"Work from home! Make thousands of dollars a month just sitting at your computer!"

Too good to be true? Chances are pretty darn good that the ad is either a complete scam looking to separate you from your money or is an opportunity that could work if you sit at said computer 24/7 for ten years. Either way, "opportunities" such as this need to be avoided when considering a start-up business, in my opinion. As I mentioned in my last entry, you should perform some introspection and discover your passion, then find a way to work that passion into your business.

If, however, you are dead-set on working with a "business-in-a-box" type of opportunity, it is essential that you perform due diligence and I would strongly recommend bringing an attorney and accountant into the mix. Before handing over any money, in-depth research needs to be undertaken – I would start with a simple Google search of the company to discover what others are saying about the credibility of the business. The next step are phone calls to the Better Business Bureau and your state Attorney General's office to determine if any official action has ever been taken against the company or individuals running the business. A call to your local county recorder's office can tell you if the company has outstanding judgment leins against it, indicating potential financial or legal problems.

If you are still interested following these steps, then it is time to ask the company to provide you with information on its finances, such as balance sheets, tax returns and credit ratings (if applicable). If the company is serious about doing business with you, then it should not be difficult to obtain these documents. If the company sets up roadblocks or outright denies you financial information, these are clearly 'red flags' and your interest in the opportunity should stop immediately. If you are able to obtain copies of the financial documents, you should hand them off to your attorney and/or accountant to perform further high-level due diligence.

Another step in the due diligence chain, depending on the level of investment, is a visit to the company's headquarters. What appears to be a well-run operation in a nice suburban business park could actually in real life be a sloppy mess tucked into the corner of a basement. You'll never know if you don't check it out!

Finally, if there are red flags from your due diligence, or if your professional advisors recommend against investing in the opportunity, please listen to their advice and ask more questions as to how they formulated their opinions. If you want a second opinion, get one. I can tell you this – if an attorney and a CPA come to me and tell me that they've looked into things and that they do not believe all is on the up-and-up I would most likely drop the thoughts of associating myself with the opportunity at that point.

Once again, I am keeping this very simple, but just passing along the basics to get you thinking about the dangers of failing to properly investigate a situation or opportunity before jumping in head-first. Just think – if more people had properly investigated Bernie Madoff before investing with him he might not have had as many victims.

My office can perform these due diligence investigations for you. I also have relationships with CPAs and can team up to investigate from both a legal and accounting viewpoint. Please contact me at (216) 577-0013 if you are interested in sitting down and discussing a legal matter!

Michael K. Astrab is the principal attorney for Astrab Legal Services LLC, located in Cleveland, Ohio. He may be reached at (216) 577-0013 or via e-mail at astrablegal@sbcglobal.net. This blog is designed for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. You should ALWAYS seek out the advice of an attorney and financial professionals before starting a business.

After a long absence due to business development work and other issues, I am back to blogging and will make my best efforts to maintain a daily post on this site. I had a post a couple of weeks ago that was the start of a series on starting your own business and discussed buy-in issues with regard to a spouse or significant other as a critical issue that must be addressed before any further planning is contemplated.

Today's blog deals with deciding what to do with the business that you want to start. This may seem like common sense, but in the quest for easy money it is an area often overlooked and can doom a start-up business if not thought out properly.

My advice is to take a self-inventory and think about what you have done in the past on both a personal and professional level that has really brought out your passion. I believe that having passion is a primary key to developing a successful business. If you have no passion for something, but are merely excited about the concept, you will burn out quickly and wonder why in the world you decided to pursue the venture in the first place. Take a look at the mortgage industry – I am willing to bet that in your town a significant percentage of empty storefronts in strip malls were formerly occupied by mortgage brokers. In most instances, a wannabe entrepreneur took a look at the business environment a few years ago and saw that folks in the mortgage industry were making lots of quick easy money. The thought of "I want to be there too" came into the person's mind and he or she quickly threw together a business. The mistake here was that the person did not look beyond the quick buck to see what was going on in the industry, such as market saturation and the clearly apparent bubble that was beginning to form in the sub-prime market. The result became that Joe, who used to work as a cell phone salesman and had no experience at all selling mortgages, got a couple of similarly inexperienced friends together, obtained a license and threw up a shingle. When the market took its inevitable downfall, selling mortgages was no longer appealing, and as the group had no collective passion for the industry, they simply gave up and folded the business.

We'll use Joe again for a more positive example. Joe, in addition to being a cell phone salesman, was also a black belt martial artist. When he was not selling cell phones he was at a training facility not only learning but also teaching his art to less experienced students. He had a passion for the sport and knew it inside and out. What Joe should have considered was opening his own small martial arts training facility where he could use his experience and passion to not only teach his art, but also make some money while doing it. This is a pretty simplified example and does not take into consideration Joe's business skills, market research, start-up costs, etc. What it does take into account, however, is his passion. If you have the passion for something then the rest of the pieces can fall into place much easier.

