- What are the legal basics you should cover if you’re planning to start business along with your day job?

- Can your employer take away your startup or property built out of your side project?

- What are your legal rights and responsibilities for your day job and the side business?

- What’s the best way to tell your employer about your side gig?

- Where to go if you need more legal help but can’t afford it…

And many more such legal questions that don’t let aspiring entrepreneurs sleep at night are answered in this interview where I had the opportunity to chat with Doug Bend, the startup and small business attorney. You can find him on Twitter @DougBend and now spend next 16 minutes with Doug to make sure you’re covered.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Special Announcement: Doug Bend & I have joined forces to help more cubicle imprisoned aspiring entrepreneurs get out of the 9to5 jail legally. We have built a series of Q&A format webinar where you’d get in depth details on legalities of having a side business/ startup while keeping your day job and you’d be able to pick Doug’s brain via live or pre-submitted questions. Program is very exclusive and seats are limited so they are by request only. Please send me an email at devesh[at]entrepreneurinmaking[dot]com for more details on requirements, dates, and pricing.

Success to all!

Greetings all! It’s been a while since I posted a new story in ‘Our Heroes‘ series so here’s our spicy come back… Today I’ve Michael Anderson, Chief Spice Creative & Founder  of SpiceCrafters who broke out of his 9to5 jail where he was a Quality Assurance Engineer. Not happy with what he was doing, Michael tried his luck with multiple ideas before finally launching SpiceCrafters. Let’s find out rest of the spicy details:

DD: Who are you and what kind of corporate job were you at?

MA: My name is Michael Anderson. I went to college like any other person looking for what my future held and had no idea. Not being one for prolonged college I asked myself what the most money I could make with the least amount of college. In 1998 the bull’s eye landed on Computer Information. I graduated, interned and enjoyed a successful career as Quality Assurance Engineer. After I realized I was simply trading time for money and living for the weekend I knew I had to find something I loved to do and then find a way to make it my living. After years of trying little side businesses and ideas I was caught off guard when I picked up a book about spices. That was the beginning of my love for spices and the birth of my business. Spice Crafters Inc. was launched on August 12th 2010.

DD: What made you leave the job? When did you realize that you wanted to be an entrepreneur & why?

MA: When a person is not passionate about what they do for a living eventually you will want out. Whether it’s leaving one job for the next or leaving to start your own business. It was the thirst to control my income, time, and quality of life that drove me to chase my dreams and start my own business. I realized in my position the only dreams I was working towards were those of my employer.

DD: What did you do to break the corporate jail? How did you prepare for the employee to entrepreneur transition?

MA: Preparation for a jump from employee to entrepreneur is all about getting over the fear of the unknown. Not knowing when you’re going to get paid or if the business will succeed as a life sustaining entity is a scary thing. When your faith and passion for your dream outweighs your fears you are ready to make the leap. Some people will have to be full time entrepreneurs and work their 9-to-5′s on the side. To put it simply there is no preparation in my opinion, you set your plan, build up your faith & momentum and make the leap.

DD: What is one resource (person, coach, book, organization anything) that helped the most/best?

MA: To start I would say my biggest help was Reading the book “The Secret” and watching the movie. Before I was exposed to the concept of conditioning my mind for success before I could actually see it, I usually talked myself out of my dreams do to fear and negative thinking. Next I would say what we all use on a daily basis, the web. 99% of every resource I use for my business I found through months of research on the web. I have the mentality that there is nothing I don’t know, because I’m pretty sure I can learn it on the web.

DD: What do you know now that you wish if only you knew when you made the transition?

MA: I’m still so new to entrepreneurship I feel like it’s going to be a while before I can fully wrap my mind around what I should have known. I’m flying by the seat of my pants and living in the magic of life. I’m making mistakes and learning form them. Most importantly I’m here and I’m doing it, not just sitting on the sidelines thinking about it.

DD: What are your suggestions for aspiring entrepreneurs?

