Recent Blog Posts
Buying and Selling Gas Stations in Illinois
Buying or selling gas stations in DuPage County can be a lucrative business. However, for first-time buyers and sellers, as well as more experienced small business owners, it is important to have a dedicated Oakbrook Terrace small business law attorney on your side. The process of buying and selling gas stations can be complex, and it is a niche industry. With help from an experienced advocate, you can ensure that you are making the best possible deal with all of the necessary information.
Benefits of Comparison: Know What You Are Buying or Selling, and Know What It Is Worth
One of the most important steps in buying or selling a gas station is understanding what the best price might be, and how to read comparison numbers. According to an article in the Business Buyer Resource Center, it is often difficult for small business owners to assess the value of a gas station. Whether you are buying or selling, there are “many variables involved with gas stations for sale,” and as such, “prices and profits vary greatly.”
New Child Support Laws in Illinois
It is important for anyone who is filing for divorce in DuPage County to know that Illinois child support laws have changed. Governor Bruce Rauner signed amendments to the child support laws last year, and those changes took effect on July 1. As such, anyone who gets divorced and has children from the marriage will need to know more about the “income shares” model and how child support payments will be calculated.
Learning More About the Income Shares Model
We want to provide you with a clear example of how the new “income shares” model of child support works in Illinois, but first we want to ensure that you understand what it is. Until the new law took effect, Illinois used a child support system in which only one parent’s income—typically the noncustodial parent—would be considered for child support payments. Then, that parent would pay a percentage based on his or her income, as well as the number of children entitled to support. Recognizing that this system does not take into account the other parent’s financial responsibilities for the child, as well as different and varied models of parenting, the Illinois legislature made changes.
Buying and Selling Commercial Real Estate
Buying and selling commercial real estate in DuPage County can be extremely complicated, and it is important to work with an experienced real estate attorney who has experience handling complex business transactions. Even if you have sold residential property in the past, and if you have experience buying and selling a home, you should know that the process is different — and much more complicated — when it comes to commercial space.
What Is Commercial Real Estate in Illinois?
Under Illinois law (770 ILCS 15/5), commercial real estate is defined as “any real estate located in Illinois other than (i) real estate containing one to 6 residential units, (ii) real estate on which no buildings or structures are located, or (iii) real estate classified as farmland.” To be clear, commercial real estate cannot be any of the following:
- Condominiums;
- Townhouses;
Small Business—General Counsel
If you have a small business in Oakbrook Terrace or elsewhere in DuPage County, or if you are considering starting a small business, it is important to consider having general counsel for your company. You might be thinking: if I simply have a small business with only a couple of employees, do I actually need general counsel?
As an article in the Boston Globe explains, small business—of all sizes and types—regularly encounter legal issues that require the assistance of counsel. When you are trying to run a business, attempting to tackle some of these legal matters on your own can be frustrating and complicated, and in some cases seemingly impossible.
What Kind of Business Should I Form?
One of the initial reasons to work with general counsel as you develop your small business concerns making a decision about the type of business you want to develop. A fact sheet from the U.S. Small Business Administration explains that there are numerous business structures from which a person (or group of persons) in DuPage County can choose.
Going to Hajj? Create Your Will Today
Do you have a last will and testament? Hajj 2017 begins the evening of Wednesday, August 30 and ends the evening of Monday, September 4. Each year, millions of Muslims from around the world participate in the five-day Hajj pilgrimage. Indeed, as an article in the Independent suggests, about two million Muslims are likely to participate in the pilgrimage this year to Mecca. Given that Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam, all Muslims who are able to make the pilgrimage are required to do so at least once.
Since the pilgrimage comes with physical challenges and requires travel to Saudi Arabia, it is important to have your affairs in order before going to Hajj. As such, if you are planning on going for Hajj, you should speak with a Muslim trusts and estates lawyer in DuPage County today to get started on this process.
When Do Small Businesses Need an Attorney?
If you have a small business in DuPage County or are considering starting your own business, why do you need to have a lawyer? A DuPage County business law attorney can consult on a wide variety of issues that your small business might face. While there are many aspects of running a small business that you may be able to handle on your own, it is important to have experienced counsel who can guide you through the issues you are likely to face as a small business owner.
