June 30, 2007 by Jeff Lippincott
QUESTION.
Our local SCORE counselor has suggested I seek advice from someone listed on the SCORE Web site. I chose you for the reasons that you are an attorney and have the qualifications that come closest to the business I am contemplating.
I am a paralegal and have been employed with a law firm for the past 11 years specializing in insurance subrogation and other collections. I really enjoyed the insurance subrogation which was approximately 60-75% of my workload, and did everything from preparing the complaints (the majority were small claims) to tracking the payments and license suspensions. The firm is no longer representing the insurance company and there are times when I question my future with this firm.
I have been contemplating the idea of starting my own collection agency. I’d like to target the insurance companies but still keep other options open. My problem is that I don’t know whether there is a market or demand for this service. Can you give me any guidance on this?
ANSWER.
I was just speaking to a collegue of mine last week who wanted to know about starting a collections firm. She wanted to know if I had done much of it when I practiced law. I did some, but I didn’t specialize in it.
Since you have worked in a law firm you view the collections work from a law firm perspective. In reality, collections work at a law firm is not a collections AGENCY. Instead, it is a collections FIRM since filing lawsuits and negotiating settlements is the practice of law. As a paralegal you are not authorized to legally practice law and thus the collection work you are involved in is not an option for you should you try to start your own business.
Collection agencies do follow-up billing mailings and make phone calls to try to get late payors to pay what is owed. They typically have doctors offices and other private practicing professionals as clients. When they cannot collect the debt, then they hand off the matter to a law firm that does collections work. There is money to be made doing this, but it is not the same type of work you are used to doing.
If you want to continue doing the type work you have been doing, then you may want to get a job at another law firm that does that kind of work. Or you might want to get a job at a large insurance company that will hire you to do all the administrative work its law firm does in the collection process. Your work product would be handed off to the law firm. The insurance firm would benefit in lower costs because it would be cheaper to have you on its payroll than to pay exorbindant legal fees for the same work.
I do a little book reviewing at Amazon and stumbled across a woman who does collections work. See her site at www.credit-and-collections.com. Her books don’t get reviewed all that well, but the site might give you some ideas.
I hope my comments are helpful to you. Good luck! Regards, -Jeff
Jeff Lippincott
SCORE.org Counselor
Princeton, NJ
scoreprinceton @ aol.com
www.scoreprinceton.org
www.jlippin.com
Posted in Business Plans, Entrepreneurship, Small Business | 1 Comment »
June 30, 2007 by Jeff Lippincott
QUESTION.
I would like to start a hair salon buisness. How do I get the licensing and regulations on starting a salon buisness? How do write a proposal for a small buisness grant? And how to keep the business financally stable?
ANSWER.
SCORE offers two kinds of counseling. One is email counseling (the type you are seeking now). The other is face-to-face counseling. I recommend you contact your local SCORE chapter and schedule a face-to-face session with two SCORE volunteers. Visit the following link (see http://www.score.org/findscore/chapter_maps.html) and enter your home zip code in the appropriate space to find your local SCORE.
Before you call to make an appointment I recommend you find, read and study the following book. See
HOW TO START A BUSINESS IN YOUR STATE ONE
HOW TO START A BUSINESS IN YOUR STATE TWO
Make sure to read the book review I wrote for it at Amazon.
Two more links that might interest you. See
PICK A BUSINESS, CREATE A BUSINESS PLAN, AND START IT SOON
HOW TO WRITE A BUSINESS PLAN
Consider consulting your public library to find the following reference collection. See
BUSINESS PLANS HANDBOOK
Volume 6 has a sample business plan for a hair salon. Try to search it out. I also recommend you read as many of the sample business plans in the collection to help you get a feel for what a business plan is all about.
I’m 99% sure you aren’t going to get any grants. But you may end up applying for a small business loan and you will need a stellar business plan to get any money from a bank. The local SCORE counselors should be able to point you in the right direction to get the license you need.
I hope my comments are helpful to you. Good luck! Regards, -Jeff
Jeff Lippincott
SCORE.org Counselor
Princeton, NJ
scoreprinceton @ aol.com
www.scoreprinceton.org
www.jlippin.com
Posted in Business Plans, Entrepreneurship, Small Business | 2 Comments »
June 30, 2007 by Jeff Lippincott
QUESTION.
