Maryland franchise lawyer Jeff Fabian has an excellent blog post on the issues to consider when the franchise agreement terminates on the Franchise Help blog.

In my experience many franchisees are under the misconception that they can simply change the name of their business and then begin serving the same customers the next day under

I am pleased to announce that I now have a Rush on Business You Tube Channel where I’ll post short videos on various aspects of business and franchise law. I have a few videos posted so far and I’ll add content weekly.

New videos include:

Should You Include Your Spouse When Forming a Small Business LLC?

Do you know the difference between sole proprietorships, partnerships, corporations and limited liability companies? Do you know whether to set up an S corporation or is a C corporation better for you? Are limited liability companies really all that and a bag of chips?

Be sure to join me for an information-packed webinar through MyEntre.Net on

A new organization called Above the Line America is hosting a Business Growth Summit in Ankeny, Iowa on January 31, 2012 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The Summit is located at the FFA Enrichment Center, 1055 SW Prairie Trail Parkway in Ankeny.

The day should be a great one. Business owners and professionals will get an opportunity to

Iowa entrepreneurs have an opportunity to connect with potential investors at the i2Iowa Investors and Innovators Forum on April 12, 2012 at Veterans Memorial Auditorium. Business owners and entrepreneurs can pitch their businesses to investors from four tracks which include:

  1. Life and Bio Sciences
  2. Information Technology
  3. Advanced Manufacturing
  4. General Business

Companies can apply online through

I saw an interesting post from franchise attorney Michael Webster on the BlueMauMau site on Negotiating Your Franchisee Rights. Some of his helpful nuggets:

  1. Review the FDD to see if they are using franchise brokers – you may be able to knock something off the franchise fee by asking for the broker’s rebate.
  2. Budget for professional advice. Hire

This year I’ve reviewed so many franchise disclosure documents for prospective franchisees that I’ve lost count. No matter the industry, it seems as though I am always discussing the same things with franchisees, whether they are interested in fitness, restaurants, business services or tech. So here are 11 things I’d like every franchisee to know when they

Franchise Times recently published its Top 200 systems issue in a story by Jonathan Maze. The big takeaway for me is that franchising is on an upswing after experiencing no growth during much of the recent recession. But franchising has returned as a bright spot in the economy according to the article.

Restaurants appear to be the big