Entrepreneur: Latest from Nina Kaufman

Why Business and Personal Funds Should Be Separate (Video)

Tue, 04 Dec 2012 07:00:00 PDT

Attorney Nina Kaufman explains why mixing your money can lead to legal issues.

How Not to Get Burned When a Partnership Goes Bad (Video)

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 07:00:00 PDT

Attorney Nina Kaufman on why a written agreement can be a critical asset for keeping partners accountable.

3 Reasons Sole Proprietorship Might Not Be Right for You (Video)

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 07:00:00 PDT

Attorney Nina Kaufman on when entrepreneurs should steer clear of this business entity.

Legal Tips for Setting Up a 'DBA' (Video)

Tue, 06 Nov 2012 11:00:00 PDT

Attorney Nina Kaufman on establishing a new name under which your company can do business.

What You Need to Know Before Taking on Investors (Video)

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 07:00:00 PDT

Attorney Nina Kaufman explains the legal precautions business owners need to take.

3 Critical Elements of Client Agreements (Video)

Thu, 18 Oct 2012 07:00:00 PDT

Attorney Nina Kaufman outlines what's needed before you begin working with a client.

3 Steps to Avoiding Late Payments (Video)

Thu, 04 Oct 2012 07:00:00 PDT

Attorney Nina Kaufman offers advice on collecting payments from customers in a timely and efficient way.

Why Written Agreements Are Critical for Doing Business (Video)

Thu, 27 Sep 2012 10:00:00 PDT

Attorney Nina Kaufman on why the days of 'doing business on a handshake' are over.

3 Reasons to Consider a Legal Exit Strategy (Video)

Tue, 18 Sep 2012 08:00:00 PDT

Attorney Nina Kaufman explains how an exit strategy can be useful if unexpected situations arise.

3 Reasons to Incorporate Your Business (Video)

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 07:00:00 PDT

Attorney Nina Kaufman on when it makes sense to incorporate your startup company.

How to Know If a Business Partner is Right for You (Video)

Thu, 09 Aug 2012 07:00:00 PDT

Attorney Nina Kaufman on making sure you and your partners have what it takes to start a successful business together.

3 Reasons Why Your Website Should Include Terms and Conditions (Video)

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 06:00:00 PDT

Attorney Nina Kaufman outlines why you should have the right policies in place online.

When to Take Legal Action Over Late-Paying Customers (Video)

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 07:00:00 PDT

Consider these three issues before suing a client over unpaid fees.

The Biggest Legal Mistake to Avoid in Partnerships (Video)

Thu, 12 Jul 2012 08:00:00 PDT

About to strike a business partnership? Attorney Nina Kaufman shares advice on how to do it right.

How to Stop a Competitor from Using a Similar Business Name (Video)

Thu, 05 Jul 2012 07:00:00 PDT

Attorney Nina Kaufman explains the steps you can take to protect your name.

How Attracting VCs Online Can Attract Legal Headaches

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 07:56:35 PDT

With Foursquare landing $20 million in a recent venture capital funding deal, entrepreneurs are starting to ask, "Why not me, too?" Increasingly, they're turning to internet sites to attract investors who otherwise might never have heard

Summer Interns: Are Small Businesses Flirting with Disaster?

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 09:43:49 PDT

Unpaid summer internships can be a rite of passage for many college students. But for the companies who offer them, unpaid summer internships could start them on a trip down the labor law rabbit hole. Unpaid internships used to be all about "the experience"--an opportunity for young students to break into a new field, to gain contacts, to explore new career possibilities. But with the current administration'

Will the Commercial Real Estate Bubble Burst Your Small Business?

