I get this question at a lot of conferences, so I thought it was high time we cleared this up!

The answer is a surprisingly simple one.  A business license and an LLC filing are very different….

A judge once said to my client: “The biggest mistake you made was going into business with a friend, with no written agreement. Friendship clouds the business relationship. You can't have the conversations you need to have when you're friends."

While I disagree that you can't run a business with a friend, I do agree with one thing: entering into any business relationship without a contract is a no good, very bad idea!  (Don't take my word for it--Being Boss did a great episode on this very topic, which you can listen to here.)

What type of contract am I even talking about? …..

A lot of times, wedding pros plan to "start out small" in their business.  This means running lean and on a shoestring budget.  And lots of times, these are the folks who skip the corporate formation step and just opt to be a sole proprietor (an "SP").

Let me tell you-- this could be one of the most expensive mistakes you make…

"Each separate email in violation of the CAN-SPAM Act is subject to penalties of up to $40,654"-- FTC.gov ⬅️

Do I have your attention now?

Yeah, thought so.  If you're sending out emails to customer lists, sharing potential customer lists of new couples with like-minded vendors, growing your email list through freebies, or just starting to explore the idea of email marketing, you need to perk your ears up…..

Hey wedding pros and creative entrepreneurs! You know that trademarking your business name can be important— but did you know that there are some things that you aren’t allowed to trademark at all? Check this list to make sure your business name is in the clear!

 Every few weeks, we'll be posting 5 legal words you're too scared to ask someone to define.  We'll take the legalease and make it legal-easy! Ok, sorry, that was  a bad pun. You'll be able to know what these terms mean for your business AND personal life …

Now that you know all about non-competes, let's talk about it's "sister"-- a Non-Solicitation clause. A non-solicitation clause restricts individuals from…