions, apart from capping them or not offering them at all. You sound as if you're considering commission-only positions. In... (more)