Take some time and think about why you want to start your small business…Is it because you truly have a passion for the point of the business or is it because you see the potential for a large, quick monetary gain? There will be rough times in any business – it will take your passion to get you through those rough times and onto the next level. Instead of reaching your monetary goals in six months it may take two or three years, but the trade-off is worth it!

If you are considering starting your own small business, I'd like to help. I have assembled a multi-disciplinary team that includes representatives from the accounting, insurance, banking and financial services industries to aid you in getting started, building on what you have in place already or saving what you have built from impending financial disaster. I can be reached at (216) 577-0013 or astrablegal@sbcglobal.net. There is no question that the economy is in danger – don't let your business or dream go down because some Wall Street goof-offs could not get their houses in order!

Michael K. Astrab is the principal attorney for Astrab Legal Services LLC, located in Cleveland, Ohio. He may be reached at (216) 577-0013 or via e-mail at astrablegal@sbcglobal.net. This blog is designed for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. You should ALWAYS seek out the advice of an attorney and financial professionals before starting a business.

I am concentrating my law practice on small business consultation – I want to see small business thrive, as I believe that these companies are the life-blood of our economy. My goal is to help start-ups and existing companies get off the ground and make it through the current economic crisis. An attorney should be a crucial part of your business – it is folly to rely on pre-printed business forms or software to handle your legal needs. These documents may get you going, but it is very easy to make mistakes along the way that ongoing consultation with an attorney could have avoided. The role of a business owner is to run and grow his or her business, be it a single-person company to a multiple employee enterprise. There is no reason for a small business owner to be reviewing or drafting their own contracts, drafting employee policies, negotiating deals and/or leases and handling other matters that an attorney could easily take on and free up the owner's time to market the business.

I am starting an in-depth series on starting up a small business. Today's topic will be short but is one of the most important concerns – 'buy in' from a spouse or significant other. If the life partner of a prospective business owner is not on board, the business could not only be jeopardized from the start, but the relationship could become damaged as well.

Taking on a small business will definitely mean family sacrifice. If the prospective owner is giving up a salary to get started, the family will be missing that income until the enterprise can get up and off of the ground. In addition, the 'burn rate' of the family's cash will also increase as necessary start-up costs are introduced into the family's already weakened budget. I will use a spouse as an example in this article, but long-term non-marital relationships are also extremely relevant as well.

What are the issues that need to be discussed? Here is a laundry list that barely scrapes the surface:

• Type of business to be started: Is this a business that the prospective owner is familiar with or is this a completely 'out-of-the-blue' venture?
• Funding for the business: Will the money be coming from savings or will a line of credit be sought?
• Liability issues: What is the potential impact upon personal assets should the business fail?
• Business plan: What is the structure of the business? What is the time frame to reach profitability? How will the business attract clients/customers?
• Location: Will the business be run out of the home or will an office be necessary?
• Time commitment: How will the business affect the prospective owner's 'at home' time? Will responsibility for family activities be placed on the spouse?
• Role of spouse: Will the spouse have a place or say in running the business? If not, why not?
• Income replacement: How will the lost income be replaced in order to keep the family solvent? When will the prospective owner 'cut loose' from his or her salary to devote full time and attention to the business?

I could go on for pages with talking points, but I think this list can serve as a starting point. A key is total transparency with the spouse – the prospective owner cannot hide problems from his or her spouse and communication must be constant. An idea would be to schedule monthly update meetings with the spouse to provide specific operational details regarding the business. If growth is shown, it might make a nervous spouse a little more at ease with the situation.

An attorney meeting with the prospective owner and his or her spouse can go a long way in achieving buy-in. If the spouse knows that there is a third party, especially one geared to help set up and protect the business, on board, it could help calm fears. My practice would assist the family with addressing the above questions, working on setting up a family budget and staying on board to assist with ongoing business issues.

Bottom line: Do not walk in the door one evening and tell your spouse that you have quit your job and started a new business. Utilize total transparency and make the spouse a partner, either direct or indirect, from day one. Without spousal Buy In, a start up is damaged from the onset…don't make this mistake!

I am available for consultation on these issues. Please do not hesitate to contact my office at (216) 577-0013 to set up a time to get together and discuss starting your own business. After meeting with the prospective owner, the next step would be to set up a meeting with the spouse and go over the business planning issues that have already been covered and address questions/concerns from the spouse.

If you are considering a start-up, get planning, but do it smart!

Michael K. Astrab is the principal attorney for Astrab Legal Services LLC, a general practice law firm located in Cleveland, Ohio. He may be reached at (216) 577-0013 or via e-mail atastrablegal@sbcglobal.net. This blog is designed for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.