This week’s Insight discusses the control of a business – who makes the corporate decisions. The answer is dependent on the business form (sole proprietorship, partnership, Corporation, LLC) and how it was set up in the first place. The worst decision-making setup (and the best […]
“Nonprofit” and 501(c)(3) seem to go hand in hand. But something interesting popped up on my radar the other day, it turns out that not every “not for profit” needs to qualify for tax exempt status under the Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3) in order […]
LLC decision making: LLCs are unique in that “ownership” has two different meanings. First, it means the right to make decisions about how the business is operated. That’s called “Membership” and “Management”. Second is a right to receive profits from the LLC, that’s called an […]
Shareholder removal. This seems to be coming up a lot lately: small businesses trying to get rid of “partners” or specifically, shareholders. This article will discuss some ways that a small North Carolina business can move out unproductive or unwanted shareholders. It’s not always easy […]
Short post today about bragging rights in the marketing / social media contract. Let’s start by defining what I mean by “bragging rights”. Bragging rights are the right of one party to a contract to publicize the fact that they are working with the other […]
The jargon of the trade calls them “inventions assignment” or even more technically “employee proprietary information and inventions agreements”. In layman’s terms, it means if you “invent” something using your employer’s tools or facilities, information provided to you, contacts, proprietary information, or related to its […]
Corporations: What Are Bylaws and Why Does Your Business Need Them? Bylaws are the structure of how your business operates. Who gets to make what decisions, who doesn’t get to make decisions, how to resolve disputes among owners, how to bring in new owners and […]
Business succession plan: I’ve been hearing a lot about business succession planning since I’ve moved to Asheville. Let’s talk about what it means to make a succession plan for your exit from your business, whether through retirement, death or disability. First of all, succession planning […]
In this unfortunate day of the “consultant” and the independent contractor, many businesses see an opportunity to add to their work force or cut expenses with “temp” workers or independent contractors. However, there is a mish-mash of employment laws that need to be considered by […]
Liability protection. It’s something all business owners worry about, but in my experience the worry is often misplaced. Good insurance will cover most injury-type claims (slip and falls, car accidents). This article will outline when you should call your business lawyer to set up liability […]