Delware has recently passed a controversial new law that may have a major impact on how businesses that incorporate there are run. Today’s blog post explores the background of the new law, and how it could affect business owners nation-wide.
This week, the Federal Trade Comission announced a new ruling banning noncompete agreements between employers and employees. In today’s blog, we look at the ruling and what it might mean for your business.
Estate planning can be an intimidating process for anyone. Sometimes it feels like the attorneys are speaking a foreign language full of confusing terms and concepts. Seck & Associates is going to present a series of estate planning blogs to break down and provide a brief overview of several common terms, In Part III of our series we explain the many different types of Trusts available.
Seck & Associates is going to present a series of estate planning blogs to break down and provide a brief overview of several common terms, concepts, and types of trusts to help our clients work with us to achieve their goals. In Part II of our series this week we will address the role that wills and trusts play in the estate planning process.
Seck & Associates is going to present a series of estate planning blogs to break down and provide a brief overview of several common terms, concepts, and types of trusts to help our clients work with us to achieve their goals. In Part I of our series this week we will address the common terms and concepts you will hear discussed in your first meeting with your estate planning attorney.
A summary of the implications of the Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) proposed rule that would broadly ban noncompetition agreements (“noncompetes”) between employers and a broad class of “workers.”
Monumental occasions such as your child turning 18, or graduating from high school, bring on a range of emotions from nostalgia to excitement as to what comes next for your young adult. These times are also a reminder that your child is not only changing in your eyes, but also in the eyes of the law. As your child reaches adulthood, they gain a level of autonomy from their parents that they previously didn’t have. While this is a natural step in any young adult’s life, it can bring on some unexpected, and depending on how this arises, traumatizing situations for parents and their children if they aren’t properly prepared in advance.
A successor corporation is a new business that arises out of a prior existing one. It is important to keep in mind that taking over another business can leave the new business open to liabilities. It may be in your best interests to work with a business lawyer if you wish to create a successor corporation.
Have you ever caught yourself saying “I’ll get around to it,” or “Someday I’ll get that done” regarding items on life’s “to-do list”? For over 75% of the U.S. population, completing their estate plans is often put off. The drawback to postponing this particular “to-do” item is that “someday” becomes the day when an unforeseen event or crisis happens.
Approximately 75% of business owners are expected to transition out of their businesses in the next 10 years. Eighty to ninety percent of business owners have most of their wealth tied up in their businesses. Even with a large amount of their wealth concentrated in a single place, 83% of business owners have no written transition plan and 49% of business owners have done no exit planning. With all the businesses for sale in the United States, only about 20% result in a successful sale.
I worked in and owned a business with my family for almost 20 years. In my experience of working with my family, along with advising family business owners and next generation leaders, I found the following keys helpful in building a peak performing family team.
Many entrepreneurs think succession planning is not needed until the owner is ready to retire or resign; however, it is never too early to begin succession planning. Planning early and communicating it often can allow for a smooth transition of leadership and possible enhance, rather than detract from company growth.
I’ve focused this post on the critical nature of having a clear, realistic Mission & Values statement to ensure your team is aligned — because without team alignment, you won’t be able to drive growth.
In 2017, congressional leaders pushed the largest tax reform bill in the last 30 years through Congress in record-breaking time. The bill is infamously mysterious. Most Americans know little except for Congressman Ryan’s promise for future taxes “to be done on an index card.”
What does this new legislation mean for them? And what does it mean for the growing entrepreneurial community — working out of our many co-working spaces, like WeWork?
Strategic thinking is a reflective state of mind focusing on the performance of the business to gain insights on impacts made. Simply stated, choosing what not to do in the coming year. Yes, I said it, “what not to do”. Let’s practice strategic thinking by stepping into the executive zone and asking some tough questions that will offer business insights.
It is often the entrepreneur’s advanced juggling and multi-tasking abilities that were the greatest asset in surviving the start-up phase that become the greatest liability in successfully navigating the growth phase.
Owners wishing to sell their businesses often look to key employees as a way to transition the business to someone who knows and understands the business and often has a similar vision for the business.
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.
Entrepreneurs often have limited time and money. They may not think that hiring a business attorney or carefully reading a document full of legalese is the best use of these resources.
A limited liability company is a hybrid legal structure that provides limited liability features of a corporation and tax efficiencies and operational flexibility of a partnership.
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.
Determining whether your current staff and next hires are employees or independent contractors is not an exact science. We can help clarify this determination by explaining the tests that will help you decide whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor and the implications of both.
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.
Recently, accessability of websites for disabled individuals has been a hot topic in the legal industry. Today’s blog goes over what ADA compliance for websites looks like, and how you can protect your business from possible legal repercussions.