A reader asked Seth Godin why he so freely gives away business ideas, Seth responded:

“…ideas are easy, doing stuff is hard. History is littered with inventors who had “great” ideas but kept them quiet and then poorly executed them. And history is lit up with do-ers who took ideas that were floating around in the ether and actually made something happen. In fact, just about every successful venture is based on an unoriginal idea, beautifully executed.”

So, as I’ve written again and again, the business idea is important, but executing on a good business idea is where the real value resides.

“If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow.”  -Chinese proverb

Commentary:

This quote applies to your life as well as your business. Is it really worth it to be right or to get angry at your client even if they are being unreasonable? Sometimes, if you just “suck it up”, apologize and move on, you could prevent many disasters: chargebacks, compliants to the BBB and FTC, even lawsuits.

We believe it is always best to a) apologize and sympathize b) immediately resolve the issue and c) give the client their money back (if the mistake was our fault) and in some cases, even if it is the client’s fault. Your reputation is worth more than arguing over money, especially if the value is under say $100.

“There is no correlation at all between success and hours worked.”  - Seth Godin

Commentary: A common theme among business and personal development information is that a focus on hard work only will only make you a hard worker, not necessarily successful. There are billions of hard workers in the world - 3rd world farmers, 18/hour day wage slaves, people who hold 2 jobs at minimum wage, etc.

Successful people work hard on the right things, or better yet, have others work hard for them. The right things are those things that generate the highest return: education, improvement of a product, finding solutions, family, relationships, etc. Everyone knows what the right thing is for their particular situation. The key is focussing on that right thing and putting your efforts towards that. Finally, most successful people turn their passion into their business or career - therefore they don’t consider any time spent doing it “hard work” at all.

One of the primary benefits of incorporating or forming an LLC is the protection of the business owners personal assets from lawsuit. The main problem is that most entrepreneurs simply file the initial paperwork and then completely drop the ball on properly maintaining their corporate veil. This same rule applies whether you have a domestic, Delaware or Nevada Corporation or LLC.

In this article are listed ways to maintain the corporate sheild:

• Be sure that you always conduct business through and in the name of your entity rather than in your own name (unless you are a sole proprietor). Failure to follow the rules for the entity allows creditors to try to deny you liability protection because you did not really conduct business as an entity.
• Always have the entity adopt resolutions to authorize action, even if there is only a “ratification” after the fact.
• Use the proper form of entity signature by always signing documents in representative capacity as an agent of your entity: “XYZ LLC, by John Q. Smith, Managing Member.”
  Use proper signs, advertisements and business cards showing an entity rather than an individual (e.g., “John Smith, President, ABC, Inc.” rather than “John Smith, Owner/Proprietor”).
• Use proper fictitious name filings.
• Avoid commingling your business and personal funds in the same bank account.
• Pay business and personal bills from separate accounts.
• Maintain separate personal and business bank accounts.
• Prepare notes and other documentation of all loans between the business and its owners.
• Your entity must have a minimum capitalization reasonably adequate for the business to be conducted. Insurance counts.
• Don’t sign contracts or make commitments for the business until you have filed the correct papers to organize it, since you will be personally liable. The liability shield of the corporation or LLC does not exist until the entity exists through a filing in the state capital.

Of course, our clients would already know this as a ”compliance checklist” is included in the free handbooks included with every formation of a corporation or LLC that we handle. We also offer QuickRecords which automates corporate/LLC record keeping of minutes and resoulutions (even if you’ve forgot to do them in the past).

“Simple, clear purpose and principles give rise to complex and intelligent behavior. Complex rules and regulations give rise to simple and stupid behavior.”

- Dee Hock, CEO Emeritus VISA International

Commentary: Complex rules and regulations are most apparent in government and you’ve seen first hand how efficiently government is run at your local DMV. On the other side of the equation, look at Wal-Mart, a huge organization with a simple purpose and simple principles (low prices, large selection, efficient operations) that is the model of efficiency for an organization that employs 800,000 + people.