What is Trademarking & How can it work for you?

A trademark is the one of the most important business assets you'll ever own. It's your name, your logo, or any other symbol that distinguishes your company or products in the marketplace.

Registering your trademark prevents others from using your business identity to market their own products, which can confuse your customers and damage your brand. We have begun to add new products to our cadre to further assist our clients in building their corporate brand and recognition.

We pride ourselves on bringing clarity and transparency to the documentation process for our clients and business expediency. Trademark your business, logo, identity and products with The Corporations Bureau for only $89.00* (US Govt Filing Fee $325)

- Preliminary search of pending and registered trademarks
- Digitizing of your logo and specimen to meet U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) standards
- Electronic filing of your trademark application with the USPTO
- Infringement Monitoring (One year)
- Cease and desist letter forms.
- Form of Transfer Agreement

**Priority Processing:

- For an additional fee of $50.00, expedite your Trademark processing documents.

Contact us at 404-604-4040 for further assistance with your Trademarking needs.

($89.00 service fee is added to U.S. Govt Filing Fee at the time of filing)

Keys to Small Business Funding

There are a few things that an entrepreneur should consider to increase odds of securing a loan:

Business financing comes in all shapes and sizes these days so we want to ensure you leave no stone unturned when you are looking to secure funding and researching financing streams for your small business entity.

Be prepared to meet your banker: Make sure that you are thoroughly prepared when you go to your banker’s office to request a loan. You need to show your bankers that a loan to you is a low-risk proposition. Come to the meeting equipped with a well-prepared business plan and finance package.

Identify how much capital you need: Have you determined how much capital you need? Why do you need this amount? Have you calculated your start-up costs? Is it to purchase new equipment, down payment on an existing business or do you need start up funds to cover operation? This will help you determine what type of lender you should approach.

Have a good relationship with your local banker: The old saying people do business with people they know and trust. Well, if you have built a relationship with your local banker over the years, they are more apt to support you in your new business venture. Do you have your main business account with them? You should!

Take time to review your personal credit report and finances: Your credit score is sure to play an important role in your personal finances. If you think that your personal credit won’t affect your ability to get a business loan, think again!

Make sure your house is in order: Your credit score not only determines your ability to get credit, but also affects the interest rate. This includes paying down your credit balances and taking time to take care of issues prior to your meeting with the bank. If you cannot handle your own personal finances, he’ll question whether you can run a business.

Check out resources such as Small Business Administration: The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is a federal agency, responsible for assisting and protecting the interests of American small business. The agency operates through a series of field offices around the country as well as in partnership with public and private organizations to offer technical assistance to small businesses. The Women’s Business Center is funded in part by an SBA grant., and we offer technical assistance to small businesses.

Reducing Cost and Pain

Small businesses get so caught up on our branding and creating a name for ourselves we forget to quantify our success in relation to Cost and Pain. The hard about business is actually doing business. I say all the time, if starting a business was only about purchasing business cards and letterhead, then all of america would be entrepreneurs and small business owners.

There is so much more however. Today, I have a wonderful friend going out to make a dream purchase of his lifetime. He has always wanted a Mercedez Benz E-Class, but more than that, he has always dreamed of walking into the dealership and just flat out paying cash for the entire cost of the car. I will say, there has been a great deal of time spent on researching the automobile purchase as well as all the ins and outs.

We've discussed the Cost of the car. Not in actual dollar value, however moreso in what else will this purchase "do" towards the goals you have put in place? Are there other sacrifices necessary for you to make this deal possible? The thought of making this purchase a full cash purchase is exciting however, can you live for the next 3-6 months if something horrible happened in your life? Are there any other bills in jeopardy of default? That would be "cost".

The Pain of a bad deal is felt for 4-8 months if not years after your decision to act. Pain is not intended to felt as an ache or physical ailment, although your heart may sink everytime you think about it, but instead Pain is the fallout or domino affect that comes after the new car smell is gone.

Do your research and do your best to predetermine what your Cost and Pain will be when you are approached to make challenging decisions. Never agree to pay or provide something you have not yet personally taken possession of yourself. If you have to commit to donating $500 to a major charitable event and you stand to get major press from, but you don't have the $500 yet, well.....don't make that type of committment.

The Cost and Pain of having to fix a broken committment like that will show up in ways that money alone cannot never repair. Your word and work ethic is everything in the world of small business. In every life, a little rain must fall, but do you really care about a flood when you own a boat?