Business Planning

By Gerri Detweiler –

After surviving several tumultuous business partnerships, Susan Nilon has learned to be more skeptical and cautious. In the past, she admits she was so excited about business possibilities that she “didn’t pay attention to red flags.”

She and her current business partner in a legal research firm, De Novo Law Services, not only have a formal partnership agreement, they’ve taken it one step further. She created an addendum to the agreement “writing out 10 steps on how to survive our partnership,” she says. This document spells out the things that are not normally called out in a contract, like how to handle disputes and what to do when the other partner is not pulling their weight. (more…)

By Jennifer Lobb

Despite the fact that the fourth quarter rolls around at the exact same time year after year, the realization that it’s just around the corner is always startling. In fact, every year as Labor Day bookends the far end of the summer, I find myself asking “how did we get here already?”

We are, of course, “here,”and if you’re a small business owner, it’s time to pencil in a few important tasks to help you navigate the Q4 craziness.

1. Talk to Your Staff

It’s tempting to label this as “evaluate your employees,” because that’s something you’ll want to do as well, but your efforts should exceed evaluation. Your employees are on the front lines and often offer the most candid and useful feedback when it comes to “everyday” tasks and processes. They also are likely to be the ones who have the most frequent, and therefore most insightful, feedback on client or customer relationships.  (more…)

By Gerri Detweiler
Nav

Perhaps you’ve got a hot idea for a new business and decided it’s time to turn a dream into reality. Or you’ve given up on finding your dream job and decided to create your own. No matter what your motivation for launching your own business, the journey ahead is no doubt both exciting and scary. Where do you start?

The first thing you’ll want to do is lay a solid foundation for your venture. Here’s a step-by-step list to get you started.

1. Choose a business name. Think this one through carefully. Not only do you want to make sure it will be unique and memorable, you’ll also want to make sure it is legally available. Just because there are other businesses with similar names doesn’t mean you can’t use it, but be careful. If your business name is similar to another business — particularly one in your geographic area — your business credit profiles could get mixed up with one another. While you are at it, check domain names, social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.). Do a Google search. Before you make your final decision, consider a trademark search to avoid any legal challenges down the line. If your business name is too similar to another, you may not be able to register that name when you create a legal entity. (See step 4.)  (more…)

In our previous installment, we touched on the benefits of buying an existing business, determining client readiness to buy, and organization. With such a small percentage of business searchers completing the purchase, it’s important to get clear on criteria and what is going to be the best fit for your client’s lifestyle and abilities.

Choosing the Right Type of Business

Many times, buyers will spend too much time looking for what they think is the “perfect” business, and end the search prematurely after realizing it doesn’t exist. Helping your client establish the right type of business to target will not only get them closer to a purchase, but it will open up options that fit within their ideal without having to hit every checkbox. (more…)

Every homebrewer who has sipped his or her own creations and tasted the satisfaction of a job well done has likely at least contemplated what it would be like to share their recipes with the world, or to make a living from their passion for handcrafted beers. And many Vermont brewers have taken steps to make that dream a reality. But there’s a lot more to a successful brewery than making great beer.

Vermont breweries like Hill Farmstead Brewery in Greensboro and The Alchemist in Waterbury are garnering national attention and an almost cult-like following for their products. It’s easy to see why new breweries are popping up throughout the state and beyond. While rockstar brews like the Alchemist’s Heady Topper may make going into the beer business seem like a no-brainer, opening a brewery is a serious and often expensive undertaking that should not be delved into on a whim.  (more…)