This Week in Small Business: From Idea Protection to Advertising Pitfalls
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This week on Bplans, we covered protecting your business idea, how to open a business bank account, the idea that startup funding might actually be an oxymoron, and ways to protect your business when you have a sale or discount a product.
Have a topic you’d like us to cover, or a question you’d like to see answered? Let us know in the comments.
1. How to Really Protect Your Business Idea
Plenty of would-be entrepreneurs think that they can sell an excellent business idea and make a fortune, or that their business idea should be carefully protected, even from potential investors. Tim Berry, founder of Palo Alto Software, dispels these myths—while your sensitive startup information can be protected to an extent, you can only protect an idea so much. Read on for more details on what can be protected, and how to do so.
2. How to Open a Business Bank Account
A business bank account is more than just a place to store your money—it’s also an opportunity to build a relationship with your bank, which will potentially help your business down the road. In addition, there are many considerations when opening a business bank account, depending on your needs. We’ll walk you through the process of picking the right bank for your business.
3. Is Startup Funding an Oxymoron?
While most of the information regarding raising money for your business seems to assume that you’ll be approaching investors and getting loans, the reality is that most businesses are bootstrapped, and don’t receive any outside funding via loans or investors at all. This begs the question—is the idea of startup funding an oxymoron?
4. How to Protect Your Small Business When Advertising Sales and Discounts [Part 1]
Sales can be a great way to bring in new customers and generate revenue, but be careful—some advertising practices run the risk of being deceptive. Here’s how to protect your business when advertising a sale or a discount.
