Chapter 9. Legal Eagles: Understanding Your Business and the Law

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It's like the character George Costanza used to say on Seinfeld, "Why must there always be a problem?" In the life of a home-based business, why must there be so many codes, regulations, guidelines, and laws? Oh, please . Like taxes, we could debate the subject of legal codes and requirements until we turned blue in the face. Some are necessary to keep us safe and out of danger while others provide revenue to federal, state, and local governments . Then of course, there are other laws and statutes no one can make sense of because they are outdated and otherwise inane.

60 Seconds with Brian McCarty

Brian McCarty is an expert juggler. Not a juggler in the traditional sense, he doesn't toss pins up in the air, but Brian almost always has several things going on at the same time. Brian works 12- hour shifts as a police officer on Long Island and is also the owner of CST Technologies, a computer consulting company that he operates from a home office. CST stands for Caitlin's School Tuition, and Caitlin is Brian's five-year-old daughter. As a single father, raising a child on his own can be a challenge ”but one that is well worth it. As Brian puts it, "Everything I do, I do for my daughter . She is my focus. I work the night shift so that I can be available to Caitlin during the day. I've created CST Technologies because I want to be able to provide whatever she needs ”whether it's a private school or step dancing ." What's next for Brian? He wants to develop an import-export company.

In this chapter, we are going to address the legal issues that are typically associated with a home-based business, such as business licenses, permits , copyrights, and trademarks. But we're going to start off with a discussion about lawyers and the importance of not only having one, but also of picking the right one.

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