Small Business Legal Smarts

Covers such issues as alternatives to incorporation, tax-laws, record keeping, trademarks, Internet business, sexual-harassment, firing, and collections

Lawyers can provide you with the legal information you need, but their fees are often prohibitive. This comprehensive guide will answer many of your questions, saving you both time and money - money that you can keep in your pocket.

Are you one of the many women out there who needs a brand-new model for your business career? Are you looking for entrepreneurial alternatives to the world of big business, but aren’t sure where to start? A transition into small business is a natural progression for countless women who have invested the first phase of their careers in large companies. Many mid-career women dream of starting their own businesses, but until now there hasn’t been a book that gives them the sense of multiple choice that helps them find the right entrepreneurial fit—options that go beyond starting a venture to include buying an independent business or a franchise, joining or consulting for small businesses, or working with partners. There’s a confusing array of how-to books out there with general advice about starting a business, conducting a job search, or balancing work and family. But what entrepreneurial women really need are the strategic tools for choosing and growing a business that will not only make them money, but make them happy as well. Women need direct, gender-specific advice about succeeding financially in their businesses; they also crave the feeling that their work matters, and they want flexibility and control over their professional lives in order to achieve a healthy work-life balance. This book offers them the womenfriendly business advice they need and numerous true-life role models to identify with and emulate. Author Ginny Wilmerding opens women’s eyes to the advantages of buying, joining, or consulting for existing small businesses, fully explaining the alternatives to starting from scratch. If you lack an original business idea, this book will give you the confidence you need to get excited about pursuing a business idea other than your own. But if you do want to start a company from the ground up, there’s plenty of food for thought for you here, too. Wilmerding not only shares her own stories and outside experts’ advice but also includes insightful vignettes from women who have found their niches and are succeeding financially. If you’re wondering how to finance your small business, Wilmerding steers you toward success in obtaining SBA loans and other financing. Finally, if you’re considering partnering with others to share the risk and the fun, she prepares you for partnership success, and explains the importance of good advisers and mentors. The goal of this book is to get you started on the path to a successful career in the small business world, a world that needs experienced, smart, versatile women like you to join its ranks. Smart Women and Small Business is the ultimate professional guide for mid-career, business-minded women who want to achieve the same independence and success as their entrepreneurial male peers—but in their own way.

Everything you need to start a business, from creating a solid business plan and selecting a marketable name to business contracts, taxes, and reaching customers online.

Law of Cross-Border Business Transactions aims at giving a structured introduction to the law and practice of investment deals (e.g., greenfield projects, M&As and hybrid forms) and of non-investment transactions (e.g., trade, technology transfer and services). Cross-border business deals are nowadays routine matters for business entities all over the world and the related legal aspects are becoming more and more complex. This book provides extensive general background information. It also covers numerous specific issues of relevance in the context of cross-border projects. Substantive law issues, procedural aspects and skills-related considerations such as contract drafting, structuring options and cross-cultural lawyering techniques are included, adding up to an unusually comprehensive and useful guide in the field. What’s in this book: The author describes a wide spectrum of transaction types. He explains underlying principles from a conceptual and a comparative point of view with a focus on transactional issues, using case studies from a variety of jurisdictions to demonstrate the significance of particular aspects in the context of multi-jurisdictional legal practice. Among much else, topics include the following: international lawyering and cultural diversity; lex mercatoria; conflict of laws; letters of intent, position papers, heads of agreement, confidentiality and exclusivity agreements; structure and contents of international contracts; e-contracts and smart contracts; protection of intellectual property rights and technology transfer; trade, countertrade and trade financing; insurance; agency and distributorship; greenfield investments and M&As; competition law and merger control; employment law; corporate governance and corporate social responsibility; international taxation; and dispute settlement and cross-border enforcement of awards. This second edition updates the discussion of the different topics comprehensively. It also expands many parts and adds sections in relation to new themes that have gained importance since the publication of the first edition. In particular, it addresses legal issues arising out of the digitalization of the global economy with a special focus on choice-of-law questions, smart contracts, e-bills of lading and online dispute settlement. It also draws attention to the impact of China’s Belt and Road initiative, Brexit and the ‘America First’ foreign policy. How this will help you: Of special value is the author’s precise guidance on drafting techniques and contract practice. The clarity of the presentation, the uncompromising consistency in terms of structure and a large body of references to primary and secondary sources presented in this edition ensure that legal professionals, business managers and academics as well as other interested parties can gain easy access to comprehensive and detailed information across jurisdictions.