To Choice of Entity – A Basic Primer on Common Types Used by Small Businesses

There are many different kinds of legal entities: sole proprietorships, limited liability companies (“LLCs”), general partnerships, limited partnerships, limited liability partnerships, trusts, and corporations to name a few. I am going to focus on four of the most commonly created entities below. Each type of entity has different liability protections and tax treatment. When forming your business entity you should ask yourself two basic questions 1) how much liability risk to your personal assets are you willing to take; and, 2) how much tax would you like to pay?

2010 Maryland Top 100 Winners

A Treatment for Declining Sales

Epidavros Day Spa, in Mt. Kisco, N.Y., bears the name of the ancient Greek coastal town known as a healing sanctuary. But by the end of 2009, owner Sandra Rovira says the spa’s atmosphere was anything but restorative.

August Events Not to Be Missed

Below, you will find some great upcoming events for August. If you have any questions or an event you'd like to submit, please send us an email!

Baltimore Crowd Pitch Event June 16, 2010

What is a CrowdPitch? This event will bring entrepreneurs, innovators, mentors, support providers, and investors together in an informal and energetic setting.

Business Succession Planning Basics

Business succession planning is creating a roadmap of how you intend to exit your business. While it frequently refers to what happens upon the death of a business owner, it can also refer to retirement, disability, or the sale of your interests in the company to a third party, employees, or family members. Among other benefits, a successful business plan minimizes taxes paid by you, your estate, and your heirs. Just like a will, a business succession plan helps to establish your intentions for your business and may help to avoid disputes about how the business is to be operated if you become unable to manage it. Not having a plan can create problems for your family and other owners and may spell disaster for your business and its customers.

Communicating Differently

In the last 6 months I’ve learned tremendous things about the way I communicate, the language I use and the energy I put on things. I’ve learned that the way I think about something impacts the results I get. Pretty easy concept, right? Not so easy. It’s a very simple concept. There’s a difference.

Creating Time

It's true; no one multitasks like a busy woman. And instead of actually doing something to reverse the damage that is done from this hyper-superb-quality, we generally power through it. We complain occasionally. We break down, get back up, and repeat. And we’re always growing. And with that, we tend to pile a little more on, well, because we’re good at it. There exists a moment that wakes some of us up from this cycle, and we navigate our course a bit to the left or right, whatever is needed. There also exists a moment where we can't recover and end up in a place we swore we could never handle, but somehow... we do.

Critical Focus Questions for Entrepreneurs

I have been working with focus questions this past week. Why? Because it helps to focus on what I need to do to get more business faster this month. It’s not that I don’t know what to do. It’s that having a direction and focusing question directs my energy to the most productive actions.

Customer Service Always Starts With You

Last summer I spent some time in Toronto. Described to me by a good friend as “a New York City run by the Swiss,” I found it to be much like I remembered from my trip there 30 years ago: clean, safe, interesting, international and friendly.