Exit Planning for Startups: Preparing for Acquisition from Day One
Startup exit planning isn’t just about preparing for the end – it’s about building a business that’s primed for success from the very beginning. By incorporating exit strategy development into your initial business planning, you create a roadmap that guides every major decision and milestone.
Building Value Through Strategic Planning
When you visualize your startup’s future success (engaging the visual submodality), you must hear the conversations with potential acquirers (auditory submodality) and feel the satisfaction of a well-executed exit (kinesthetic submodality). This multi-sensory approach helps anchor your goals and creates compelling internal motivation.
Strategic Foundation
A well-structured exit strategy provides clear direction and helps maintain your competitive edge. Your plan should include:
Strategic milestones and timelines
Value-building initiatives
Risk management protocols
Succession planning
Creating the Switzerland Structure
One crucial aspect of startup exit planning is developing what experts call “The Switzerland Structure” – ensuring your business can operate independently without relying on any single key person, customer, or supplier. This autonomy makes your startup more attractive to potential buyers and investors.
Value Maximization
To maximize your startup’s value, focus on these key areas:
Building a strong management team
Developing scalable systems
Creating intellectual property assets
Establishing market leadership
Leveraging NLP Principles
Using neuro-linguistic programming concepts can help frame your exit strategy more effectively. Consider these psychological triggers:
Use positive framing in your business narrative
Create emotional connections through storytelling
Employ power words in your business documentation
Structure information flow logically
Exit Strategy Timeline
The ideal time to begin exit planning is during the initial phase of your business. This early preparation allows you to:
Align team members around common goals
Make strategic decisions that enhance value
Attract investors with clear exit potential
Build business systems that support scalability
Protection and Growth
A well-planned exit strategy serves multiple purposes beyond just preparing for acquisition. It provides:
Protection against market changes
Enhanced business value
Operational efficiency
Long-term sustainability
Clear succession planning
Investor Perspective
Investors look for startups with clear exit strategies that demonstrate potential for strong returns. Your exit planning should address:
Expected timeline for exit
Potential exit routes
Valuation targets
Risk mitigation strategies
Building for Success
Focus on creating a business that’s attractive to potential acquirers by:
Developing strong financial controls
Building recurring revenue streams
Creating scalable processes
Establishing market differentiation
Maintaining comprehensive documentation
Remember, successful startup exit planning isn’t about planning to leave – it’s about building something valuable enough that others want to buy it. By incorporating these elements from day one, you’re not just preparing for an exit; you’re creating a stronger, more valuable business.
Feel the weight of those patent documents in your hands. That trademark certificate you barely glance at anymore? It might just be your golden ticket to freedom.
Listen closely, because I’m about to tell you something that most business advisors won’t: When you’re planning your grand finale – your business succession strategy (yes, that sounds way better than “exit planning”) – your intellectual property isn’t just another asset. It’s often your most valuable one.
I just got off the phone with a client who sold his software company for 8x what he expected. Why? Because he had methodically protected and documented every piece of proprietary code, every unique process, and every trade secret over the years. The buyers weren’t just acquiring a business – they were acquiring a fortress of protected innovations.
You can almost taste the satisfaction of his success, can’t you?
Here’s what keeps me up at night: I see brilliant entrepreneurs who’ve built remarkable businesses but treat their IP like an afterthought. They’re leaving millions on the table, and they don’t even know it.
Let me be crystal clear:
Your patents are your castle walls
Your trademarks are your crown jewels
Your trade secrets are your hidden treasures
Your copyrights are your lasting legacy
When a potential buyer runs their due diligence, they’re not just hearing your story – they’re seeing, touching, and experiencing the value of your protected innovations. Every registered patent amplifies your company’s worth. Each documented trade secret adds another zero to your valuation.
The harsh truth? Without properly protected IP, you’re selling yourself short. Way short.
Take action now:
Audit your intellectual property portfolio
Document every innovation, process, and system
Register what’s registrable
Protect what’s protectable
Value what’s valuable
Your IP isn’t just about protection – it’s about projection. It projects your value into the future, far beyond your active involvement in the business.