MA: My Number one Suggestion is try what compels you and if you fail learn from every mistake that caused the failure. Next, make sure the business you are thinking about starting is truly your passion and something you love to do, otherwise you will eventually become a slave to something you don’t enjoy no matter how much money you may be making. Lastly, don’t listen to experts or take too much advice. As a matter of fact don’t tell or talk to anyone about your business until you’ve researched it and drilled into your mind that no matter what you are going to give it a shot. People tend to cast their fears and doubts on others when giving advice, when you have it set in your mind you are going to do it no matter what, only then can you stand and accept advice.

DD: How are you doing and how do you feel now?

MA: My business is in its infancy stages and we are working hard to gain exposure in our niche. The customers who have tried our signature spice blend PRIMO27 are giving us rave reviews and boasting that they have never tasted anything like. I know and am sure with a product that sells itself after the 1st smell and taste it’s only a matter of time before we experience the success we dream. I feel good about the future of Spice Crafters and the opportunity to define a new market in the spice and seasoning niche. We are optimistic but realist, it’s going to take time to build something great, and we continue to move forward and stay prepared for the moment every entrepreneur awaits…, the opportunity to take it to the next level. They say “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”

DD: Ladies & gentlemen, this was Michael Anderson of SpiceCrafters, a Quality Assurance Engineer turned Founder & CEO, in short an employee turned entrepreneur. The employee to entrepreneur jump is not as much about the business knowledge as it is of resolve. Rationalizing and eventually letting go of the unreasonable fears is the first step.

What are your fears? Please share in the comments below.

- It’s French.

- It’s ridiculously hard to type.

- It’s not Twitter friendly.

- It’s been thoroughly bastardized. (mompreneur, solopreneur, and intrapreneur, etc.).

- It’s begging for a lawsuit. (from Entrepreneur Magazine).

I tweeted back at him suggesting ‘Owner’ be that new word to which he quickly replied:

In a later tweet, he also told me that Tim Berry, President and founder of Palo Alto Software and Founder of bplans.com has suggested ‘empresario’ and is writing a post on it. I promised Robert a post that will explain the difference between Owner & Small Business Owner and moved on to the next thing on my list.

Before I get into the difference between Small Business Owner and Owner, let me list my 5 reason why ‘Owner’ should be the new ‘entrepreneur’

- It’s English. Plain English.

- It’s ridiculously easy to type and remember.

- It is twitter friendly. 58% shorter than entrepreneur.

- It can be bastardized as much as you want too – mom-owner, solo-owner, young-owner… Point is, this term is broad, inclusive, and found in Dictionary.

- Unless there’s an ‘Owner’ magazine suing people left, right, and center for using the word ‘Owner’, it would be fairly “lawsuit” free.

Now, the difference between small business owner and owner is the same as difference between small business owner and entrepreneur.

Don’t be surprised! Let me ask you, why do we call an apple, apple and if the fruit would change if we started calling it with a different name?

The answer is because we have been told so, we see everyone doing so… Apple was the name given and it derived its meaning, image, and existence from there. Even if we all simply decide a universal replacement of ‘apple’, the fruit won’t change a bit. We all would just call it with a different name. It’s the same situation. The hustle, the drive, the creativity, the passion, the ambition and everything else that makes someone an entrepreneur won’t change a bit if we all decided on a universal replacement of the term. Why not ‘owner’ then? Because from what I see, an entrepreneur is nothing but an owner, an owner who is responsible for everything, be it a win or loss, be it good or bad. Let’s take an example of home owner, just like a home owner responsible for everything from a leak in the kitchen sink to ants in the porch, from keeping the house clean to making the mortgage payment, an entrepreneur is responsible for everything from getting the idea off the ground to getting the first customer and many to follow, from keeping an eye on competition to making the payroll of the staff. The only problem I see with this term’s adoption is a potential ‘subprime’ in business ownership.

If you guys don’t like ‘Owner’, how about ‘Captain’ (of the ship)? Please leave your comment and suggestions below.