I am a starting a Web-based business and I am seeking help in trademarking my new company name. Also, I formed a corporation and obtained a Tax ID a few years ago, under a different name. However, I did not do anything with it. Is this still valid? Can I just add my new company name to it and continue to use the tax ID #? If so, how do I go about doing that?
ANSWER.
To trademark a name you need to use it for a bit before you can apply for trademark protection. Whenever you use your company name you can put “TM” after it and you are protected. To learn more about trademark protection you can visit the following site. See http://www.uspto.gov/. As a SCORE counselor I’m not going to get into the specifics of applying for a trademark because to do so is generally considered the practice of law. I don’t do that in my SCORE capacity.
With regard to your existing corporation, you can use it for your new company. You will need to file a fictitious name registration in your state in the same place you filed your corporate papers. The owner of the fictitious name should be your corporation. That way your corporation will be viewed as “doing business as” the ficititious name.
I hope my comments are helpful to you. Good luck! Regards, -Jeff
Jeff Lippincott
SCORE.org Counselor
Princeton, NJ
scoreprinceton @ aol.com
www.scoreprinceton.org
www.jlippin.com
Posted in Entrepreneurship, Small Business | Leave a Comment »
June 30, 2007 by Jeff Lippincott
QUESTION.
I am a fashion designer and I want to start my own line and clothing store. I am now writing my business plan and I am seeking advice on how to make my dream a reality.
ANSWER.
You’ve got the right idea. The first step is to write a business plan. See
PICK A BUSINESS, WRITE A BUSINESS PLAN, START IT SOON
FIGURE OUT HOW TO WRITE A BUSINESS PLAN
I also recommend you contact your local SCORE chapter and set up a face-to-face meeting with two SCORE volunteers. CLICK HERE to find the SCORE chapter closest to you. The sessions are free and last an hour. SCORE excels at helping its clients create sound business plans.
I hope my comments are helpful to youl. Good luck! Regards, -Jeff
Jeff Lippincott
SCORE.org Counselor
Princeton, NJ
scoreprinceton @ aol.com
www.scoreprinceton.org
www.jlippin.com
Posted in Business Plans, Entrepreneurship, Small Business | Leave a Comment »
May 31, 2007 by Jeff Lippincott
QUESTION.
I have a few questions I hope you can assist with. Let me summarize the business first: I am reselling unusual luxury items (virtual butler, custom perfume, etc.) online.
1–How do you suggest I create credibility–or the illusion of it–when I have no formal experience working online or with luxury? Credibility towards hopeful affiliates, I mean.
2–I will be working from home and I believe my business license must list that address. However, I want the public and partners to see another, more professional address. How do I formally change my address to that of a business building or similar? I know its possible, but I’m not sure exactly how to do it.
3–When I make a sale, I will be billing my partner’s consumers upfront, discounting my portion and forwarding the rest of the money. I want partners to feel secure about that and so I would like to obtain some sort of insurance that covers partners in case of nonpayment, deceit, etc. I feel this is necessary as our relationships are new and large amounts of money will be handled. Do you know what kind of insurance I’m seeking?
ANSWER.
Books 7 and 8 on the following list may be of help to you? See PAY-PER-CLICK AND AFFILIATE MARKETING.
1. You get credibility by knowing what you are doing. You also get credibility by getting testimonials and posting those testimonials on your Web site.
2. When you work online you don’t need a storefront. Nobody is going to visit your address. Go ahead on use your home address. Just don’t market your business as one that does “offline” work.
3. It costs a little bit of change to set up a Web site with an affiliate sales system. I studied it once upon a time. But determined it wasn’t worth my time or effort. There just aren’t enough vendors out there that get traffic who are willing to become affiliates. And it is equally hard figuring out if a site gets enough traffic to warrant you accepting them as an affiliate. Your partners will feel secure if you set up an open and clear system for them to work within.
I recommend you find the SCORE chapter closest to you and schedule an appointment to meet with two SCORE volunteers face-to-face for an hour to discuss your idea for a business. You need to write a sound business plan. If you can, then you will have no problem starting your business. I expect you won’t be able to write one, though. Affiliate marketing online is hyped. It’s not worth the effort. At least that is my opinion. I believe your efforts will be better spend starting something else.
