Talking about business laws in microscopic detail would need a couple of months of your time! There is indeed a plethora of legislation that governs small businesses, ranging from state to county laws. Some are relevant to your business even today whereas others are outdated and have not been enforced since the early part of the last century!

It is not possible for any single entity, including your local law enforcement department to know them all. Yet, it is vital that you are familiar with at least the most important laws that pertain to your business. As usual we?re here to help.

Business laws fall into certain categories as listed below:

? Business formation laws ? these laws pertain to the structure of the business. For example a sole proprietorship is regulated very differently from a corporation.

? Tax laws ? comprise laws pertaining to all taxation issues, whether it is the filing of returns or the payment of sales tax, corporate tax and other similar levies.

? Employment laws ? these govern recruitment and retrenchment of employees, wages & workers? compensation, unemployment benefits, workers? rights and related issues.

? Trademark and patent laws ? these laws pertaining to ownership of intellectual property such as inventions, trademarks and patents.

? Environmental laws ? Companies engaged in the recycling of material and the discharge of hazardous waste must comply with environmental regulations.

? Consumer protection laws ? these protect the consumer from fraud or unfair business or advertising practices.

Headache, already? Here are a few tips to help you deal with it.

One size doesn?t fit all. We just talked about some of the important legal categories under which you will find regulations that affect most businesses. In addition, specific laws may apply depending on the type of activity involved. If, for example, you are selling company stocks you will need to adhere to the Securities Law, but for a medical practice, there?s an entirely different set of rules that come into play. State laws may also dictate how contracts and legal documents are to be written and enforced.

Start at the beginning. Just as you craft a business plan in stages, look at the whole legal puzzle bit by bit. Begin with the laws pertaining to the basics of starting a business. Do you need a business license or a special permit? Are you planning to hire employees or will you go it alone? If your business sells goods, it will need to pay sales tax. Look at each business aspect carefully to understand which category of laws apply to it.

Know only what you need to. If you are in business by yourself, for example, you won?t need to bother with laws governing workers and staff until you are ready to hire additional people. Likewise, if you are in a service business, you typically won?t need to bother yourself with removal of hazardous waste.

See the bigger picture. As your business grows, so will the number of applicable laws. Always examine the legal angle when you plan new projects and initiatives. Also, discuss all potential significant legal matters with your advisor.

Ensure compliance. Be unafraid to ask questions of your legal advisor and do not assume something is legal just because it is a common trade practice. Also talk to the local Chamber of Commerce or other business owners to make sure you are on the right side of the law.

Make amends. Finally, should you find that you?ve contravened a law without intending to, take remedial measures. The law is quite lenient with first time offenders ? of course, it also depends on the nature of the violation.

Having to deal with laws and legislation may seem a drag, but there?s no denying their importance. Taking adequate steps to ensure that you have to run into them only as much as you need to!

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The My Tax Tutor series is full of tax saving tips, tricks and strategies specially designed to cater to Home-Based Business Owners, Internet Marketers, Small Business Owners and Truckers.

Investment advice is usually geared toward those with thousands, or at least $1,000 to invest, in addition to the standard three-to-six-months salary socked away in a savings account.
Most of us know how important it is to supplement our retirement with additional investment in traditional taxable investment accounts. Simply maxing out your IRA contributions and putting away 6% of your paycheck into the employer’s 401(k) just may not do it, but not everyone has the thousands that most investment advice requires. Here is a plan developed with the ultra-small investor in mind. It takes just $100, every month for a year. Should You Invest?
First, it is important to prioritize your financial concerns. If you have high-interest credit card debt, do not invest until you are debt free. While it is possible to make more money investing than you are losing on finance charges, it is highly unlikely. Your money is best spent lowering credit card balances.
Also, if you have no cash savings, you should consider putting this plan off until you have savings equal to at least three months’ salary.
Finally, if you would be devastated if you lost all of the money you invested, you should probably stay away from directly investing. While not likely if you are conservative, it is possible to lose all or some of the money you invest, no matter what the security. Start Investing With Just $1001. Open a brokerage account with a low-cost online broker. It’s important that you’re not paying more than $5 per trade, because that’s money that will be coming out of your investment. Also, make sure that the broker you choose has no minimum account balance, or fees will eat up your entire balance. For more about discount stock brokers you can visit our broker comparison chart. 2. Fund your account. This is where you send your first $100 to the broker via check, wire transfer, or ACH transfer. I recommend ACH transfer, which is like an electronic check, because a check will take a few weeks to process and a wire transfer is too costly for investing such a small amount. 3. Make your first investment.
What you invest in is, of course very important, and professional investment advice is too expensive if you’re only investing $100. But studies have shown that the best returns come from widely diverse portfolios.
Now, you can’t easily have a widely diverse portfolio with $100, since that won’t even get you one share of Google (GOOG) or Toyota (TM). But Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) make it easy to invest a small amount of money in a wide variety of securities, because they are shares in a larger pool of securities. The Vanguard Total Stock Market VIPER (VTI) tracks over 6,000 U. S. stocks, and it’s like investing your first $100 in the entire U. S. stock market. The iShares MSCI-EAFE (EFA) invests in stocks from Europe, Australia and Asia. The iShares Lehman Aggregate Bond (AGG) tracks the Lehman Brothers Aggregate Bond Index, and it’s like investing your $100 in the entire bond market.
If, after three months, you have put $100 into each of these funds, you will have a well-diversified portfolio that should withstand most of the market’s fluctuations. Losses in any particular sector of the stock market should be offset by gains in other areas of the market. Add to it each month, never investing less than $100 at a time, and you should see the value of your account grow just as the stock market does.
There are many ETFs to choose from and they are getting more diverse, including junk bond and commodities funds. Personally I would stay away from them until there’s at least $1,000 in stock and traditional bond ETFs, since the majority of your portfolio should include traditional investments, not alternative investments.
As you watch your investment grow (and then pull back, and then grow again) you should learn more about asset allocation and portfolio diversification, which are the keys to investment success. The more diverse your investments, the more you will be able to withstand volatile markets when stocks dip.
Finally, when the total value of your investment reaches $10,000, you should consider seeking professional investment advice and transferring your holdings to traditional mutual funds, which are a bit easier to manage, but typically have higher investment minimums.