A Limited Liability Company

I’ve never lived in a dog house. I prefer the comforts of air conditioning in the summer and heat in the winter. I love my chaise with my cozy wool blanket with a thin coat of my own soft fur to help me nap. I don’t ever want to lose my home.

This is why it’s important to properly setup your business, so that you protect your personal assets from your business assets.

• Corporation – This is the most complex form of business organization. Corporations are comprised of shareholders, directors, and officers. So, unless you expect to make millions of dollars on that new and improved dog bed with built-in whoopee cushion, want your activities closely regulated, involve extensive record keeping, and be taxed both at a corporate and a personal level, then this may not be the best route to go.

• Partnership – A general or limited partnership has two or more participants and is easier to establish than a corporation, start-up costs are lower, and you’re not liable for an associate’s negligence or mismanagement. However, partners are personally liable for contractual obligations and debts.

• Limited Liability Company (LLC) – This option is probably the preferred choice for new businesses. Owners of LLCs are called members (not partners or shareholders) and only one member is required, but you can have as many members as you wish. An LLC is less formal and more flexible than a corporation. But the most important aspect is that members cannot be found personally liable for company debts. Your individual assets are separate from the assets of the LLC; therefore, in the case of a dispute, your personal assets cannot be seized. In addition, you are only required to pay taxes on your earnings one time instead of paying both business and individual taxes.

Years ago, when we came up with our company name of IBeOn, we filed as an LLC. However, when we came up with the idea for CoolZips® zipper pulls, instead of creating another LLC, we decided to file as a DBA (this means “doing business as”) within our state. This allows us to legally do business as CoolZips.

If you plan to operate your business under a name that is different from your company’s legal name, then you must register as a DBA. You can then legally open a bank account and conduct other business using this second name. For us, this was critical as we wanted to build name recognition for CoolZips without going through the hassle and other expenses of setting up a separate LLC.
In addition, if you’re planning to sell a number of products, and want to create branding for each product, then setup your main company name as an LLC and then file the name of each product as a DBA. This will help you to control expenses and allow you to effectively expand your business.

So, keep yourself out of the dog house and contact your state’s Department of Labor & Economic Growth division to setup an LLC and/or DBA. Your family, including man’s best friend, will greatly appreciate it.

Trademark or Patent?

It seems that Boots, another cat on our street, got wind of Rusty’s idea for the cat toilet seat and has applied with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for the rights to the name, The Cat Stool.

While Rusty’s pretty discouraged and a little depressed, you already know my position concerning this; I think it’s the wrong name and this is a blessing in disguise. Anyway, Boots is not a friend, he has a history of stealing and, frankly, as far as intellectual property goes and, as one of my favorite groups, Smash Mouth sings, he “ain’t the sharpest tool in the shed.”

Now, the first thing to determine is what type of protection you need for your product.

• Trademark – This protects names (such as company or product names), words (such as taglines), and symbols and colors (associated with logos or packaging) that separate goods and services manufactured or sold by one company with that of another company.
  
  
• Patent – This protects an invention, a process innovation, or specific product design and prohibits others from manufacturing, using, or selling it within the United States or importing it into the United States.
  
  
• Copyright – This protects works of authorship, such as writings such as (books or articles), music (such as lyrics or composition) and works of art (including photographs) that are tangible and us dogs can chew on when you’re not at home.

As far as CoolZips®, we chose to go the trademark route. Since there are many different zipper pulls out on the market and, even though ours are unique with multi-colored beads and cool charms, anyone could change the color or style of one bead and I would be a three-legged dog, not having a leg to stand on, trying to prove our case in court. You can register for your trademark online at http://www.uspto.gov/. It costs about $500 and it takes about six months to go through the approval process.

Furthermore, if we had come up with a specific process on how to mold our charms that was groundbreaking in the industry and would have given us a considerable competitive advantage, then that would have been worthwhile to patent. However, we were just interested in trade marking the name CoolZips so that no one else could use our name as their own. In addition, I think that a trademark, when someone sees the symbol ® after your company name, it lends credibility because you went through the extra effort and cost to protect yourself and your company.

Oh, and you may be wondering what the difference is between the ™ and ® trademark designations. Well, you can use the ™ designation to make the public aware of your trademark claim to rights whether or not you have filed an application with the USPTO. However, you may use the ® symbol only after the USPTO issues a federal registration, and not while an application is pending approval. In addition, you may only use the registered ® symbol in connection with the products or services listed in your federal trademark registration. Keep in mind that if you make any major change to your product or logo that is described in, and covered by, your existing registration, you may need to submit another registration to properly and legally protect your rights.