1. Calgary Choice Awards 2011 for Best in Media Personality/ Celebrity

2. FuEL Awards 2011 Best Young Entrepreneurs of Canada and

3. Small Business Influencers Awards 2011

While Calgary Choice Awards is a city level award focused on recognizing the City’s best businesses and talent, the FuEl Awards are to spotlight the up and coming young entrepreneurs and leaders of Canada and the Small Business Influencer Award is to identify and recognize the Top 100 Influencers in Small Business domain across North America.

To be nominated along with the who’s who like Guy Kawasaki, Carol Roth, Robert Scoble, and many more intelligent and accomplished personalities is humbling to say the least and of course rewarding like nothing else. You see the biggest reward for my work is when I see my clients successfully escape out of the 9to5 jail – the beginning of their happily ever after since the escape is not an end but a beginning of a new life. BUT, awards don’t hurt either, so please vote for me and/ or other nominees who you believe deserve the recognition, since recognition for many of us is the fuel that keeps us going.

With that, let me take this post as an opportunity to thank each and everyone of you who nominated me and thanks in advance for voting.

Let the best and brightest win!

DD: Who are you and what kind of job were you at?

SS: My name is Shelly Sun, CPA. I was working as the VP of Finance for Avolar, a former division of United Airlines.

DD: What made you leave the job? When did you realize that you wanted to be an entrepreneur?

SS: While working for Avolar, my husband and I went through the process of looking for care for my husband’s grandmother. We saw that the quality and service we were seeking was generally missing in the industry. We lost Grandma the day before we got married and decided that the experience was our calling to provide other families what we had been seeking and were unable to find.

DD: What did you do to break the 9to5 jail? How did you prepare for the employee to entrepreneur transition?

SS: I didn’t know better so I don’t know if I really prepared. I worked tons of hours in my corporate positions and it was no different as an entrepreneur. The hard work was easier and really didn’t feel like work as an entrepreneur since I was doing it for myself.

DD: What are your suggestions for aspiring entrepreneurs?

SS: Find a peer group of entrepreneurs or those that have owned businesses in the past to be a sounding board and to offer encouragement. Cut anyone who is negative about entrepreneurism out of your inner circle – you need to surround yourself with positive people that can help you, support you and challenge you to be the best entrepreneur possible.

DD: How are you doing and how do you feel now?

SS: I love owning my own business. Within 6 months of starting my company, I was unemployable because I could never work for anyone else again. I have never looked back and I love what I do every day.

DD: That’s Shelly Sun, CEO & Co-Founder of BrightStar, Providing dependable and complete elder care, child care, and medical staffing services for individuals, families and healthcare facilities, Shelly is a true hero for not only herself but for many more. Her advice of excluding negative people in your circle, hit home for me. The naysayers will keep complaining simply because they neither did anything nor tried, so they are just jealous and insecure of your future success, after all you stand a chance and they never would. Ignore the naysayers or better do as Shelly says ‘cut them out of your inner circle’.

Success To All!

DD: Who are you and what kind of corporate job were you at?

NP: My name is Niko and I worked as a management consultant for the last three years.

DD: What made you leave the job? When did you realize that you wanted to be an entrepreneur & why?

NP: I have been a “wantrepreneur” for a couple of years. I have been reading articles and blogs, jotting down business ideas when inspiration hit and keeping tabs on the trends that interested me. I did as much as I could to stay informed and keep an eye out for opportunities during late nights and weekends. I finally decided to take the leap because I found an opportunity that I think has real potential and the means (financially) to pursue it.

DD: What did you do to break the corporate jail? How did you prepare for the employee to entrepreneur transition?

NP: I made sure I had funds in the bank put aside to pay for the rent and Ramen for at least 6 months. Besides that, I’m not sure what more you can really do. You hope your idea is good, you hope you will make the right decisions and partnerships but you just won’t know until you try.

DD: What is one resource that helped the most?

NP: Startup Weekend provided me with the momentum to take an idea and very quickly build a team and the beginnings of a product so I have to give that organization a lot of credit and would highly recommend the experience to anyone interested in opening a company. Winning the competition has been great but regardless of whether you win or not, it’s a great way to see how working at a Startup might feel like and meet some like-minded friends.  Also anyone interested in selling anything should read “The Four Steps to Epiphany” by Steven Blank.

