New York Small Business Law

NextNY Blog

NextNY, a group of young (and young at heart) people who have a stake in the future of tech and new media in New York City, revamped their blog.  From an announcement:

This blog covers NY technology, entrepreneurship, startups, digital media, events, personalities, companies, success stories, and brings together the leading voices of the industry.

In true "Web 2.0" fashion, this blog builds on user-generated content that's already out there. It's an aggregator, automatically pulling in posts from authors' individual blogs.

Anyone who blogs about the technology and digital media industry in New York is welcome to join up and post their content. It doesn't  matter whether you're a venture capitalist, programmer, designer,  entrepreneur, or journalist, as long as you have an interest in the NY technology and digital media industry.

New Business Law Blog in New York

There is a new business law blog in New York, "Business Partnership Central" by Paltrowitz and Kaufman LLP officially launched on February 28.  Welcome to the New York blogging neighborhood.

Startupping

Check out Startupping, the new

"one-of-a-kind community resource created for Internet entrepreneurs by Internet entrepreneurs. It is a place to share information, ask questions, and tap into the experience of others who have built and are building web businesses. Read blog posts about startup issues, participate in our discussion forums, and view our wiki resources, including sample term sheets and a glossary."

Does your Lawyer have a Blog?

Probably not.  Even though blogs, or blawgs (get it...?), seem to be more common nowadays, very few business lawyers have them.  In my area of practice I can only think of two other (small) business law blogs that really try to talk to the small business owner:  Rush Nigut's Rush on Business and Nina Yablok's BizBlawg (Nina: you should really try to post more often, every time you do, your posts are great).

Please let me know if you've come across any other small business law blogs.

All the best,

Imke Ratschko

P.s. I almost forgot the mother of all small business blogs:  BizzBangBuzz by Anthony Cerminaro

Preparing your Business for Sale/Starting your Internet Business LLC

I've pretty much had given up exercise for blogging.  But since I figured out a way to take blogging to the gym, I've been back.  I make it bearable by listening to podcasts, the audio version of blogs.  Today I listened to (and recommend):

Preparing you Businesss for Sale - An interview with Mathew Ashburn hosted by Rush Nigut

Starting your Internet Business LCC on Internet Business Mastery (part one of two)

Learn about Your Small Business Tax Obligations From the Pros: the IRS

Since this is tax season, you might be interested in this resource I just found on the website of the Internal Revenue Service (aka the "Tax Man"):

Welcome to the Small Business/Self-Employed Virtual Small Business Tax Workshop.  This extensive workshop is designed to help new and existing small business owners understand and meet their federal tax obligations.

The workshops consist of videos that teach you almost everything you need to know about federal taxes and your small business.   

SmallBiztechnology.com

Thanks to Becky McCray of SmallBiz Survival, I learned about SmallBizTechnology.com.

SmallBizTechnology offers news, articles, discussion boards, resources, and analysis related to the technology needs of small businesses.  Not really law related, but just as with the legal foundation of your business, it helps to be informed about technology relevant to your business.

Submit your Startup to KillerStartups.com

From KillerStartups.com:

Submit your startup, vote, leave comments, contact startups, participate! KillerStartups.com is a user driven internet startups community. It’s intended for entrepreneurs, investors, and bloggers to stay updated on new internet startups.

Domain Names are important Assets - Treat them Accordingly

Rumor has it that somebody should be fired at Google Germany, because he or she forgot to renew Google's domain name.  Apparently, when you go to google.de (from a German location) you get a parked host site.

Let that be a lesson to you and put in place an ironclad policy regarding your most important web asset.  This policy could contain not only notifiers about renewal action, but also regular action to monitor who out there is registering confusingly similar domain names or is doing other kinds of mischief.  Monitor compliance with the policy.

New York City's Minority/Women Owned Business Enterprise Program - Has it helped your Business?

New York City has a Minority-Women-Owned-Business-Enterprise Program.  According to their website, the benefits of obtaining a certification under the program are that:

    * Firms are listed in the NYC Online Directory of Certified Businesses, which is accessible to purchasing officers and contracting agencies, as well as private purchasers.  Our NYC Online Directory is searchable by keyword, company name, location or certification status of the owner.

    * Enhanced probability of being invited to bid on small purchases by government agencies through new initiatives to connect vendors directly into the government procurement process

    * Networking opportunities with government procurement agents, including industry-focused events

    * Discounts on business development services, such as computer equipment and continuing education classes at local colleges

To qualify for certification into the Department of Small Business Services' (SBS) M/WBE program, a company must be:

    "* In operation for at least one year

    * At least 51% owned, operated and controlled by a woman or a member of a minority group, including Asian-Indian, Asian-Pacific, African-American, Hispanic or Native American

    * Located in New York City or one of 14 surrounding counties. If the company is located outside of NYC, it must have a significant tie to the City's business community (i.e., have conducted business in the city, have derived 25% or more of gross receipts from business conducted in the city, possess a license issued by the city, etc.)"

Check on their website for applications and requirements. They also offer free classes on completing  the applications.

I would be interested to hear from businesses that have had success through such certification.  Please comment.