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 09:46:23 PDT

Small businesses are already besieged by the prospect of rising taxes, health care costs, and tightening access to credit. A recent report by the Congressional Oversight Panel indicates that there may be more troubles in store. Small business may get another punch to the gut when commercial real estate mortgages come due over the next three years. As noted by Rieva Lesonsky on

The Hard Truth about Preventable Data Privacy Breaches

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 08:11:39 PDT

More and more states have enacted legislation concerning data breaches . . . but the rogue hacker is not the only way small businesses gets breached. It's tempting to think that firewalls are the only security protection your computer data needs. But increasingly, data gets into the wrong hands for more prosaic reasons. It's not the lone hacker, toiling away through lines of code in a basement, or the foreign vir

Employment Audits on the Rise

Wed, 12 May 2010 10:00:00 PDT

Whichever side of the coin you're on--service provider or service requester--it's important to know that employment audits are on the rise. Let's leave aside my cynicism about the government's use of this tool as a revenue-generation activity . . . The fact is that the Department of Labor, the IRS and numerous state labor authorities have stepped up audits of the employment status of independent contractors. If yo

TODAY @ 4pm: Avoiding Legal Headaches When Branding Your Business

Tue, 11 May 2010 09:08:42 PDT

You've poured your heart and soul (and $$) into launching the Next Great Thing and unleashing it upon the world. Have you made sure that no one can take it away from you? Join me as I lead this webinar for Office Depot--TODAY!--May 11 at 4 p.m. (ET) Through this fun and interactive session, you'll learn:

Across The Pond: The Politics of Fear

Mon, 10 May 2010 09:19:41 PDT

You may have heard by now that the Lib Dems got trounced at the polls, despite promising predictions to the contrary. Apparently, fear tactics got in the way of voting for a change. When times are tough, what do your customers want? The comfort of what they know (even if it may not be what they need)? Or something new? One last post on lessons learned from the UK general election.

Across The Pond: Leave It to the Gods

Sun, 09 May 2010 14:20:20 PDT

When striving for a business goal, when is enough . . . enough? We were having dinner the other night with Lib Dem candidate Ron Beadle and his friend Eileen. Ron has been running himself ragged with this campaign, and we were talking about the toll it has taken on his health and his family life. (Ron's wife and children were at the table listening avidly). Ron and I were on one side of the de

Across the Pond: Where Can I Get an Umbrella Hat?

Sun, 09 May 2010 13:01:19 PDT

It's all fine to automate and be online, but sometimes, success requires a personal touch. More lessons from the UK campaign trail. Got four hours of sleep last night and have been pounding the pavement with "Good Mornings" (the name they give leaflets they hand out on the morning of election day) since 6:15 a.m. It's raining harder today than yesterday, and I'm definitely not dressed warmly enough. Who knew it would be late win

Across the Pond: Efficiency Leafleting

Sun, 09 May 2010 11:39:51 PDT

Any number of factors can slow down your business processes. Are you delivering your product or service to your clients as efficiently as possible? Here's what I encountered while leafleting on the campaign trail. It's 8:15am, and I'm trying to focus on about 5 hours of sleep. Thankfully, my first task of the day doesn't require higher-order brain cells: I'm leafleting on behalf of the

Across the Pond: What Do Small Businesses Want?

Fri, 07 May 2010 03:17:42 PDT

It's deja vu all over again. Or nothing new under the sun . . . ? If you read the political manifestos from the three major parties (Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrats), you'd

Across The Pond: Question Time

Fri, 07 May 2010 03:12:39 PDT

The British excel in verbal fisticuffs. Could our political debates benefit from their seemingly transparent and direct approach? Maybe it's something in their educational system, but the British (and yes, I've noticed this with all of the English, Irish, Welsh, and Scottish people I've met) love a good political discussion. They gnaw on it like a dog with a bone. Chomp, chomp, chomp, drink a little water (or beer) and then go back to

Across The Pond: Two's Company, Three's A . . .

Fri, 07 May 2010 03:03:01 PDT

Like the animals in Noah's Ark, bicameral legislatures (lit. "two chambers") come in twos. We have Congress, made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate for federal issues. The UK has Parliament, made up of the House of Commons and House of Lords.

Basic Training: Vendors Who Want to Bind Your Heirs

Thu, 06 May 2010 14:07:02 PDT

It's bad enough that the fine print in agreements often comes in microscopic font. But what if your vendors want your heirs to be responsible for your debts? Q: I want to sell my product online. One of the credit card processors has in their contract a paragraph for me to sign an acknowledgment which will bind my heirs, administrators or representatives, payment upon my demise of any outstanding debts, etc. Is th

FREE Webinar: Avoid Legal Headaches When Branding Your Business

Wed, 05 May 2010 11:05:33 PDT