Your trusted source for Iowa business and franchise law insights.
Your trusted source for Iowa business and franchise law insights.
Need capital for your business? Looking for an investor? If so, you should take the opportunity to attend a seminar from the Business Innovation Zone of Central Iowa (BIZ) on how to get your business into shape and attract an investor’s eye.
Adam Claypool of DeWaay Investment Banking is the speaker. I have worked…
Megan Erickson of the Dickinson Law Firm has started Erickson’s Blog on Social Networking and the Law. Now that’s a blog that will have a never ending flow of posts. She already has an interesting array of posts including one where a business owner got slapped with a $2 million libel lawsuit for Facebook and…
Okay, you have decided you can do it on your own. You don’t need a lawyer to review your agreement (at least until the proverbial you know what hits the fan). But let me give you some MasterCard commercial-like "priceless" advice:
READ YOUR AGREEMENTS.
I am honestly not trying to be a smart aleck when…
You’ve probably seen them in your contracts. Miscellaneous provisions such as choice of law, litigation venue, successors and assigns provisions, no waiver, entire understanding, or supersede clauses. They tend to always appear at the end of the contract and are almost always an afterthought by the parties. After all, those provisions don’t mean anything…
A recent case reported in the Des Moines Register discusses how a handshake deal on the sale of a home went awry for a man that apparently invested over $100,000 in a home – only to learn the home was not his.
Actually there was a one-line agreement in this instance which read, "I Floyd…
How Business Gets Done, Words of Wisdom from Central Iowa Experts has hit the virtual bookshelves at www.lulu.com. I am honored to be a contributing author with several respected peers in our business community. My chapter is on the Partnership Prenuptial where I discuss the importance of drafting a buy-sell agreement from the beginning…
Whether you are starting a business from scratch or buying an existing business you should consider setting up a corporation or limited liability company (LLC) before you actually sign any agreements or documents relating to your new venture. To the extent possible, avoid signing any contracts, loan agreements or leases in your personal name. In…
Looking for money for your business? Check out the entrepreneurial resource guide from Biz. The guide explores and explains grants, loans and assistance programs.
I am excited to speak at the Biz on How To Choose the Right Business Structure for Your Business. The presentation is June 17th at 11:30 a.m. The admission fee…
From time to time I enjoy featuring a business law blog worth reading. The San Diego Small Business Law Blog from Joseph Dang is definitely one to check out. Although the blog is centered on California law, Joseph has a number of general posts that are helpful to any small business owner.
In particular, I encourage…
A few weeks ago I attended a conference relating to venture capital in Iowa. During the talk several of the panelists commented that they would not sign a non-disclosure agreement prohibiting them from discussing a potential business idea they learned about from someone seeking capital. The venture capitalists did not want potential liability for ideas that…