A close cousin to affiliate marketing is network marketing. Some of those systems work well for some people. Maybe you should look into that?
I hope my comments are helpful to you. Good luck! Regards, -Jeff
Jeff Lippincott
SCORE.org Counselor
Princeton, NJ
scoreprinceton @ aol.com
www.scoreprinceton.org
www.jlippin.com
Posted in Marketing, Web Site Design | Leave a Comment »
May 31, 2007 by Jeff Lippincott
QUESTION.
My question concerns business contract(s). I am an entrepreneur in need of a formal agreement binding partners and I. I recruit partners as affiliates, offer their products as my own and collect commission. Everything is done online and involves national/international sales. Can you please tell me what kind of contract I am seeking? Also, can you please tell me where to obtain a template?
ANSWER.
Affiliates by definition are NOT partners – they are affiliates. Affiliates are basically sales representatives. Just about any sales rep contract will do. You may want to read about Amazon.com’s affiliate program and use it as a model for whatever it is you are involved in. See http://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/join
I hope my comments are helpful to you. Good luck! Regards, -Jeff
Jeff Lippincott
SCORE.org Counselor
Princeton, NJ
scoreprinceton @ aol.com
www.scoreprinceton.org
www.jlippin.com
Posted in Entrepreneurship, Marketing | Leave a Comment »
May 31, 2007 by Jeff Lippincott
QUESTION.
A few months ago I was asked to provide a service and product for an educational institution for free. This service my company would normally charge $50 to $100 dollars an hour and the products range in price from $500 and up. I accepted the
request which ended up costing my company $3000 for the product and I offered my service for free. Soon after though, I was asked by other public educational institutions if I could give them the same free service and product. In my mind I thought, well, I could probably afford to do this for a few more places but eventually it could put a pretty big burden on my company related to cost. The service I offer is not at all common in a public educational institution but the benefits to its educational purpose are tremendous. I came to the conclusion I might be able to afford it if I was able to recieve minimal compensation so that at least cost were covered along with a hourly labor compensation. This of course wouldn’t be normal compensation that I would normally get for this service because its for a good cause. But enough to make it possible to be repeated and sustainable while being reasonable.
Could I set up a not for profit and bring in some members from other not for profit organizations to create a callaborative effort to make this service and product be possible for a large amount of public educational institutions. It would bring in money from grants and donations to pay for educational curriculum that would show how to best utilize the service and product being donated. Funds would also be used to compensate officers of the corporation for time and expenses along with paying any other fees related to operational cost of the not for profit.
My big delemma which I probably could have stated from the very beginning is this. Can I be an officer and founder of the not for profit while also being the owner of the company which it employees to be able to carry out some of its services. Obviously I’m not trying to make a killing but I know I can’t support myself if I give away all my services and products. But I also see that these public educational institutions benefit greatly from the services and products I have given so far. I would be glad to do it for more but I must have assistance.
ANSWER.
You seem to have the wrong idea about nonprofits. They are in the business of providing a service for the public good but which the public generally can’t or won’t pay a going market rate for. Examples of non-arts based nonprofits are animal shelters, people shelters, legal aid, medical aid, and many schools. But nonprofits often purchase goods and services at market price from for-profit companies.
Your company should not have been giving you goods and services away. You should have been charging market rate and the nonprofits that you were donating to should have been paying you market rate. The nonprofit aspect of your services and product is their problem – not yours. You own a for-profit business and you should be running it as such. What you have described is one nonprofit convinced you to make a donation of your product and services. I hope you got a tax write-off for that donation! Then the word got out and other nonprofits started taking advantage of you. You keep giving your company’s goods and services away for free. The old line holds true for nonprofits: If you don’t ask then you won’t receive. However, you are supposed to be smart enough to say NO.
My recommendation is to run your business like a business and make a profit that the market will allow you to make. If you want to change your company to a nonprofit, then do so. But you can’t do both a for-profit and a nonprofit at the same time. It is unethical. You would be viewed as trying to profit by associating with a nonprofit. That is hard to explain to potential donors to your nonprofit. And if you don’t need donors, then you are not really a nonprofit.
Keep in mind that nonprofit organizations have to show a profit. The key to a nonprofit is that they don’t operate to make a profit. They operate to fill a need for the public good. The CEO of Salvation Army probably earns more money each year that he reports on a W-2 than 99% of Americans. He’s making a very good living doing that, too. And yet, he is working for a nonprofit. The same goes for university presidents. They make lots of money working by working for a nonprofit. So, do you see, nonprofits are not about making no profit.
