But not all small businesses are created equal, and we aren’t the only ones who think so. A new study by the Wall Street Journal itself found that “entrepreneurs who engage in business planning early on are more likely to… get a business off the ground.” The article focuses mainly on a business plan, which is indeed one of the most important start-up documents you can have, but advance business planning can include these other documents as well, many of which require experienced legal advice:

• Operating agreement
• Legal partnership agreement
• Articles of Incorporation
• Bylaws
• Operations Manual

If current economic circumstances have you thinking about starting your own business, come into our office and let us help with the advance planning. We care about our clients, and are invested in seeing you accomplish your goals. We want to help give you and your business the best possible chance for success.

As we all know, the world is a different place now. Very few people stay at one company longer than a decade, and not even that long if you’re under the age of 30. There is, however, one exception to this… if you’re self-employed.

As an estate planning firm, we meet with a good number of self-employed clients and small-business owners, and one of the most important things we can convey to these clients is how very, very important it is to have an effective estate plan. As S. du Plessis states in her article Estate Planning for the Self Employed: A Helpful Guide, “I am so responsible in other areas of my life, I feel compelled to be responsible about my death too. Plus, I hate to fail, and those who fail to plan. . . fail. So in fairness to my husband and children and because I own a business (which complicates my estate), it’s time to come up with an estate plan.”

Du Plessis is absolutely correct that failure to plan—especially for small business owners—can have disastrous consequences for both their families and their businesses. When you are so responsible in all other areas of your life, why let the ball drop in this one area? Especially when it’s your family who will end up suffering?

Small business owners spend so much of their time taking care of other people, we think it’s time that someone helped take care of them. Our office can help preserve the legacy you’ve worked so hard to build—for both your family and your business.

This program will be more aggressive in alerting the Secretary of State to LLC’s that are not paying their taxes, penalties and interest to the Franchise Tax Board. Consequently, they will be placed in “Suspended” or “Forfeited” status by the Secretary of State much sooner.

Having an LLC in suspended or forfeited status is costly. Any other party contracting with an LLC in suspended status can have that contract declared VOID and unenforceable! (California Revenue & Taxation Code 17654, 23301.5, 23304.1 and 23305.5).

Please contact us to check the status of your LLC. If it is in suspended status, we can help you get it active and avoiding possible legal exposure.

The answer to that is yes and no. It is the very act of doing things your way that has made your business as unique and successful as it is; you don’t want to change that now. Not to mention, you want to make sure that your interests are met when a deal is finally brokered. That being said, there are some things you can do—and people you can talk to—that will make the process of selling your business a lot quicker, a lot smoother, and a lot more lucrative.

This article from US News and World Report shares 10 Key Moves When Selling Your Business. Two of the ten moves mention getting the help of your accountant and the help of a professional broker. To this we would add getting the help of your attorney. Numbers 5 and 9 are going to be essential when it comes down to solidifying any deal, and our firm can help ensure that all of your legal and regulatory affairs are in order.

But what about the down market? Perhaps you’d like to sell but think it just isn’t an option while this financial fiasco is still going on. Not so. According to Loraine MacDonald in her article for Entrepreneur.com an economic downturn may in fact be a lucrative time to sell if, as she puts it, you have the right “three stars aligned” at the same time.

Whether you’re thinking about selling right now or much later, it’s never a bad idea to do the research and put your business affairs in order. As MacDonald mentions in her article, there are any number of unforeseen events that could end in the sale of your business at an unexpected time. The more prepared you are the best chance you have of getting the best buyer for your business at the best price—and of course, doing it your way.

It has been predicted by the “experts” that the banking crisis will continue. The FDIC has made a few policy changes to reassure depositors. It simplified rules for revocable trusts, increased the level of insurance coverage per depositor from $100,000 to $250,000 for interest bearing accounts and agreed to insure the full value of non-interest-bearing accounts until December 31, 2009. Coverage on interest-bearing accounts can be increased…if the accounts are held in different ownership categories i.e. single, joint, revocable trust, and some retirement accounts.

For example, the FDIC adds together the deposits in all “single” accounts owned by the same person. If John Doe has a personal checking account, savings account, CD account, and a business account (as a sole proprietor), these will be added together. John will only be insured up to $250,000 and only until the end of 2009. He will need to keep up on the FDIC’s level of insurance coverage per depositor thereafter. If John’s accounts exceed the insured amount, he will need to deposit the excess in another bank or place it in a different “ownership category” like a living trust

To learn more about the FDIC go to www.fdic.gov

Please contact us if you have further questions. We are happy to help.