tealily
Hi pro readers,
I'm the process of setting up shop. The web and marketing stuff is the easy bit - the harder bit is wading through all applicable laws and financial decisions. For example, here are some of the things I've crash-coursed in the past 24 hours:
1) Should I operate as a sole trader or open a company and act as director/sole employee? (US terms: Sole proprietorship Vs LLC)
(the latter separates from other business trading under my existing business number - of which we're only permitted one in my country - however has higher startup costs and a loooot more paperwork).
2) If I exclusively offer online services but need to specify a geographical state to 'base' my operations in for registration purposes, how do I decide which state is best?
(apparently you want to look at which state has more supportive laws in favour of small businesses... but ALSO look at which state has the more favorable Statute of Limitations)
3) If I buy stock images and want to use it as a 'header' of sorts on a website page rather than an in-text image, does that legally constitute as part of a website template, meaning I'd have to pay more to use the stock image?
(checked with a lawyer - it doesn't. Phew!)
4) Why doesn't Squarespace - an ecommerce platform - offer Paypal?
(Actually, as of two days ago they did release PayPal via beta-trial for online stores. Their web design has a crazy learning curve but if it's your gig, read on. https://support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/articles/206545517)
5) Why might I need to seek advice from a lawyer specialising in intellectual property (IP)?
(Lawyer friend says it's because terms and conditions - those groovy things protecting your a** from coming out the wrong end of a lawsuit or lengthy customer dispute - are a contract, and therefore falls under intellectual property law. Though most lawyers are pretty familiar with contacts such as legal wills in event of a death, a Terms and Conditions contract isn't super-standard fare.)
And that's just a snapshot of today... -_-
In particular, I'm spending a lot of time on my Terms and Conditions (I'm choosing to assume I'll get sued - or threatened to be sued - by a crazy person at some point) and looking up things like whether applicable Fair Trading laws allow me to refuse services at personal discretion, what my national Consumer Law states I need to abide by etc.
I'm fortunate to have a lawyer friend helping me out here and there, but I'm fast approaching the point where I really need a lawyer AND accountant (or other professional business advising body) on hand to check my decision-making process and all my paperwork/contracts before I launch for real. There's a lot to know and not screw up... and I'm out of my league!
For anyone else who started out - were you able to do it all yourself, did you end up outsourcing advice/services prior to launch (and how much did it cost you?), or did you choose to work it out as you went along?
I'm the process of setting up shop. The web and marketing stuff is the easy bit - the harder bit is wading through all applicable laws and financial decisions. For example, here are some of the things I've crash-coursed in the past 24 hours:
1) Should I operate as a sole trader or open a company and act as director/sole employee? (US terms: Sole proprietorship Vs LLC)
(the latter separates from other business trading under my existing business number - of which we're only permitted one in my country - however has higher startup costs and a loooot more paperwork).
2) If I exclusively offer online services but need to specify a geographical state to 'base' my operations in for registration purposes, how do I decide which state is best?
(apparently you want to look at which state has more supportive laws in favour of small businesses... but ALSO look at which state has the more favorable Statute of Limitations)
3) If I buy stock images and want to use it as a 'header' of sorts on a website page rather than an in-text image, does that legally constitute as part of a website template, meaning I'd have to pay more to use the stock image?
(checked with a lawyer - it doesn't. Phew!)
4) Why doesn't Squarespace - an ecommerce platform - offer Paypal?
(Actually, as of two days ago they did release PayPal via beta-trial for online stores. Their web design has a crazy learning curve but if it's your gig, read on. https://support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/articles/206545517)
5) Why might I need to seek advice from a lawyer specialising in intellectual property (IP)?
(Lawyer friend says it's because terms and conditions - those groovy things protecting your a** from coming out the wrong end of a lawsuit or lengthy customer dispute - are a contract, and therefore falls under intellectual property law. Though most lawyers are pretty familiar with contacts such as legal wills in event of a death, a Terms and Conditions contract isn't super-standard fare.)
And that's just a snapshot of today... -_-
In particular, I'm spending a lot of time on my Terms and Conditions (I'm choosing to assume I'll get sued - or threatened to be sued - by a crazy person at some point) and looking up things like whether applicable Fair Trading laws allow me to refuse services at personal discretion, what my national Consumer Law states I need to abide by etc.
I'm fortunate to have a lawyer friend helping me out here and there, but I'm fast approaching the point where I really need a lawyer AND accountant (or other professional business advising body) on hand to check my decision-making process and all my paperwork/contracts before I launch for real. There's a lot to know and not screw up... and I'm out of my league!
For anyone else who started out - were you able to do it all yourself, did you end up outsourcing advice/services prior to launch (and how much did it cost you?), or did you choose to work it out as you went along?