As Erica mentioned many moons ago, one of the first BIG decisions you make as a business-owner is what kind of business you are going to own. I know you're thinking, "No duh Liz! I want to open a sandwich shop that only makes ice cream sandwiches!" Well, that's great - but that's not what I mean. I'm talking taxes.
When you decide to throw your hat into the enterpreneurial ring, you have to decide how you want Uncle Sam to take his share. There are lots of choices: Sole Proprietorship, C-Corp, S-Corp, Limited Liability Corporation (LLC), (This site has a great chart that outlines the pros and cons of each choice.)
For me, it came down to S-Corp vs. LLC. Having worked at a business management firm, I had experience with setting up both types of corporations and I had a basic knowledge of the pros and cons. After doing a bit more research and talking to the Numbers Team, I decided to go with the S-Corp.
This is one of the most important decisions you will make. Every state is different so do your research and talk to an accountant and a lawyer.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
MOM2B Tradeshow
So, I am not sure if I mentioned that both of the sites are going live on March 1st. Yay! Very exciting/nerve-wracking/cold-sweat-inducing.
And because I just love to have a full plate at all times, I am exhibiting PaperMama at the Mom2B Tradeshow in Vegas on March 3rd and 4th. Which means I am leaving LA on March 1st to drive to Vegas and start setting up. What was I thinking?! The same day my sites go live, I head out of town?
This will be my first tradeshow and I am excited and confident that things will go well. Mind you, I have no idea what to expect but I think this is a great opportunity to show off PaperMama. Plus, I just found out that we will be the only stationery booth at the show. Sweet!
As always, Erica has been a fountain of knowledge and support. She has a lot more experience with much bigger tradeshows. I have taken her words of wisdom to heart (comfortable shoes - check). It is so nice to have someone who knows what you are going through and can give you advice, tell you that everything will be fine and basically remind you to breathe.
In addition to getting everything together for the Go Live date, I have also been running around getting all my tradeshow stuff in order. I ordered some wholesale order forms from Carbonless Forms, which I am really excited about. Here's a little nugget about me: I love to file and organize. So the idea of writing up an order, giving the buyer a copy and then processing the order and filing my copy makes me a bit giddy. I know, I know. Weird. Love me or leave me, people.
I have also been working on getting press kits together. That's a fun but daunting task. There are so many components. I am going to do my best to post a picture when I am done. If I don't remember, remind me. I need a gentle nudge every now and again.
Ok, I am off to finish our press release and try to cross off at least 5 of the 254,264,267 things on my To Do list.
And because I just love to have a full plate at all times, I am exhibiting PaperMama at the Mom2B Tradeshow in Vegas on March 3rd and 4th. Which means I am leaving LA on March 1st to drive to Vegas and start setting up. What was I thinking?! The same day my sites go live, I head out of town?
This will be my first tradeshow and I am excited and confident that things will go well. Mind you, I have no idea what to expect but I think this is a great opportunity to show off PaperMama. Plus, I just found out that we will be the only stationery booth at the show. Sweet!
As always, Erica has been a fountain of knowledge and support. She has a lot more experience with much bigger tradeshows. I have taken her words of wisdom to heart (comfortable shoes - check). It is so nice to have someone who knows what you are going through and can give you advice, tell you that everything will be fine and basically remind you to breathe.
In addition to getting everything together for the Go Live date, I have also been running around getting all my tradeshow stuff in order. I ordered some wholesale order forms from Carbonless Forms, which I am really excited about. Here's a little nugget about me: I love to file and organize. So the idea of writing up an order, giving the buyer a copy and then processing the order and filing my copy makes me a bit giddy. I know, I know. Weird. Love me or leave me, people.
I have also been working on getting press kits together. That's a fun but daunting task. There are so many components. I am going to do my best to post a picture when I am done. If I don't remember, remind me. I need a gentle nudge every now and again.
Ok, I am off to finish our press release and try to cross off at least 5 of the 254,264,267 things on my To Do list.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Buying a Business
In the previous post, I may have glossed over how I came to the decision to buy Paper Bride and Paper Mama. While it was a quick gut reaction, I still did my due diligence and research. My mama didn't raise a fool.
Although I am someone who "goes with her gut", I also love to research. So I put a lot of thought into whether or not to buy this lil' company. Sure, my decision started with "I should buy this company!" but it was quickly followed by a lot of questions. Questions like "How can I buy this company?", "What does it mean to buy a company?", and many, many more. There is so much great information on buying a business out there. This article on Entrepreneur.com was the starting point for me.
