DECEMBER 2011
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Guest Columns

Start your own Enterprise, be an Entrepreneur! – PART II

Kunal Jain

By KUNAL JAIN

In addition, once you move forward with the idea of starting your own business, some legal formalities needs to be done.

Forming a corporation: This is not a tedious job and anyone with some management background can do it. Florida state offers online registrations of any business corporation. Or you could go with CPA advice solo or 2-3 partner corporation to start as LLC since liability is restricted and in case of lawsuit, the liability does not shift to your individual assets. I always recommend going through a trusted CPA. If you have an investor or partner, then have a clear partnership agreement in place before moving further. The partnership agreement will define your roles and responsibilities in the company and also long-term shareholding pattern in any disputes. Your immigration status does not restrict you from opening an LLC company in partnership. You can also read the difference between different corporations at www.irs.gov or search for fictitious name at www.sunbiz.org The rule to select a fictitious name is that it should be unique in the state. So, if someone has a company or name registered by ABC LLC and it is active, then another person cannot use the same name. I will always try to keep a name, which coincides with the value provided to customers. These days, you may want to search for a domain name too before keeping a good name because if a domain name is not available, your online presence may get compromised. Once you are set with a name that fulfills basic requirements, you can take three steps online.

1. Fictitious name register through www.sunbiz.org
2. Corporation name application for tax I.D. through www.irs.gov
3. Domain name registration through any Web site, which provides domain name such as ww.aplus.net

Once you have the above in place, here are the formal processes to run it successfully.

Bookkeeping and accounting: Most business owners outsource the function to their CPA or bookkeeper. I learned QuickBooks (accounting software) to manage books initially, which gave me a satisfaction to control administrative costs. Keeping track of expenses is an important aspect of a business. Don’t try to mix personal expenses with business; lot of people make this mistake and invite tax audits.

Develop a product or service: If you are a programmer and have developed a product by yourself or had it developed, test it under different environments, find out beta testing sites where you can use the product free and test it as per their satisfaction level. If you are a service company such as computer support, consulting or IT BPO, have strong partners to support the processes not only here but also in India if using offshore manpower. Again, your success in business will depend on how much time you spend in creating value through your product or service for the customers. So, I would be careful in defining and documenting every process of product development or service processes. Do not leave any smallest process undocumented.

Pricing: Keeping an accurate or ideal pricing for your service or product is an important aspect. It should be determined based on the competition and value of your product or service perceived by clients. Always keep in mind that a satisfied customer is the best source for referral and thus growth.

Internet marketing is most successful: Gone are the days when you needed a printing press to publish brochures or cards. Most businesses run on the Internet. I do not remember getting a single client from a brochure or a printed postcard in the last five years. Linkedin and Google SEO and Ad words have become new avatars of marketing. Create your own profile on Linkedin and Google. Search for leads and prospects; do not fear to share anything related to your services with anyone; you will be surprised that you will be getting business from people you never thought of. Blog yourself, read and write as much as possible. Share the wealth of information with others and they will reciprocate. If your product or software is made to target a specific category of businesses, use target marketing via Linkedin and Google. Once you have a few satisfied customers, it is easy to replicate and grow the numbers. But if your initial customers aren’t satisfied, they will become the source of negative publicity. Remember to work on satisfying your existing customers before taking new clients. This is necessary to establish a reputation.

Kunal Jain is a partner and CEO of Practiceforces, a healthcare billing and IT consulting firm in the Tampa Bay area. He can be reached at kunalj@practiceforces.com


BUYING A HOME

By Navin R. Pasem

We hear all too often that buying a home is the single biggest investment of one’s lifetime. Indeed, a life’s worth of hard work and savings may be invested in this venture. Accordingly, it is highly prudent for a home buyer to understand the complex, yet manageable legal process by which a home is purchased in Florida.

After a prospective buyer has selected a home to purchase, they enter into a contract (also referred to as the “purchase contract” or the “purchase and sale agreement”) with the seller of the home. The purchase contract is a crucially important document, which details what you are buying, how you are buying it, and important contingencies, which will allow you to exit the venture should the property fail to meet certain legal and non-legal requirements. It is all too common that home buyers simply sign a boilerplate purchase contract provided to them by a real estate agent without honing in on important aspects of the contract. Buyers must realize that there are important rights they may be giving up and specific obligations they may be taking on by signing the purchase contract. Depending on the particular situation, some of these rights and obligations can be negotiated in terms more favorable to the buyer.

In many business dealings, the contract is the final step in the legal process before the parties begin their business venture. However, in the real estate context, the contract begins the legal process by which the buyer purchases property from the seller. The next steps may include, but are not limited to, a due diligence period, a loan contingency period, a title examination period, and closing. It is important to note that aside from the closing, the foregoing steps may all take place simultaneously depending on the purchase contract.

The due diligence period is the number of days a buyer has to inspect the home to determine if they still wish to move forward with the purchase. During the due diligence period, at the very least, a buyer should have a professional inspection performed to review the structural integrity of the home and consider ordering an appraisal of the home to determine whether they have agreed upon a fair purchase price. Typically, a buyer may exit the deal during the due diligence period for any reason without incurring liability. The loan contingency period is relevant if the buyer is using a loan to purchase the home and allows the buyer to exit the deal should they be unable to attain an appropriate loan after using all reasonable efforts. Next, the title examination period involves an inspection of the history of the property to determine who owns the land, defects in or claims against that ownership and any action needed to clear any existing liens on the property. This phase may involve the interpretation of numerous deeds, mortgages, wills, court decrees and other instruments to confirm that the buyer attains good record title to the property. While a title company will provide the information on title, a buyer would be wise to have a real estate lawyer analyze this information.

Finally, the closing of a real estate transaction is the formal term for when the money is exchanged between the parties and the property is legally conveyed from the seller to the buyer. The closing will only take place after all the conditions in the purchase contract have either been satisfied or have been waived by the parties.

Navin R. Pasem, on the Board of Directors for the South Asian Bar Association of Florida (www.sabafl.org), is an attorney in the Tampa Bay Area representing clients throughout Florida in all aspects of Real Estate and Business Law. He can be reached at (813) 382-8017 or e-mail navin.pasem@pasemlaw.com

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