Remember: The difference between a good succession strategy and a great one often comes down to how well you’ve protected and leveraged your intellectual property.
by overwhelmingly popular request today’s episode is on the 9×12 postcard and how to make $5,000 every month just from a postcard you can do it anyone can do it from a teenager to a 80 plus year old and you want to go on vacation you want to take that trip or whatever could go wherever you want $5,000 Air flight well I can’t tell you what you going to do with $5,000 that’s up to you but I can just tell you how to do it it’s a perfect system for a lot of people it’s great for people who are trying to replace their job maybe they hate their job and they’re trying to get out of it and get some kind of income that will replace it it’s great for stay-at-home moms stay-at-home dads who maybe want to contribute financially I know how it is like you’re stay-at-home and your spouse is making the money but you and you’re doing a lot but you want to feel like you’re contributing money to the household or or financially this is a absolutely fabulous system for that retirees it’s also great for successful marketers and business people who want to add something to their Arsenal it is proven okay you’re going to make $5,000 profit more more or less I mean you can make more than that you can make less than that but $5,000 is in profit is a pretty achievable thing I’m going to break it down into straightforward how it works without getting too complex or maybe you don’t have any money right now to inv and you just want to get going and make $55,000 I’ve been there and helped thousands thousands of people the last decade do this so you can too so this episode is going to be an absolute freaking Banger for anyone even if you’ve been through the 9×12 system before this is going to be a incredible like just refresher the 9×12 system at its core is just a big postcard looks like this I’m going to use I’m use my fellow marketer Tim’s Tim Black’s postcard because he he doesn’t mind when I show it this is well this is a really simplii this is giant postcard massive postcard it’s 9 by 12 in and you fill it with other businesses on it okay other local businesses so you’re taking a big postcard can look like this too and you’re just putting other local businesses on it you’re going to do the work you’re going to do the hard work of patching businesses together okay and they’re in turn are paying you for advertising space on that card that is all it is it’s a platform to advertise it’s a brilliant it’s a it’s a great thing for any Community to have where you have a giant postcard with nothing but local businesses on it and it’s going to Residents in that area so 10,000 we’re going to focus on 10,000 residents which is a nice healthy sample of people so just imagine you’re a business owner and you’re able to advertise on a on a big giant piece with nothing but other local businesses that don’t compete and getting it into the hands of 10,000 local people like it’s unbelievably fantastic way to advertise there’s no spam filter there’s no clutter like the the mailbox is a great place to be and being able to get it directly in the hands is a postcard so there’s no envelopes to open there’s nothing to thumb through it’s not a catalog format where there’s thousand pages you’re not squashed in there with other competitors and it’s well-received it’s nothing but local businesses there’s not a bunch of corporate stuff it’s all local stuff so people get in the mail and they love it it’s like wow this is great this has a dozen or so however many you want to fit on the card of local businesses all with offers deals coupons useful things from local businesses it’s not junk mail I like to print them on a shiny 14. stock it’s nice and glossy it’s really thick feels valuable it’s super well received by the the people getting it and by business owners who have a chance to affordably advertise to 10,000 people you can also do it to 5,000 people we don’t want to complicate it at 10,000 is a is a great sample you are going to do the work of putting people together just getting other businesses on it if you present it right and if you do the things I’m going to show you it’s going to be really easy they’re going to make it’s going to make sense it really it shouldn’t be any more difficult that just showing a business owner this is what you’re putting together uh and this is how much it costs and it should go Fairly smoothly if you follow all these steps you’re going to fill this card in a really short amount of time I generally say two weeks you could do it in a week but two weeks is a pretty healthy amount you could even it could may even take you three weeks depends it depends how much effort you want to put into it but really there are plenty of advertisers around you and that’s that’s a big point there are plenty I promise you no matter how small of an area you’re in there are plenty of advertisers who will willingly spend money with you to get on this card because it’s going to be so it’s going to get into locals hands at such an affordable cost that it’s you have to be stupid to say no well some people say no yes and we’ll talk about that but people with brains will say yes to this and you’re going to profit so you’re not gonna have to spend any money on this and that’s a big key point you don’t have to put any you don’t have to put any money up front on this zero you don’t put a dime of your money up front at all this is entirely paid for by all the advertisers and you’re going to rec you’re going to break even really fast which covers the cost of the printing the postage don’t worry about any of that you’re going to break even very fast and all the rest is profit so about in in general about half the card will be covering your cost and the other half is profit you’re going to be able to make $55,000 profit more or