DD: What do you know now that you wish if only you knew when you made the transition?

NP: I just did it so I’ll have to let you know in a few weeks.

DD: What are your suggestions for aspiring entrepreneurs?

NP: Believe in yourself, believe in the team, believe in the vision, and then do your homework and be willing and able to change.

DD: How are you doing and how do you feel now?

NP: I am excited and optimistic and ready to get to work!

DD: Believe in yourself! This is where it all starts and ends – YOU! Choice is yours do you wanna live an unhappy and unsatisfied life imprisoned in a 9to5 cubicle jail and die with regrets “what if…” or “I should have…” OR do you want to be happy and satisfied, because even if you lost, at least you tried. No regrets!

Enjoy the fireworks, the picnic, the food and festivities, BUT ask and answer yourself – Am I really independent?

Success to all!

DD: Who are you and what kind of corporate job were you at?

JB: My name is Julie Braun, I have 2 businesses.  I’m ½ of the Dynamic Duo of Super Interns and the Marketing Guru of Julie Braun Design, a marketing consulting company. Over 5 years ago, I was the Vice President of Marketing and Creative Services for Carter’s Inc., the largest children’s apparel company in the world.  My team was responsible for all creative and marketing projects for the retail division.

DD: What made you leave the job? When did you realize that you wanted to be an entrepreneur & why?

JB: I was fired by a new “Change Agent” boss who was brought in 3 months prior to my being terminated.  One by one, all of my colleagues (and other Vice President counterparts) were fired.  I was the last one to be officially “let go”.   After interviewing and landing 2 other Corporate job opportunities, I realized that I just could not get excited about working for another big box brand.  Both opportunities were fantastic by my previous standards like getting a big 6 figure salary, bonus package, stock options, enormous responsibility, and more, however, I just could not get motivated enough to take either job.  After all, I never really felt like I fit in.  I was the “creative one” who would constantly challenge the rest of the team.  Even still, working for Corporate American was my comfort zone.  I had been there for 20+ years for brands like Victoria’s Secret, MTV, Estee Lauder, Macy’s and more.  For the first time in my career, I was afraid that I didn’t know what I was going to do.  During that time, I took a few months off and used some of my year severance to get re-connected with the other parts of my life like getting together with friends, going to the gym, working on some personal creative projects and yes, starting to think about getting my own marketing consulting business off the ground.

DD: What did you do to break the corporate jail? How did you prepare for the employee to entrepreneur transition?

JB: I got comfortable with being uncomfortable.  In other words, not knowing exactly what I was going to do next.  I was having a mid-age crisis at the time and was looking “inside” for my greater purpose with the intense desire to discover what I really wanted to create and be a part of. I didn’t! I woke up one day and said “Well, if I can’t get excited about working for someone else, then I guess it is time to be my own boss!”

DD: What is one resource (person, coach, book, organization anything) that helped the most/best?

JB: My friend gave me the name and phone number of the president of a 5 million dollar company and was told to “Call them.  They need marketing help.  Maybe you can do some consulting with them.”  I made the call, not expecting to have the president answer the phone and for the next few minutes, I stumbled, stammered, rambled and didn’t have a clue as to what I was offering to do for his company or how to even get close to closing a deal.  I was completely embarrassed to be me!  After I hung up, I hoped that he would never remember my name.  That experience, that horrifying moment helped me the most.  I promised myself that that would NEVER happen again.  I went on to learning everything I could about referrals, calling on potential new clients, closing the deal and more.  I spent 6 months reading every book and article I could get my hands on.  I joined BNI, started networking and honed my sales process and skills which is the very same sales process that I use and teach to others today.  I created my own internship program and through that, I started a whole other business and passion that has proven to be not only recession proof, but my life’s greatest work.

DD: What do you know now that you wish if only you knew when you made the transition?

JB: Nothing.  Being naïve was my own ignorant survival skill. If I had known how hard starting my own businesses would have been, I may have never done it.

DD: What are your suggestions for aspiring entrepreneurs?

