Category Archives: Business Start Up

Starting out your own business could be tricky at first, or sometimes even scary; but the point here is that a good entrepreneur does not fear to venture in new frontiers. A successful businessman will tell you to get the baggage out and start the machinery already. The market will not wait for anybody.

Business start-up will begin at the stages of planning. When you have a solid plan, you could go for the immediate start of the enterprise; or you could still wait for the peak season to arrive. The peak season for business is always a good time to start out. You could learn and earn quicker. So get that baggage out and start the machinery already! Success is not for the faint hearted.

Legal woes in Starting a Business

In every business transaction, legal issues always loom around. It is in fact one of the most challenging things to consider when starting a business.

It pays to have even an easy grasp about the law. You might not be so keen in learning all of it, but if you are in business, legal woes are part of your routine. You need to have some knowledge and understanding on some of its provisions especially if it concerns your business. If however you are caught in a situation of which you deem is already far beyond your capacity to handle, you might be better off if you ask help from a lawyer.

First things first

As you establish your business, your knowledge of the legal issues may not necessarily be as comprehensive as you might think. You only need to learn on a gradual process by prioritizing the things that need immediate attention such as:

  • Business name application
  • Securing business registration number
  • Securing business license

These things do not need complex understanding nor does it require elaborate procedures. These kinds of information are readily available in business sites or among other resources in the web.

Do not allow ignorance

Everybody has heard the phrase that says: “ignorance of the law excuses no one”. In business, you cannot allow ignorance to deter you from performing your best in conducting your business. And you definitely cannot allow complex business legal issues to keep you from growing freely. That is why; it is recommended that you acquaint yourself with some of the laws’ provisions if its jurisdiction covers your business entity. You can even outsmart your competition by learning the ins and outs of the law. This way, you lessen the possibility of a nasty entanglement with the law. When you have certain knowledge about a given law, it gives you the chance to study its extent and boundaries; otherwise, you will have to face the consequences of every trespass which could also be detrimental to your business.

Doing the right thing

After you have crashed out ignorance by acquainting yourself about some extents of the law, the next best thing for you to do is to act on it. You must decide to do things according to what you learned about what the law says. And to give you a much greater perspective on the legal issues, it is advised that you seek professional legal help to aid you on complex issues. Your actions must be based solely on doing the right thing according to what the law says. Sometimes you even have to formulate and throw yourself some self pointing questions just for you to realize some of the key points you have to remember.

Legal issues need not be a problem as long as you have given thought of addressing it as early as possible. It may be hard at first, but when the things keep going, all the rest become easy already.

import-china

Six practical guides to a successful importing from China

The following are easy-to-follow guides that will get you through when you are in the business of importing trade from China. These will help you get a clear picture of the actual process so you could make the necessary preparations.

BE CONCIOUS WITH THE PROCESS OF PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

Your top priority must be the product development of whatever it is you wish to import. You already must have established the needed designs of the product and its other necessary details. It will also greatly help if you already have enough information on the profile of your local competition. How you play your decisions will greatly impact your schedule during this phase. Moreover, the actual process in manufacturing your products and its packaging will also be the factor to determine the length of your timing.

CHOOSE THE RIGHT SUPPLIERS AND DO IT AT THE RIGHT TIME

In any import business, choosing the right suppliers is really very critical; it could very well affect the performance of your importing. Among the hundreds of suppliers out there, you need to choose the one who knows the importance of strict compliance to the given timeframe of the products they are expected to manufacture. It might be useful to tap local professionals to help you find screen the suppliers that you need, this way you could save a lot of time since the professional has a firsthand knowledge about the people and its local custom.
Remember that you only need to look and interact with any of the suppliers after you have been finished with your product development; it simply defies common sense to be talking with your suppliers without even having a detailed specifications and design of your product. Once you already have the suppliers that you will be agreeable with, and then you can already start negotiating the trading, shipment, payments and all the other necessary terms to avoid conflict in days ahead. Give an allowance of 2 to 4 weeks for this phase to come through; however, it may vary depending on the behaviour of other contributing factors.

DO THE SAMPLING

Sampling basically is the next step after you have already done the first 2 things mentioned above. Every supplier knows this, so this should go about without much hitch. Sampling cost could vary depending upon the interference of any contributing factor such as design complexity among others. Sampling usually takes 2 to 4 weeks. You might want to extend an allowance for any unexpected hitch along the way.

SEND THE PURCHASE ORDER

The next best thing to do is to draw the purchase order and have it delivered to the supplier. This is to be your sacred agreement and will help you crystallize the extent of the terms of the trade. The whole thing could take up to 4 weeks depending on the speed of the other contributing factors.

officespace

Some Considerations before Subleasing any Office Space

Getting office spaces don’t always have to be a long-term commitment. Subleasing is a very good option, most especially if you are running a small business that’s transitioning from being home-based to brick and mortar. Most rates today are very attractive given any amount of space that you need. Here’re some things you need to know on subleasing before signing that contract.

Consider How much You Need to Pay

A business or company that’s subleasing their space to you is free to charge any amount for rent, theoretically. Technically though, there might be some clauses in their contract with the landlord that might limit their rights to charge for rent. This, however, is not much of a concern for a subtenant such as yourself. In any case, you will be paying less than what the tenant is paying for the space. Moreover, in most parts of the country, the demand for space is so low that a tenant can provide lower rates for rent and are getting more consideration from their landlords. Whatever the case may be, always make sure to look around the market first and keep on negotiating until you get rates that will most suit your budget.

Consider What’s Part of the Package

Aside from the amount of space and sublease terms, another thing that you might want to consider before taking on a contract is what things are included in the package. These can range from parking spaces, use of facilities like the office break room, meeting rooms, and even the use of office equipment.

Another important consideration is that you would need a clear understanding on what your responsibilities are when it comes to repairs. Most of the time, you will be responsible for minor repairs like replacing light bulbs, but the major problems like cracks on the walls, leaks on the roof, or peeling paint are often left to the landlord.

If part of the package also includes a separate entryway leading to your office or a formal divider between offices, always check and make sure that everything in your area of responsibility adheres to all building codes. If there are no separating fixtures, always make sure that there is an understanding of what common areas or equipment you or your employees have access to.

Most of sublease offers also covers other features like security systems and Internet services. This is always to your advantage as you don’t have to set-up your own services or contract other companies or providers to set-up your business for you. Most sublease offers are already ‘plug and play.’

Before Taking on the Offer

Always make sure that you have a lawyer who’s knowledgeable in real estate law. You can have this lawyer review the lease agreement between the landlord and the tenant to ensure that  the tenant has the proper right to offer a sublease agreement to you. Moreover, make sure that you are protected against eviction because once the original tenant gets evicted, you also go along with them.  Through a real estate attorney, you can find out what can happen if the property becomes foreclosed due to the landlord’s inability to pay the mortgage on the property.