Do you have a new technology-based business idea? If you do, I encourage you to check out the Dream Big, Grow Here contest that is sponsored regionally by the Business Innovation Zone. The winner of the regional business pitch contest will be awarded $5,000 and then move on for the opportunity to win another $10,000 in a
Buying & Selling a Business
Forming Your Iowa Small Business Corporation or LLC
I spend a substantial amount of time fielding questions about whether a new Iowa business owner should form a corporation or LLC. It’s an important question but I caution new business owners not to get too bogged down in the details. Instead, I suggest putting a team of advisors in place to help navigate the…
Franchise Fee Basics
By Rush Nigut on
New York franchise lawyer, Charles Internicola, has good blog post on Buying a Franchise: What do the franchise fees cover? It’s an excellent overview and Charles is right on point with his factors that are more important than the franchise fee itself.
The key in my opinion is to find a franchise that will deliver…
Business Entity Formation and Start-Up Overview
I recently had the pleasure of presenting at the Raising Capital Seminar sponsored by the Business Innovation Zone. I discussed business entity formation and certain start-up issues. The presentation touched on forming S corporations, LLCs, business valuation methods, intellectual property ownership and the use of non-disclosure agreements.
You can see the video highlights here…
Franchises You May Want to Avoid
By Rush Nigut on
Sometimes knowing what not to buy may be just as important as what to buy.
From BlueMauMau you should see this list of the 25 worst franchises to buy in 2011. The list is based upon failure rates of SBA loans only (with 50 or more disbursements). Eight franchises have over a 50 percent failure rate on getting the SBA loan…
Franchisees Should Carefully Consider Full Release When Staying in Franchise System
By Rush Nigut on
It is not unusual for a franchisor and franchisee to have a dispute that is resolved and then the franchisee continues in business. In those circumstances, a franchisor will often resolve the dispute with the franchisee in exchange for a full release of claims. These releases state that the franchisee is releasing the franchisor for any and all…
Des Moines’ Entrepreneurial Community Gaining Momentum
By Rush Nigut on
Yesterday I spoke at the BIZ Raising Capital Seminar mentioned in my last blog post. I thoroughly enjoyed being on a panel with some excellent business advisors including:
- Paul Juffer of LWBJ Financial
- Adam Claypool of the DeWaay Investment Partners
- Chris Sackett and Joe Leto of the Brown Winick Law Firm
- Christian Renaud of StartUpCity Des Moines
…
BIZ Raising Capital Seminar March 29th
By Rush Nigut on
I’ll be one of the speakers at the annual Raising Capital Seminar sponsored by the BIZ on March 29, 2011 at 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The seminar is located at the Des Moines Partnership offices.
"Many entrepreneurs don’t have a good understanding of the types of capital that start-up businesses can or should raise," says
…
Franchise King: We Knew Him When
By Rush Nigut on
My friend, Joel Libava (aka "The Franchise King"), inked a book deal to write a book on franchising. I’m excited because Joel is a reliable resource in the franchise industry. We don’t always agree but I do respect his opinions on franchising. He tells it like it is even if that means calling…
The Use Of Independent Contractors and Immigration
I often received questions about whether a worker should be classified as an independent contractor or employee. In fact a blog post on Employees v. Independent Contractors is still one of the most popular posts ever on my blog even though I wrote it over three years ago.
In a couple of recent blog posts, Brick…