Before asking Erica any questions, I asked myself some. Why do I want to buy this company? What are my financing options? Where can I take these brands? How would I market them? Once I did some loan research, sketched out product ideas and marketing strategies, I decided to contact Erica and ask her some questions.
Our first conversation proved my gut right. Erica and I hit it off and we shared the same vision for PaperBride and PaperMama. We talked about fun stuff (products, marketing strategies and bad reality TV) and serious stuff (inventory, finances, roadblocks). Afterward, I knew that I wanted to make Erica an offer she couldn't refuse. So it was time to talk to the Numbers Team.
I consulted with 2 lawyers, an accountant and a business manager (like a lawyer-accountant hybrid) to make sure this all made financial sense. Luckily, I worked for a business management company for almost 5 years so my consultations were all free. Even if you have to pay, this is a crucial step. My numbers team went over the figures (mine & Erica's), reviewed my tax options (LLC vs. S-Corp), and asked all the questions that I forgot to ask (copyrights, who knew?).
Armed with lots of information and a gut feeling, I made Erica an offer, and as they say, the rest was history.
Although I am someone who "goes with her gut", I also love to research. So I put a lot of thought into whether or not to buy this lil' company. Sure, my decision started with "I should buy this company!" but it was quickly followed by a lot of questions. Questions like "How can I buy this company?", "What does it mean to buy a company?", and many, many more. There is so much great information on buying a business out there. This article on Entrepreneur.com was the starting point for me.
Before asking Erica any questions, I asked myself some. Why do I want to buy this company? What are my financing options? Where can I take these brands? How would I market them? Once I did some loan research, sketched out product ideas and marketing strategies, I decided to contact Erica and ask her some questions.
Our first conversation proved my gut right. Erica and I hit it off and we shared the same vision for PaperBride and PaperMama. We talked about fun stuff (products, marketing strategies and bad reality TV) and serious stuff (inventory, finances, roadblocks). Afterward, I knew that I wanted to make Erica an offer she couldn't refuse. So it was time to talk to the Numbers Team.
I consulted with 2 lawyers, an accountant and a business manager (like a lawyer-accountant hybrid) to make sure this all made financial sense. Luckily, I worked for a business management company for almost 5 years so my consultations were all free. Even if you have to pay, this is a crucial step. My numbers team went over the figures (mine & Erica's), reviewed my tax options (LLC vs. S-Corp), and asked all the questions that I forgot to ask (copyrights, who knew?).
Armed with lots of information and a gut feeling, I made Erica an offer, and as they say, the rest was history.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Oh...well....hi there!
Thanks for the great intro Erica!
So I think this may count as my first official public "oh crap, how do I do that?" moment. Because I have NO idea what to say. (This should not be confused with the many private "oh crap, how do I do that?" moments I have had since purchasing PaperBride and PaperMama. But more on those later.)
OK, let's get the formalities out of the way. My name is Liz and, like Erica, I am a native New Yorker. I have been living in LA for over 10 years and I like to think I have a nice mix of East Coast/West Coast sensibilities. I have been married to Jim for 5 years and we have a son who debuted right around the time PaperMama was launched. Coincidence? You decide.
I am so excited to be taking over the reins at PaperBride and PaperMama. I couldn't agree more with Erica's sentiments about the universe lining up. I have L.O.V.E. loved PaperBride and PaperMama from the get-go and when I read that they were for sale, my first thought was "Oh that's too bad. I hope she finds a cool buyer." My Eureka moment came a moment later when I thought "Hey, why don't I buy them?!"
Cut to 6 months later: PaperBride and PaperMama are packing up and heading West - kinda like Thelma & Louise but with a better ending (hope hope). I hope you will all stick around for the ride.
And Erica - you are SO my guest for the Oprah show!
So I think this may count as my first official public "oh crap, how do I do that?" moment. Because I have NO idea what to say. (This should not be confused with the many private "oh crap, how do I do that?" moments I have had since purchasing PaperBride and PaperMama. But more on those later.)
OK, let's get the formalities out of the way. My name is Liz and, like Erica, I am a native New Yorker. I have been living in LA for over 10 years and I like to think I have a nice mix of East Coast/West Coast sensibilities. I have been married to Jim for 5 years and we have a son who debuted right around the time PaperMama was launched. Coincidence? You decide.
