Direct Talk

The fall busy season has a way of arriving before you are ready for it. One week you are in the relative quiet of August, and the next you are fielding calls, closing deals, and wondering where the last three months went. Labor Day is the unofficial starting gun. Here are three things worth doing before it goes off. Pull Out the Business Records Checklist and Actually Use It Earlier this year I published a fresh-start checklist for organizing your business records. If you rea

If you send marketing emails to your customers, you are subject to a federal law called the CAN-SPAM Act. Most small business owners have never read it and many have never even heard of it. That is a problem, because the penalties for violations are steep and the rules are not always what people assume. This law is not complicated law once you understand what it actually requires. Many business owners, however, get tripped up on the same few points again and again, so let's

If your business sells products or services online, you are operating in a space that carries its own distinct set of legal requirements. E-commerce is not just traditional business conducted through a different channel. It creates specific legal obligations around how contracts are formed, how customer data is handled, what disclosures you must make, and how disputes will be resolved. Getting these basics right from the start protects your business and builds the kind of cus