Small Business

We all know that you can’t “milk” an almond, right? While that question might sound as absurd as dehydrated water, lawmakers in Arkansas are apparently less confident in consumers’ common sense. In March, the Arkansas legislature passed a law prohibiting words like “meat,” “burger,” and “bacon” from being used to describe plant-based products. Any labeling that classifies meat substitutes or lab-grown meat products as “meat” will have to go.

An Oregon court recently ruled that Crystal Cox, a blogger, is not a member of the "media." It's a decision that likely resonates with small business owners and blog writers nationwide. Businesses that run blogs often worry about defamation suits. And maybe they should. It seems that blogs in some jurisdictions aren't afforded the same type of journalistic protection reserved for more traditional media outlets.

So you've weighed the pros and cons of incorporation and you've decided to take the next step and form your small business as an LLC. As you move down your LLC to-do list, you see: "File your LLC's Articles of Organization with the Secretary of State office in your state." Wait, what are articles of organization? And how are they important to your business? Here's a quick background and a few tips on writing and filing your LLC's articles of organization.

While being first to market may be the key ingredient to success for some of today's biggest tech names, if a startup rushes to launch, they could be facing legal trouble down the road. Although it might be helpful to gauge demand and test a product to do a soft launch, or try to launch early, if your startup isn't ready, there's no end to the types of problems that can pop up.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) created new guidelines for website accessibility in March. These are in line with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) that help provide effective communication, public accommodations, technical standards, and detailed standards for assistive technology. In short, your website needs to be accessible to people with disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Entrepreneurs are natural self-starters with a belief they can do it all themselves, including all of the incorporation work necessary to start a small business. (And with some of the resources available on the internet, sometimes they might be right.) But incorporation can be a tricky thing to get right. And if you're starting a nonprofit to do good, make sure you do it well. That may mean hiring an attorney to help you with starting a nonprofit.