I am so excited to be taking over the reins at PaperBride and PaperMama. I couldn't agree more with Erica's sentiments about the universe lining up. I have L.O.V.E. loved PaperBride and PaperMama from the get-go and when I read that they were for sale, my first thought was "Oh that's too bad. I hope she finds a cool buyer." My Eureka moment came a moment later when I thought "Hey, why don't I buy them?!"
Cut to 6 months later: PaperBride and PaperMama are packing up and heading West - kinda like Thelma & Louise but with a better ending (hope hope). I hope you will all stick around for the ride.
And Erica - you are SO my guest for the Oprah show!
She Came, She Sold, She Conquered
There's nothing I love more than when things just work out in life--like when you wish/hope/plan/think about something and the universe lines up for you and says: "hell, yeah!"
It was seriously scary for me the first time I actually acknowledged the idea of selling my business. It had been floating around in my head for a few weeks before I blurted it out to my husband one night. Once I faced its existence, my idea moved in with me--it was almost like a third roommate that didn't have a lot of friends and needed all of my attention, so of course I obliged. There was a big part of me that felt like I was giving up and throwing in the towel (which I hated), but was I really giving up by saying "hey, I can't do this anymore, but I betchyoo there is someone else out there who could."
I thought not.
This is where the universe came in. I started researching the process of selling your business-- talking to business brokers, networking with friends, looking into purchasing ads in trade magazines, posting online. Then I decided that I may as well just post something on my blog as it was free, easy, and I had absolutely nothing to lose. And, so I did...and, miraculously, it worked.
I'm not saying that the best way to sell your business is to post a for sale sign on your blog, but it kinda worked out like a charm for me. Lo and behold, I found a smart, sassy, cool LA mom who I knew just "got it" within the first few minutes of our phone call. She's way more organized than I ever was, is excited about taking the brands to the next level, and could not be more of a perfect fit for both Paper Bride and Paper Mama. She'll probably make millions of dollars doing all of the things that I should have done and didn't, end up on Oprah (in which case you BETTER get me a ticket to the show!) and make the cover of Entrepreneur magazine.
We thought it might be fun to document the process of passing the baton as I hit the road, and she comes screaming around the corner in her Ferrari. I'll mostly handle the "leting go of your business and moving on" sort of stuff, and she'll tackle all of the "oh crap, how do I do that?!" sort of stuff. Then, eventually, I'll fade away into the chorus line and move on to whatever the heck is next for me . Sound good?
And so, without further ado, I'd like to officially introduce the proud new owner of my former l'il ole company...
It was seriously scary for me the first time I actually acknowledged the idea of selling my business. It had been floating around in my head for a few weeks before I blurted it out to my husband one night. Once I faced its existence, my idea moved in with me--it was almost like a third roommate that didn't have a lot of friends and needed all of my attention, so of course I obliged. There was a big part of me that felt like I was giving up and throwing in the towel (which I hated), but was I really giving up by saying "hey, I can't do this anymore, but I betchyoo there is someone else out there who could."
I thought not.
This is where the universe came in. I started researching the process of selling your business-- talking to business brokers, networking with friends, looking into purchasing ads in trade magazines, posting online. Then I decided that I may as well just post something on my blog as it was free, easy, and I had absolutely nothing to lose. And, so I did...and, miraculously, it worked.
I'm not saying that the best way to sell your business is to post a for sale sign on your blog, but it kinda worked out like a charm for me. Lo and behold, I found a smart, sassy, cool LA mom who I knew just "got it" within the first few minutes of our phone call. She's way more organized than I ever was, is excited about taking the brands to the next level, and could not be more of a perfect fit for both Paper Bride and Paper Mama. She'll probably make millions of dollars doing all of the things that I should have done and didn't, end up on Oprah (in which case you BETTER get me a ticket to the show!) and make the cover of Entrepreneur magazine.
We thought it might be fun to document the process of passing the baton as I hit the road, and she comes screaming around the corner in her Ferrari. I'll mostly handle the "leting go of your business and moving on" sort of stuff, and she'll tackle all of the "oh crap, how do I do that?!" sort of stuff. Then, eventually, I'll fade away into the chorus line and move on to whatever the heck is next for me . Sound good?
And so, without further ado, I'd like to officially introduce the proud new owner of my former l'il ole company...
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