I think I have answered your question. Good luck! Regards, -Jeff
Jeff Lippincott
SCORE.org Counselor
Princeton, NJ
scoreprinceton @ aol.com
www.scoreprinceton.org
www.jlippin.com
Posted in Nonprofit Fundraising, Nonprofit Management, Small Business | Leave a Comment »
May 31, 2007 by Jeff Lippincott
QUESTION.
I am a small business owner. My husband is a convicted criminal and in jail serving time for his crimes. A writ of execution has been imposed on all my bank accounts and properties as a result of restitution agreements my husband entered into. One of the bank accounts executed on is directly linked to my business’ credit card merchant account. And all sales are being grabbed by the authorities. I am a sole propreitor. There was no service to me nor any hearing in defense. I have an existing post nuptial aggreement seperating my assets from my husband’s which was in effect long before he was convicted. He has never been on any of my accounts, or had anything to do with my business or real property. The sieizure has shut down my company and all source of income to me. I cannot not even use my office which is in my home. And they have taken over my bank accounts.
I am assumed guilty by association only. I was in no way even questioned about his criminal behavior. I cannot even get the State’s attorney general to issue an emergency session to redeem myself and reopen my business. My attorney says there is nothing that can be done unless the State decides to give me a hearing. I believe that the State has violated my basic rights as a citizen to work and the right to a fair and hasty trial. Closing my doors is costing me thousands daily. Is there truly nothing I can do because I did not incorporate? Please advise.
ANSWER.
Sounds like you already have an attorney. He knows the facts better than I do. However, if the bank account or accounts were in your name only, then a writ of execution related to a judgment in your husband’s name only should not have been valid as against your accounts.
To get around the problem, based on the facts you have presented, just open a new bank account in your name alone and switch your merchant account to it. As far as the house situation, you may have to move into new quarters. Sounds like a drug case since there are all kinds of crazy laws on the books for forfeiture when drugs are involved in a criminal matter.
I hope my comments are helpful. As a SCORE counselor I’m not supposed to provide legal advice. And I’m certainly not supposed to get involved if you already have legal counsel. Good luck! Regards, -Jeff
Jeff Lippincott
SCORE.org Counselor
Princeton, NJ
scoreprinceton @ aol.com
www.scoreprinceton.org
www.jlippin.com
Posted in Law, Small Business | Leave a Comment »
April 25, 2007 by Jeff Lippincott
QUESTION.
I run my own small interior design firm and I have not been getting the number of new clients I usually do. I think my marketing methods are becoming less productive. I have been doing some reading about marketing a practice such as mine, and it appears that public speaking would probably help me get new clients. Do you have any recommendations on how I should get involved in public speaking? How about how I can learn to do it effectively?
ANSWER.
Public speaking is a skill that can be learned. It is somewhat easy to do once you become comfortable telling stories in front of crowds. Also, you must master the ability to avoid using vocal pauses while you tell your stories. A vocal pause is a “you know,” “uh,” “so,” or other useless space filler while you think of something to say.
The best way to develop your public speaking skills is to practice doing it. You can volunteer to do all kinds of talks. Your public library will probably give you ample opportunities to tell stories if you can come up with interesting topics to talk about. Since you are an interior designer you will probably want to talk about things relating to interior design. For example, a talk about getting fixtures at Lowe’s might keep people’s attention. Or the differences in drapes and window coverings and the wide range they can cost. Or how about carpets and other floor covering options? You can join professional organizations and speak to those groups, too.
The easiest way to get good at public speaking is to join a few Toastmasters clubs (www.toastmasters.org) and become very active in those clubs. You will probably be able to do a talk a meeting if you like (and can). I say “can” because some people have trouble putting their talks together. Yes, you have to research, outline, and write your talks before you deliver them. The better researched and outlined the better they will be received.
I hope my comments are helpful to you. Good luck! Regards, -Jeff
Jeff Lippincott
SCORE.org Counselor
Princeton, NJ
scoreprinceton @ aol.com
www.scoreprinceton.org
www.jlippin.com
Posted in Public Speaking | Leave a Comment »
