Juice Magazine recently interviewed me for an article on how to start your own business. I offered the following tips to new business owners:

  • Get agreements in writing up front, whether it’s a few hundred dollars or larger.
  • Small business centers are a good place for people to start. It’s often a good place for people to go get some counseling.
  • You should be very careful if you’re going to go into business with partners. You should draft a buy-sell agreement that outlines how the business will be run, and what happens if one of them should die or want to leave the business. Whether it’s family or friend. 

I also thought Iowa intellectual property attorney Brett Trout offered some excellent advice by recommending that new business owners obtain a federal trademark for their business name or product. In this flat world it is more important than ever to protect your intellectual property. A federal registration is significant because it enables you to collect attorney’s fees and treble damages under certain circumstances in a trademark infringement lawsuit.