Legal Startup Essentials: Critical steps to set up your business

This session is offered by Nathan Lawrence, Small Business and Startup attorney. Nathan provides solutions for innovative small businesses and startups. Nathan uses his years of experience as a business owner to help entrepreneurs use the law as a tool to realize their goals. In this session Nathan will cover: - Choosing a Business Entity: “Corporation, LLC, or Sole Proprietorship, benefits & disadvantages. Which is right for you?” - Business Regulations: “What do I need to do start selling legally?” Federal, State and Local Legal obligations: FEIN, Secretary of State Registration, Licenses, Permits, Sales Tax and Zoning. - Employment Matters: “How do I legally hire employees and contractors?” Employee vs Subcontractor. - Legal Best Practices for Small Businesses: “What optional legal practices should I be sure to implement?” (Partnership Agreements, Sales and Services Agreements, Employee Agreements) - Steps to securing your Business: General Liability Insurance, Trademarks, Copyrights and Patents NOTE: Each CMSBDC registered participant will also be given a free 30-minute individual consultation.

Speaker(s): Nathan’s practice focuses on helping his clients to form and organize their businesses, protect their intellectual property, draft and implement business to business and consumer sales agreements, and litigate disputes. After earning his undergraduate degree at the University of Colorado, Nathan worked in the industry for eight years and started a successful small business, Explore Fitness, which is still in operation today. Proceeds from the sale of his business enabled him to return to the University of Colorado to earn his Juris Doctor. There, he won awards for his work as an intern with the Silicon Flatirons Center for Law, Policy, and Technology and earned a coveted spot on the legal team of the global startup accelerator and venture capital investment vehicle Techstars where he worked with dozens of promising tech startups. Nathan’s services range from helping new entrepreneurs form their first enterprises to negotiating and closing acquisition transactions valued in excess of $10,000,000.00. Nathan’s

Co-Sponsor(s): Chaffee, Park and Lake counties. Colorado SBDC Network, the Office of Economic Development & International Trade, and the SBA.

Fee: No Cost