The pros and cons of accepting Bitcoin and other online payments for small businesses What are the risks of small businesses taking payments in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies? What are the rewards? But first, for the uninitiated, what are cryptocurrencies in the first place? They are decentralized digital exchange media…
If the robots start taking over, you can’t necessarily expect the government to protect you. That isn’t to say the public sector isn’t paying attention. President Biden and Vice President Harris met recently with CEO’s of Microsoft, Alphabet Google’s and other leading artificial intelligence companies and pushed the message that…
Self-certification for veteran-owned and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses is being eliminated, and a number of other changes went into effect on January 1 as a result of an updated Final Rule from the Small Business Administration (SBA) about these types of awards, details of which will be posted in a…
Can You Keep a Secret? At the federal level, the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 created a pathway for civil action due to misappropriation of trade secrets; federal courts also can rule on criminal trade secret actions based on the Economic Espionage Act of 1996. The UTSA defines a…
2023 Business Outlook 2022 started out with the hope of a recovery from the pandemic but ended with a recession. With the advent of 2023 we are left to ponder on what is ahead for businesses in 2023. It’s the Recession, Stupid: The war in Ukraine has affected the world…
Are NDAs for Sexual Harassment dead? Employers will no longer be able to require workers to sign upfront non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) pertaining to sexual harassment incidents they have experienced or witnessed under new federal legislation that passed overwhelmingly through Congress and signed into law by President Biden on December 7.…
Buyer of Nontraditional Legal Services, Beware All kinds of business forms are offered online, and many of them for free. Stand-alone paralegal services are offering various sorts of assistance to small businesses for significantly less than lawyers generally charge. Accounting and bookkeeping services that organize businesses are increasingly positioning themselves…
Family Owned BusinessSuccession or Dissolution? They make great stories when they’re successful, but maintaining continuity of family-owned businesses from generation to generation presents many challenges. A family-owned business can be an excellent means of transferring and preserving generational wealth when run smoothly. Learning to work together as a family can…
How Do Family Businesses Survive Transition? The Cornell University Smith Family Business Initiative says that more than three-quarters (77%) of small businesses rest on significant family involvement. Family Enterprise USA has counted 5.5 million family businesses in the U.S., finding that they contribute 57% of the U.S. GDP, employ 63%…
Illinois Amends One Day in Seven Rest Act The new year will bring with it activation dates for new or amended state legislation that passed earlier this year, some of which will have an impact on small business owners and their employees. One significant change that employers should know about…