Why Do I Need to Work with a Small Business Lawyer?
There are many aspects of running a small business that you can handle on your own. For instance, choosing a name for your business and even developing a business plan may be relatively easy for you to manage, especially if you have experience in business. However, there are many issues for which it is important to be able to consult with a DuPage County business law attorney. At Farooqi & Husain Law Office, we regularly consult with small business owners on some of the following issues:
Small Business Legal Audit
Is your small business healthy when it comes to legal risks and vulnerabilities? It can be exciting to start a small business in Oakbrook Terrace and to begin the process of structuring your business and hiring employees, but many legal complications can arise. When most small business owners hear the term “audit,” they think of a tax audit or an accounting audit. Legal audits are very different. Legal audits refer to a small business owner hiring a DuPage County business law attorney who can review the operations of your business to determine whether you are likely to encounter any legal problems.
When you run a small business, there are already many complicating matters that arise on a daily or weekly basis concerning your company. You should not have the extra anxiety of worrying about whether your business is at risk of a legal issue. A business lawyer in Oakbrook Terrace with experience assisting Muslim small business owners can speak with you today.
Expanding through Strategic Partnerships — How to Structure the Deal
Do you have a business in DuPage County and are considering entering into a strategic partnership? Or are you thinking about forming a startup company in the Oakbrook Terrace area and wondering how you can have a mutually beneficial relationship with another small business or company? Strategic partnerships are agreements between two companies that are not in competition with one another, and they are agreements that benefit both companies. If you are looking to grow your company, strategic partnerships can help in a number of ways — from issues surrounding marketing to supply chains to technology.
Strategic partnerships are one way that you can expand, and it is important to learn more about strategic partnerships and, ultimately, how you should structure the deal.
Small Businesses and Strategic Partnership Agreements
The way you structure your strategic partnership agreement will depend upon the type of business you operate, and the way in which you want to expand your company. One of the more common types of strategic partnership agreements are marketing partnerships. Strategic marketing partnerships are especially useful for smaller businesses that offer a limited number of products and/or services. By partnering with a marketing company, you can work with a company that will refer others to your products and services, while the marketing company will also gain sales for your services or product by developing company-specific marketing techniques. The two companies, then, can share in the profits. In strategic marketing partnerships, it is important to work with a company that can market your products either to a shared customer based, or to a new set of consumers.
Checklist for Hiring New Employees
If you are starting a small business in DuPage County or are thinking about expanding your current business to include employees beyond yourself, you are likely to have many questions about the steps you need to take in order to hire new employees. For instance, what kind of information do you need to obtain from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) before you can hire new employees? What information will you need to obtain from your new employees in order to hire them legally and to withhold federal income taxes from their paychecks? What kinds of information are you required by law to provide to new employees?
At Farooqi & Husain Law Office, we are committed to helping members of the Muslim community in DuPage County create and expand their small businesses, and a DuPage County business law attorney at our firm can answer all of your questions about hiring new employees. In the meantime, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) provides helpful tips for creating a checklist for any small business owner who is planning to hire new employees.
Why Businesses Should Hire Off-Site Bookkeeping Services
Do you have a business in DuPage County? Do you work with an off-site bookkeeping service? Many Muslim small business owners in Oakbrook Terrace and nearby communities want to ensure the success and profitability of their businesses, and hiring an off-site bookkeeping service is an effective way to save on your taxes, have cleaner books, and ultimately to assess how the business is doing.
At Farooqi & Husain Law Office, our dedicated DuPage County business lawyers have years of experience assisting members of the Muslim community and helping our clients to maintain strong businesses. If you have questions about why you should hire an off-site bookkeeping service, an experienced DuPage County business lawyer can speak with you today.
Dealing with Complicated Business Issues
For many small business owners in DuPage County, their companies likely have numerous complicated business issues to an extent that they do not realize. As an article in Entrepreneur explains, business owners “who hire accounting help usually discover they weren’t doing nearly as well on their own as they thought they were.” To be sure, in the early stages of a business, many business owners attempt to keep their own books and in some cases to handle their own taxes. What many business owners do not realize is that they can benefit immensely from working with an off-site professional.