JB: Get interns to help you start your company!  If you are having to do everything by being the chief, bottle washer and cook, then interns will teach you some of the most important business fundamentals like delegation, project management and multi-tasking while helping you build and grow your business.

DD: How are you doing and how do you feel now?

JB: Business is doing well!  We are growing every year and the recession has actually been an asset to our success.  I’m so glad I took the leap and even though it’s been a bumpy ride, I wouldn’t change a thing.

DD: Julie Braun everyone! One thing that struck me the most – “Being naïve was my own ignorant survival skill.” You see if nothing else this should tell you that when it comes to striking on your own, you don’t need to know all the answers beforehand or be perfect in every possible sense. Don’t even try finding all the answers or perfect your idea/concept before taking the first step – getting started or else you’d get stuck in analysis paralysis and never be able to move forward. Finding the answers and perfecting your idea/ concept/ product is the journey you’re about to embark upon so get going and enjoy the ride!

Success to all!

Our next guest under the ‘Our Heroes‘ series is Jesse Mecham, former CPA, now Founder of “You Need A Budget”. Jesse’s personal need and pain of not having an easy to use budgeting system that works too, made him work on a side project which he later on launched and scaled into full blown business that helps thousands of individuals and families have a debt free life, save more, and eventually stop living paycheck to paycheck. Let’s find out more…

DD: Who are you and what kind of corporate job were you at?
JM: I’m Jesse Mecham, and I was a Certified Public Accountant (slowly recovering).

DD: What made you leave the job? When did you realize that you wanted to be an entrepreneur & why?
JM: While still in grad school for Accounting, my wife and I knew we needed to watch our meager earnings like a hawk. I researched all the existing budget plans out there, and found a common problem in all of them. They were all static budget plans–built around projected income. I knew then how great the need was for a living budget–a method for tracking and using income from the previous month in order to handle the current month’s expenses.  With several semesters left to go, and lots of penny pinching to do, I began creating a workable budget system that would remove the guess work and stress of a standard budget plan. Overtime, I continually improved it. I knew it could be something worth selling. In 2004 I dubbed it “You Need a Budget” and launched it. I graduated from school and begun full-time work as a CPA. But I knew I could be a lot happier, and help a lot more people, if I took the plunge and made the pet project a full-time endeavor.

DD: What did you do to break the corporate jail? How did you prepare for the employee to entrepreneur transition?
JM: At first I’d planned to climb the corporate ladder like so many others. When I began work on YNAB, and saw the need it filled in the personal finance world, it only made sense to make it my main focus. I stayed with my 9-5 job and built up my business simultaneously. Once the revenue was double my take home pay as a CPA, I left the corporate world and dedicated myself to YNAB full-time.

DD: What is one resource (person, coach, book, organization) that helped the most?
JM: Google. I’m not kidding. You can find the answer to almost anything if you google it. It was all a new experience for me, and I definitely googled my way through the process.

DD: What do you know now that you wish if only you knew when you made the transition?
JM: I wish I would have known how crucial it was to vett and hire good, upstanding people from the get go. Getting the right people, either contractors or employees, is  absolutely critical. I had no idea how to do that when I started.

DD: What are your suggestions for aspiring entrepreneurs?
JM: Ship quickly. Your product is never perfect, but its really important to ship early and ship often. If you try and rework and rework and rework, it’ll never launch. Just go for it.

DD: How are you doing and how do you feel now?
JM: My business is doing better than I ever imagined it would–such a huge blessing. Six years ago, I never would have pictured everything on such a large scale as it is now. I feel great.

DD: Ladies & gentlemen, that was Jesse Mecham, Founder of ‘You Need A Budget’! Ship quickly – very rightly suggested! You see a product would never be perfect and if you got into the perfection paralysis then you you’d never be able to finish and launch which is what matters the most. Similarly, those on the fence, waiting for the perfect time or perfect idea, get out of the perfection paralysis and take action. Just go for it.

Success to all!