Now, if Rusty comes up with a new material or manufacturing process that creates a coating on The Cat Stool that resists fur from shedding and sticking to it, then I would suggest that he apply for a patent. Otherwise, I think that a trademark is sufficient.

Domain Names and Branding

A domain is the name of an online business. That’s how somebody finds a web site on the internet. The domain, often the name of a company with an actual physical presence, also helps with establishing its image or brand awareness.

Remember Rusty, my cat buddy who lives down the street? Well, he wants to call the cat toilet seat that he’s inventing, The Cat Stool. While last I checked on NetworkSolutions.com, the domain name was indeed available. But, and maybe it’s just me, it seems to have some unclean connotations. Maybe Rusty should think about, The Cat Seat or Clean Cat? I agree that they’re not the catchiest of names, but they’re more closely associated with what the product actually does.

On the other hand, I guess you can create brand awareness with any name. Take a look at monster.com. Nowadays, when someone yells monster, we don’t start running thinking that Frankenpoodle or Dogula is chasing us, but rather about the employment process and searching for a new job.

When choosing the right domain name, keep it short, simple, and memorable. Companies that succeed with evoking a certain positive image, besides having a great product or service, usually have short names, such as Ferrari, Adobe, Amazon, Google, and Yahoo. Sometimes the name of the company has no significant connection to the products it produces, as noted by the above companies. Or, in our case, CoolZips® has a meaningful association because we produce really cool zipper pulls.

For us, it started off with a brainstorming session . . . Zippitz . . . EasyZips . . . FunZips . . . SillyZips . . . SillyWillyZips . . . Once six-year-old Hannah wrote down CoolZips, we knew that this was the perfect name; short, simple, memorable, meaningful, and the domain name was available. While my forte is customer service, she’s actually our marketing genius. She even came up with the marketing campaign of, People Are Just Butts Walking. You see, from a dog’s standpoint or a small child’s standpoint, we’re just staring at your butts.

Anyway, a brand is a name, a symbol, a design, a combination of these, or anything else that identifies the goods and services of one company and sets them apart from another company. It’s all about image.

While you do want your target market to choose you over the competition, branding is more about getting your prospective customers to see you as the only one that provides a solution to their problem. Some of this is through personal experience and other through perception. You want them to see you as credible, you want them to connect with you emotionally, you want them to be motivated to buy your product, and you want them to be loyal. CoolZips is a fun, safe, and quality product. We take pride in this and our customers not only perceive this, but know it to be true. Loyalty brings repeat business.

Would you be loyal to The Cat Stool? Rusty thinks so. I guess only time will smell, I mean tell.

Prototypes and Secrecy

My buddy, Rusty, he’s a cat, lives down the street. It seems that there’s no good place to put the litter box and the smell is really driving his family crazy. Right now the litter box is in the basement. But, because it’s out of sight, the family doesn’t clean it often enough and Rusty is tired of standing in old number one and number two. So, Rusty tried sitting on his human’s toilet seat, but there wasn’t enough surface area, he lost his balance, and slipped in. Fortunately for him, he landed on his feet.

Now Rusty has this idea of developing a toilet seat for cats that fits on top of an existing human toilet seat. Since I have experience in product creation, he asked me how he should proceed with making a prototype. To start off, I told him to keep it simple. You don’t have to spend a lot of money on the initial prototype, but rather, just explore if your concept can work so that you can take it to the next level.

After a little brainstorming, we went though our recycling bin and found a corrugated box. Using my teeth, I ripped a flap off and then Rusty punched a hole in the middle with his paw. I carried it into our guest bathroom, placed it on top of the toilet seat, gave Rusty a little privacy and, low and behold, a few minutes later I heard a flush and he emerged from the bathroom smiling. It was that simple. And now his family is really geeked about the idea of sharing a bathroom together. The next step for Rusty is to come up with a stronger and more detailed prototype, which he may have to hire a company for, if he wants to attract financing.

In the case of CoolZips® zipper pulls, my family visited a local bead and craft shop, picked out various plastic and wood beads, some beading wire, lanyard hooks, split rings, crimp beads, and put together our initial prototype.

Prototype and Finished Product

We tested it out on a jacket zipper and it worked well. We were very excited. We then started fleshing out the idea even more by adding metal charms on the end. We came up with a few different styles and then took them over to my cousin Nicky’s, she’s a Portuguese Waterdog. Her family loved our idea. I could already picture my dinners going from kibble to steak.

