Blog
Tips, Tricks a little celebrity law news...
The 10 BIGGEST mistakes you might be making with your Online Coaching Business!
1. You haven’t formed a legal business entity.
So what do I mean by that? Well, you probably haven’t formed a business entity yet because you’re not sure which each one means. I get that. Furthermore, most people miss advantages (aka the pros and cons) each entity could potentially pose. I’ll walk you through everything you need to know about Sole Proprietorships, Partnerships, Limited Liability Companies and Corporations. (Yes, I know that is a lot but trust me, it’s good to know what ALL the entities mean.)
2. Your personal income and business income are intermingled in the same account.
As an entrepreneur, it’s vital that you have a separate business account. This will affect your liability and your personal assets (more on this with taxes too).
3. The business that you’ve built isn’t insured.
Anything can happen. You want to ensure that you have insurance in the event a situation arises. I’ll cover everything from personal insurance to business insurance and the difference between the two.
4. Your business isn’t protected with the proper paperwork
You must protect your coin! You’re working hard for it! Did you know that your 78% more likely to receive payment from a client when there’s a contract in place?
5. You’ve left yourself and the business vulnerable by not having terms and conditions on your website.
With so many data breaches and the selling of people’s information to marketers, it’s all about privacy and how you use the data that your website visitors leave you with. The government doesn’t take this lightly and will slap your hand (and your bank account) with a fine.
6. Your coaching business documentation isn’t copyrighted.
When the goal is to help hundreds of clients, that also means hundreds of people are going to have access to your work. It is imperative that the materials you use with your clients have been registered with the copyright office before you make your program live.
7. Your business name and logo aren’t Trademarked.
In conjunction with copyright protection, you want to ensure that no one can come in after you’ve built an amazing brand name and have created a killer logo. There is nothing worse than having to hear “Sorry ‘they’ already own the Trademark to your logo and/or business name.” Have to protect yourself from “they.”
8. You haven’t protected yourself in the event you do live workshops.
There are so many caveats that come with renting an event space, or even agreeing to do a speaking engagement. You have to make sure that you’re always protected in the event those caveats creep up unannounced.
9. You haven’t disclaimed any guarantee in results for your services.
Are you teaching people how to be happier, make more money or exercise more efficiently? You have to ensure that if people don’t follow your advice to the ‘T’ or if things just don’t work out that they don’t sue you.
10. You haven’t properly set up your taxes to make more money.
Did you know that depending on your tax election you could potentially keep more money each year in taxes? I’ve got you covered in the Legal ToolKit for Coaches.
If you're ready to learn more about the pro's and con's of running a business signup for the Savvy Biz Network.
Prince, The Next Act
If you’ve been following celebrity gossip, CNN or the magazines on the news stand in the grocery store, then you should be aware of the tomfoolery that is going on surrounding the late, great, Prince’s estate.
If you haven’t been paying attention, then here’s a mini synopsis:
April 21, 2016, one of our last living legends, Prince, dies and leaves a$ 300-million-dollar estate without a will. Not even a full week after Prince’s death, on April 26, 2016, Prince’s sister files legal documents to open a probate case.
Well, things have just gotten more interesting. On May 9, 2016, Minnesota lawmakers proposed the “Prince Act.” No Guys, Minnesota isn’t already planning a hologram Prince concert, but the State's lawmakers are taking notice of how the legendary artist is already starting to be exploited an in less than a month since his death.
As crazy as this sounds, Minnesota is one of the few states left that doesn’t have a statue punishing someone for exploiting an individual’s likeness for commercial gain without consent.
The new act, that is being proposed by Republican Rep. Joe Hoppe, will be entitled the Prince Act, which is an acronym for Personal Rights in Names Can Endure (Prince). The proposed new law will guard against greedy people (like we’re seeing in Prince’s case) misusing the voice, name, or photography of the deceased for at least 50 years. The cool part about the proposed act, is that it will be retroactive for those having passed before its implementation.
I usually don't agree with what most Republicans propose, but I am in total agreement with Rep. Joe Hoppe and pray that not only does this act (that already has bipartisan support) pass, but that the few other states that don’t have laws on the books, will take notice and follow suit.
I’ll keep you posted on whether this actually gets passed, or if it’ll lose steam like so many other worthwhile legislation.
I hope we’re all taking not of the importance of having a will. If you don’t have one in place, I highly suggest you get one drawn up NOW.