less on this card it’s going to happen if you if you just keep it as simple and uncomplex it will happen I can’t guarantee you unless you do the effort but it’s this has been proven it’s been done by so many other people um I’ve done it so many times I’ve taught so many hundred thousands of people over the last decade to do this it works really great thing is you can double it too so if you want to make 5,000 if you want to make $10,000 profit if you want to make $220,000 in profit a month you could do it absolutely the logistics of things get harder it it sounds crazy but things like just collecting payments and managing like who to Bill and who to pick up a check from becomes a challenge when you have a lot of these going out you have to hire people just to collect payments so those are good things to worry about we’re not going to worry about those things we’re going to focus on one card so you can get one card rolling a key concept to know because it’s important for you to it’s important for you to be sold on this yourself as well because if you’re sold on it then when you present it to other business owners you come across very confident and excited and that translates to them being confident and excited so a a really key thing to know about this is that this is really the magic of this whole thing is that if you were to send a card like this in the mail yourself so if you were a business owner and you wanted to send this card this size card and I might told it’s a massive card it’s a giant card it gets so much attention the amount of it’s like a mini billboard it’s like a little billboard arriving in someone’s mailbox if you were to send something like this yourself in the mail go get it designed printed mailed you are going to spend I if you called around you’re going to spend around a dollar each in printing and Postage and design it’s it’s going to be around a dollar each and if you think of just a stamp cost 66 cents right now it’s going up just that a loan is is almost a dollar then you had Printing and you had design like all you’re in this for a dollar even small postcards a lot of places will charge $1 just to just a mail so you’re looking at a dollar each so if you were to spend if you were to mail 10,000 of these as a business owner 10,000 of these that’s some serious advertising like covering 10,000 people getting this into the hands of 10,000 local people you are looking at about $10,000 you you’re probably in the range of like $7,500 to $10,000 if you were to just call a bunch of printing places mailing places around you’re in this range this kind of mailing while it’s ridiculously powerful is not for everyone because it it’s just unaffordable like how many small local businesses can afford to spend $110,000 can afford to spend $5,000 $8,000 $10,000 on a mailer not not many can Big advertis Lots do there’s a lot of businesses that spend more than that but those are businesses that have their marketing down they they theyve they know what they’re doing they have big budgets they’re probably been in business a long time but what about all these other little tiny businesses like the little retailers little restaurants Home Room model like all just the smaller guys that don’t have these kind of large budgets and resources to do that kind of advertising like your average your your clothes retailer your a hair salon uh pizzia like they can’t how many of them can spend $10,000 on a mailer very very few so they kind of get left out they don’t have an option to get that kind of horsepower in their advertising think of like a like a startup lawn care place or something then they’re never going to be able to to afford $10,000 on a mail or they’ll never they’ll never be a able to do it so they never get to experience the power of something like this but you’re going to be making it affordable you’re going to suddenly be able to give them the opportunity to do that because you’re going to be able to break this card up into multiple spaces of all local businesses and everyone pays for each other everyone shares the cost you’re going to be doing the work of patching people together and allowing all these businesses that should never have been able to afford $10,000 in advertising and suddenly be able to get that for a fraction of the cost you’re going to be able to charge only $500 $550 per space and every I can tell you every single small local business they can come up with $500 like you if you can’t come up with $500 as a local business owner then you are you are probably going to be out of business very soon that is an amount that almost that virtually every local business can come up with so it’s within the affordability of everyone and suddenly you have businesses that have almost zero advertising budgets very little advertising budgets not a lot of options suddenly able to adverti get $10,000 worth of advertising for 500 bucks that’s how how crazy powerful I don’t know any other way to explain this to be able to get $10,000 of legitimate advertising legitimately $110,000 worth of advertising for $500 $550 is just it’s mind-blowing I’ve been doing this for 13 years I’ve been doing this since 2011 and it still blows my mind I’ve lived and breathed this system for 13 years and I’m still completely mind blown over the whole thing you’re getting $10,000 worth of advertising for $500 so dollars so if you can translate that some people who have not had the best success putting these cards together sometimes can’t relay that so so business owners don’t always understand what exactly you’re trying to sell them or why it’s so such a good bargain and if you can relay that it becomes such an easier thing for a business owner to to buy and to be excited about but that’s the truth you’re getting $10,000 go call go call every printer you can find around wherever and ask them how much you want to send 10,000 9×12 postcards out how much is