Our next guest under the “Our Heroes” series is Bibby Gignilliat, a former marketing manager, now Founder & CEO of Parties That Cook, the business where she bring people together with the universal language of food. let’s talk to Bibby and find out how it all happened…

DD: Who are you and what kind of corporate job were you at?

BG: My name is Bibby Gignilliat and I am a corporate convert leaving behind a successful career as Marketing Manager with Williams-Sonoma, Inc.

DD: What made you leave the job? When did you realize that you wanted to be an entrepreneur & why?

BG: While at Williams-Sonoma, one day in a boring meeting on linear regression programming, I made the decision to leave my job and “feed my soul” by fulfilling a dream to attend Tante Marie’s professional cooking school in San Francisco. After completing the program, I conducted a culinary team building event at Tante Marie’s for a bunch of inebriated attorneys from a prominent San Francisco law firm. I was very directive in order to keep the masters of the universe on task. At the end of the night, the partner came up to me and said: “I LOVED how you handled me tonight. Would you stage a cooking event in my home for 40 Japanese businessmen?” “Sure” I said. The night of the event, the businessmen timidly arrived at his home. Keep in mind that many of them had never cooked in their lives let alone in their non-native language. You can imagine how anxious I felt when I said, “Who’s excited to cook?”, and no one raised a hand. After I gave a lively interactive demo, I divided the men into teams. Within minutes, they approached me, covered in flour from making shortcakes saying, “Chef, give me another project”. By the time they sat down to dinner, the decibel level had gone from 0 to 10. Two weeks after the event, the host contacted me. “Bibby, your cooking party was the highlight of their 2-week stay in San Francisco.” I knew then that I had a great concept – bringing people together with the universal language of food. In December of 1999, I founded my company – Parties That Cook. Since pioneering the mobile and in-home cooking party concept, culinary team building has blossomed as a nationwide industry. My company now stages hands on cooking parties and team building events in the San Francisco Bay Area, Chicago and Seattle. Next stop, Portland.  So you see, entrepreneurship found me!

DD: What did you do to break the corporate jail? How did you prepare for the employee to entrepreneur transition?

BG: Once I decided to leave my job, I gave 6 months notice so that I could save my money to attend culinary school.  I joined as many culinary networking groups as I could and I asked established culinary professionals for informational interviews so that I could learn as much as possible about my new field.

DD: What is one resource (person, coach, book, organization etc) that helped you the most?

BG: The E-myth by Michael Gerber was a great resource and still is!

DD: What do you know now that you wish if only you knew when you made the transition?

BG: Choose business partners carefully, or better yet, go it alone and hire contractors & employees. Partnerships are like marriages - they take work, even more so if you are don’t see eye to eye on the direction and success of the company. In an ideal partnership situation, you outline priorities, objectives and business roles up front.  Hire an attorney to draft a partnership agreement (like a pre-nuptial agreement in marriage) and clearly spell out all exit scenarios in case it fails.  Ideally you and your partner should each have an attorney so that your interests are protected.

DD: What are your suggestions for aspiring entrepreneurs?

BG: Provide “fanatical” customer service. Respond quickly to clients. If you don’t take care of your customers, someone else will. Strive to give clients more than they expect. Your clients will notice because plenty of companies don’t go the extra mile.  Happy clients are your evangelists/raving fans.

DD: How are you doing and how do you feel now?

BG: Parties That Cook is booming!  In the last 10 years, we have served over 40,000 guests at 1500 events in 3 (and soon 4) cities.  We are having a record year.  Looking back, starting a business was definitely the biggest challenge of my life but it was also the most rewarding.

DD: That’s Bibby Gignilliat, employee turned entrepreneur, Founder and CEO of Parties That Cook! She mentioned networking at culinary groups and conducting informational interviews with industry professionals to learn about her new field. What a simple and brilliant move! Interviewing the industry experts and professionals is the best option to quickly learn about the industry and make significant/ influential contacts. Information is credible, current, and relevant, plus this tactic saves you hours of reading time and tons of time, money, and frustration of learning by own mistakes. Always connect with the experts and established professionals in your field and leverage their knowledge to your use by simply interviewing them.

Success to all!