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Episode 57: The Four Elements of a Contract

If you have an agreement with anyone worth any amount of money you see as important, you better put it in a written contract. If you don’t how will you ever enforce it if it goes wrong?

If you don’t put it in writing, it will be difficult to get your money if your client doesn’t pay. You see, it is very difficult to prove what you agreed to if you didn’t put it in writing. That is what we understand to be a contract. But, did you know that, legally, ”contract” has two different meanings.

  1. A contract is an agreement between two parties where the obligations are enforceable by law.
  2. A contract is also the writing which sets out the agreement between the parties.

In this episode, we are going to talk about contracts and what makes one. The goal is to help you understand how contracts impact your business and help you see them more clearly to know when to protect yourself.

In this 22 minute episode we will cover:

  • Contract Element #1: Offer
  • Contract Element #2:  Acceptance
  • Contract Element #3: Meeting of the Minds
  • Contract Element #4: Consideration
  • BONUS : Legal Purpose and Competence of the Parties

Show Notes and Referenced Content:

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Episode 56: The Business Values That Drive My Content

For the past several years, I have been working hard on my mission to make sure every entrepreneur and business owner has access to quality information on legal. I have focused on creating free resources, with Legal to English Academy, I am building DIY resources and options, and of course, I offer custom legal services to my clients. My goal with the free resources and low-cost DIY resources is to educate entrepreneurs to understand the legal needs they have in their business.

But if you are going to trust me. If you are going to listen to what I have to say and take action based on the resources and information I offer, you need to know what I believe as a lawyer. You need to know how I believe legal works with your business to help you grow. I think it is important, if you are going to trust me with the legal protection of your business that you know more about how I believe legal should work with your business.

In this episode, we are going to talk about my thoughts and beliefs.

In this 25 minute episode we will cover:

  • Value #1: Business Must Be Authentic
  • Value #2:  Business Must be Scalable
  • Value #3: Business Must be Fair
  • Value #4: Businesses Must Resolve Disputes Amicably
  • BONUS : My Take on Litigation

Show Notes and Referenced Content:

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Episode 55: Dispelling Legal Myths for the Entrepreneur

People make excuses about legal. A lot. Whether it is too expensive or doesn’t matter yet or you plan to get to it later, the reasons you have for avoiding legal are just excuses.

The problem is, many people believe what they are saying. What is worse – many business consultants and coaches help perpetuate these myths by spreading the myths.

Legal is such an important part of getting a business started. It is just as important as figuring out your budget or understanding your sales cycle. Legal is the way you protect your business as you get started and the way that you stay in business when things get tough.

In this episode, we need to dispel some legal myths for the entrepreneur.

In this 30 minute episode we will cover:

  • Myth #1: “I’ll just get started with my business and then talk to a lawyer when I am ready to get serious.”
  • Myth #2:  “I am just a small business and legal is expensive and won’t really affect my business”
  • Myth #3: “My cousin is a lawyer, I’ll just ask him when I need something”
  • Myth #4: “I could save time and money by just using a template from one of those sites online.”
  • Myth #5: “I have more important things to do, I don’t have time to think about legal.”

Show Notes and Referenced Content:

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Episode 54: Legal Items for a Startup

The Limited Liability Company (or LLC) is a hybrid entity. It combines the limited liability of the corporate structure with the benefits of being treated as a partnership.

Because of that, the LLC has come to be the most common entity selection among startups, small or large, because of its simplicity and its flexibility.

I talk about all the time how it is almost impossible to mess up the formation of your LLC. Especially if it is just you.

Just because the LLC is simple and easy to maintain, does not mean that legal compliance will happen without paying attention to your LLC.

Once you have your LLC formed, you still need to make sure you are doing everything you are supposed to and that your LLC will actually protect you when you need it.

In this episode, we talk about a few of the legal issues you may encounter with your LLC. Some of these are specific to Alabama (where I practice, but will give you some insight into where to look for your own state).

In this 30 minute episode we will cover:

  • Getting an FEIN for Your Business
  • Why separating your business assets into a new bank account matters
  • The steps you need to go through when you are starting your business including:
    • FEIN
    • Locating your office space
    • Business Licenses
    • Annual Meetings and Minutes
  • The Alabama BPT-IN which is due after formation of your business
  • What contracts you need before you start offering products or services to sell

Show Notes and Referenced Content:

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Episode 53 – An Often Overlooked Copyright Issue for Online Business

User comments. Forum Posts. User questions. Uploaded audio files. Fan Art. Guest Posts. We all want them on our site. They are what drive the community. That type of user generated content is a huge leap in validation of your ideas or your product. The question is: who owns them?

This episode is pulled from Startup 101, which is a free course available to Members of legal to English Academy.  If you are interested in learning more, or in getting the PDF download that goes with this lesson, you can grab a free membership to Legal to English Academy and download it and check out the rest of the lessons in context.

In this 20 minute episode, we will cover:

  • Copyright and how it is owned
  • What it means when others create content on your platform
  • How to get the rights without the liability
  • How to protect yourself from someone else’s copyright infringement
  • How to get a license to use content however you see fit

Show Notes and Referenced Content:

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