Running A Biz In Your Parents House

[Michael in CT]

Disclaimer: Yes, I understand you are not offering legal advice. I will be speaking to an attorney soon.

Hey gang,

I'll keep it short and sweet.

I am getting into the Info-Product game, and perhaps physical products in the future.

I have no idea what products I will create and sell in the future. I am simply looking for needs and filling them. This means I could hypothetically sell a product that could cause someone harm. (and honestly, you could sell pencils and someone would probably stab themselves and sue you, it seems.)

I live with my parents.

I will conduct my business in my parents home.


I certainly would never want to put their hard-earned home or any of their assets at risk.... because of my own little business.

What are the steps I need to take to make sure they are protected?
Am I overreacting?

[Doug English]

Originally Posted by Michael in CT

Disclaimer: I will be speaking to an attorney soon.

You kind of answered your own question with that one line.

I recently had this same discussion with an attorney. (he's actually an attorney AND a cpa)

I'm sure this varies by country...i'm in the USA.

He gave me 3 reasons to incorporate.

1. personal asset protection
2. personal asset protection
3. personal asset protection

And all the crap about incorporating in particular 'business friendly' states like Delaware or something...its all a bunch of bunk unless you doing shady biz deals with Madoff or something.

[Michael in CT]

Would an LLC be a form of "incorporating"?

[Doug English]

Yes, it is, but as you already hinted at, this isn't the kind of thing you want to get advice from in an online forum.

[Michael in CT]

I understand. I just like to have a base of knowledge before I speak to any professional.

[lexilexi]

I think its a good idea (disclaimer: this is not legal advice), if you are an internet marketer, to get advice from a specialist in that field. There's a lot that just a regular attorney probably wouldn't know.

I came across this site recently and think it's totally worth reading. The author is a specialist attorney in online business, he gives a lot of advice on how to put together your web site's terms of use, privacy policy etc including some things I was not aware of:
Contract forms, legal forms software, how to write a contract, sample contract agreements

[jsherloc]

Thanks for that link lexi. I have been looking to get information from someone that actually specializes in internet business, and this site may provide the answers I need.



Jim