You turned your hobby into a hustle and now you’re ready to start your business. Good for you for making a decision to step up and step out. Now the question is what’s next for you? The next question is loaded because as an attorney for more than 17 years I have watched creative geniuses just go for it and dive right in. Unfortunately, history has proven again and again that what doesn’t help you hurt you. Accordingly, here are a few legal considerations you may (i.e. I strongly advise) want to consider as you pursue bigger, better and bolder dreams: the proper business entity, naming your business in a way that avoids trademark issues, posting appropriate information about your policies, properly handling sales and returns, being aware of warranty issues, and properly handling sales tax.
Choosing the Business Entity
When you choose your business entity, consider the various ways you could show up, the reason you want to show up and all of the various obstacles that could stop or block you. The easiest form is sole proprietor, but unfortunately easy isn’t always good because nothing protects you from an irate individual who just hate their life and everyone else’s life. You could also operate your online business as a partnership, but if you do please consider writing out the terms of your business venture as though you were committing yourself to them. Trust me, business separations and/or divorces can be caused by various issues that could be emotionally driven, so you may want to cover your assets to ensure you don’t lose out should the least expected happen to you. You may also consider forming a limited liability company or corporation to protect your assets from personal liability. An online business may not carry the same risks as a bricks-and-mortar operation; however, to the extent you are selling physical products, there is still a possibility of injury or damage to your customers or their property, just as there would be for a traditional retail business. In the case of such injuries, you would want the business, not you personally, to be responsible for any liability.
Naming Your Business
In naming your business it is important not to violate trademark laws. This means not naming your website in a way that might create a “likelihood of confusion” with a preexisting commercial enterprise in the same field. Such confusion might arise if the name you choose is identical or very similar to the name of another business or product. Accordingly, before you settle for a name, please be concerned about trademarks and trade names that may be in use by anyone in every part of the country and/or world. The best approach to avoiding trademark issues is to try to make a thorough search of existing business names before settling on a name for your own business. This may include:
-a basic Internet using a search engine such as Google
s-earching the federal trademark register of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) which is available online at gov
-doing a “whois” lookup of existing domain via individual sellers of domain names, and
-looking at filings for corporations, limited liability companies, and similar entities registered with state and local government offices, such as your Secretary of State’s office; state-level listings are usually available online.
Choosing Your Services
In choosing your services, appreciate that life is not about you. Instead, you should look within yourself to appreciate your strengths, wisdom, opportunities and testimonials (SWOT) to appreciate your gifts, talents and understanding that you can share with the rest of the world. Once you appreciate the core of your creative genius, do some research to appreciate what other people pay for, what they complain about and seemingly talk about most. Now go back to the core of who you are and pull out something that you can monetize immediately, creative one and start with just one thing. Why? Because confused minds do nothing and when people do nothing, you don’t make any money.
I hope this strategically legal brand aid was helpful to you and got to you before you suffered any damage to your mind, body and spirit. Always remember, the upside of knowing, is doing better which helps you achieve more. –Toni Moore