Then it happened. Their young son proceeded to try the different zipper pulls and, suddenly, everything came apart and the beads bounced all over the table and floor – the crimp bead at the end was not strong enough. The looks on my humans’ faces showed it all. It was back to the drawing board.

After some detective work on the internet, Human Lauren found a cell phone leash to replace the beading wire. It was the perfect solution. We put together our new prototype and pulled and pulled and tested it on sweaters, jackets, backpacks, sleeping bags, anywhere we could find a zipper. The zipper pull was sturdy, strong, and it worked.

One thing to keep in mind, is that prototypes often go through many iterations. If we would have kept CoolZips a secret until we had developed it further, we would have spent a lot more time and money, thinking it was perfected, only to be disappointed when the zipper pulls would have eventually fallen apart in front of potential buyers and customers.

So don’t be so secretive about your idea and prototype. Show it to someone, such as friends and family, who you can trust and who will give you their honest opinion. Sometimes the feedback may not be what you want to hear, but it may be what you want to see.

Where Do Ideas Come From?

It seems to me that humans are never satisfied with where they’re at in life. They’re always comparing their lives to someone else’s; wanting more and more money to buy the things they want, but don’t necessarily need. Why can’t they just realize how fortunate they are to have all the things they have, such as friends, family, a good job?

Take me for instance. I get up early in the morning, go for a walk, have some breakfast, curl up for a nap, go for a ride in the car and do some errands, play outside, stretch out for another nap, eat some dinner, maybe run around with a shoe, have a nice, relaxing belly rub, go to bed, and then do it all over again the next day. Now that’s contentment!

On the other paw, I mean hand, if you take a look at the development and growth that has happened in this world over time, it was achieved because someone needed something better or more efficient. Dissatisfaction makes us strive for improvement. Or, in my family’s case, dissatisfaction has made us work extra hard as we attempt to reach independence and financial control over our own lives.

So, where does that great idea come from? In the case of CoolZips, a division of IBeOn LLC, my humans created IBeOn in 2004 while they found themselves questioning and pondering life. “Where are we going? What are we doing?”

Human Lauren shouted out, "IBeOn! I be on the beach. I be on the slopes. I be on the road to creating something great." From there, IBeOn was formed and the Altman family – Human Rick, Human Lauren, and Human Hannah began jotting down fun ideas on a quest to living happily ever after.

Hip to the Skippy™ is a favorite family saying. To be Hip to the Skippy, one simply needs to feel the love and connect with the moment. Feeling quite Hip to the Skippy on one cold winter day, Lauren came up with the idea of making a zipper on Rick's sweater look a little more fun. "I'm thinking of making some zipper pulls, maybe using some beads or charms. What do you guys think?" Rick said, "Oh yeah, that sounds cool.” Seven year-old Hannah said, "I want to do it too.” I, of course, was standing close by praying for a snack, but I did show overall enthusiasm for the idea.

At that moment it was time to think of a name for our zipper pulls. Lauren and Rick each called out a few ideas, but it was Hannah who said, "I know, let's call it CoolZips." "Hmm," said Rick and Lauren, and while Lauren was still in “hmm” mode, Rick quickly ran upstairs and secured the domain name CoolZips.com. The next day we ventured out to the bead and craft shops and created our prototype. CoolZips® zipper pulls was born.

Anyone can come up with a great idea, but to see it through to fruition, you must take joy in the entire process, even when you feel that the rollercoaster ride won’t stop for you to catch your breath.

Remember that great fun, cool design, and function is what your idea should be all about.

A Tail To Wag

My name is Joey. I’m an American Foxhound and I’ve got a tail to wag. It’s a simple tail, white and brownish-orange; that is, a tale about CoolZips® zipper pulls and how to get that one-in-a-million idea mass-produced and to market without chasing yourself in circles.

I’m 8 in people years; 56 in dog years. I don’t know who came up with this natural life conversion and I’d be lying to you if I said that I understood it. All I know is that, at my age, everyone expects some supernatural insight or wisdom to magically appear. Maybe they’re right. Maybe I do have something to share to make it easier on the new pups that come along. While it may look like I sleep 22 hours a day, I eavesdrop and take it all in: Trademarks, Domain Names, Prototypes, Lead Testing. When it comes to business, my ears perk up.

Take a look at my picture. I’ve been told that it’s not only a face that a mother could love, but a face that one can trust. Anyway, settle into your fleece doggy bed or favorite comfy chair, tilt your head and perk up your ears, because here’s my account on how to get your product ready for store shelves in record time.