The Midwest Small Business Conference is now set for October 10 & 11, 2008 at the Des Moines Marriott.  This event is rescheduled from the previous announcement on this blog because the original date conflicted with the Iowa-Iowa State football game. (Conference organizers learned that not even business gets in the way of football).  Fortunately the conference was able to

I am honored to be included among the Alltop franchising news selections.  Some exciting things have been happening for me on the franchising front including developing the franchise disclosure document and franchise agreement for a new local franchisor, the opening of a client’s new Max Muscle franchise location just on Thursday and the completion of a franchise

I have seen many articles on the Internet which state that you absolutely need to form a limited liability company (LLC) if you are a small business owner.  The S corporation, once the darling of small business entities, is probably feeling a little lonely these days.

One important aspect of the S corporation is that

A recent article from the Wall St. Journal online discusses something I thought I would never see from a franchisor: A money back guarantee

Others are not convinced and warn to investigate the details carefully in the Franchise Disclosure Document.  

Thanks to Joel Libava for pointing out the article.  Joel is a franchise consultant from Cleveland,Ohio that

Twice a month I blog for IowaBiz which was acquired by the Des Moines Business Record this summer.  Since that time it appears the bloggers have stepped up their game.  The posts have been informative and entertaining.  I encourage you to take a look.

My post today for IowaBiz centers on the trend of hiring

Great post from Susan Reid on the Small Business Trends Web site on the 15 Ways the Olympics Exemplify Success for Small Business Owners.  In the comments of Reid’s post, Anita Campbell has some terrific words about West Des Moines, Iowa’s very own Shawn Johnson.  Johnson definitely made us all proud with her