it going to cost and you’re going to get in this range of 77500 or so to $10,000 but I’m going to show you how to get this for only about 4,000 4500 somewhere in that range 44500 by using the EDM system which is really cheap postage using a wholesale printing I’m just going to recommend myself you can go anywhere that’s cheap but I charge about $2,000 for 10,000 9 x 12 printed delivered to you you no matter what state you’re in at least in the continental US and uh so by getting the cheapest printing the highest quality Printing and getting the cheapest postage possible you’re able to get this for so much cheaper than it would be normally and then by combining a bunch of people together you’re able to get it so cheap for them that you can make thousands of dollars in Pro in profit in the process so about half the card is going to cover your cost you’re going to get this money up front and then the other is 100% profit and may you’re just going and talking to business owners you’re getting paid $500 $550 there’s people who spend a thou there’s lots of 9 by1 12 I call them 9 by1 12ers marketers that are doing this that charge upwards of $1,000 per space you can really charge whatever you want because again the value is roughly $10,000 now there’s two things you could think of that you could say you could say well Jake is it really worth $10,000 because like you’re you’re sharing it with all these other businesses is and I understand that you’re not getting the entire space to use the whole card you’re not getting to use the entire card yourself so you could say okay maybe this isn’t totally worth $110,000 but it’s worth many many many many thousands of dollars because it’s still getting seen it’s a postcard there’s no envelopes you’re still on it you’re getting seen by approximately 10 you’re actually getting it seen by a lot more than 10,000 people because it’s 10,000 addresses and every address has in an average of two and a half people that live on it because you have a lot of people with spouses you have a lot of people with other extended family you have people with kids and many people will see this there’s people will share it so lots more than one person per household will see this get it gets a very high exposure more than 10,000 people but it’s 10,000 addresses but you could also say that having a well put together card with local businesses on it can actually increase the value it may actually be more valuable to advertise on a card with other businesses on it than yourself because you’re now leveraging what might attract other people other people may they may not be let’s take a mattress for example a mattress store right they may want to advertise on this card if they were to do a mailer themselves which mattress places do they spend a lot of money on Advertising they they’re a great candidate to go reach out to I can almost guarantee you a mattress store will buy space on your card if they do their own mailer the people who aren’t so interest Ed in a in a mattress at the moment may toss it out they may say you know and and they have to keep mailing this is like real estate this is similar real estate in a lot of businesses they may not be interested at the moment so they start they toss it out but if you’re on this piece with other local businesses that they may be interested in so maybe they like the pizzeria maybe they like the retail Boutique maybe they like the hair salon now they’re seeing you with those people they’re seeing you and it’s kind of carrying over it’s giving it’s adding um visibility that you didn’t have before because or maybe they save the thing they it’s sitting in a drawer it’s sitting on a coffee table it’s PST set up on their fridge people will save these and they constantly see you they see The Mattress Place a bazillion times because it’s riding along with these other businesses so you you could also argue that it’s actually even more powerful and that’s a great way the way I just presented that is a great way to present it to other business owners because it’s an attract the benefit hey you could do your own mailer but you could also do this which is a fraction of the price and just think you’re going to be on someone’s refrigerator tacked up on their refrigerator and they’re going to walk by a billion times because they wanted they see the other food they see the pizza the liquor store the hair salon the toy store all these other businesses that are like highly broad demographic attractive to every meanwhile they’re seeing you a bazillion times so this is great if you’re a realtor Insurance Agency lawyer businesses that are uh hard hard to get people like people make these decisions a lot less frequently than going out to eat they’re going to see you a billion times and if you mail regularly on this that business is going to see be seen so many times just over and over and over for a fraction of the cost for like 500 bucks what kind of advertising can you spend $500 $550 on which really isn’t much money at all and get that get 10,000 local residents holding it riding along with all these other local businesses they’re seeing you it’s a super high quality piece and seeing you over and over and over and over and over and over like over and over as people save these cards they’re seeing you just endless times over and over so has this staying power that’s just unfathomable so you think of like plumbers electricians chiropractors dentists all these people will just benefit so so hard from just having other local businesses on it and just being seen so many multiple times over and over it’s incredible for 500 bucks for like nothing it’s like a like a pen I want say it’s like a penny because it’s a it’s a it’s like it’s like nothing though like and for as far as advertising what else are you going to spend $500 you can spend on Facebook ads which you’ll burn through in in a matter of hours I mean like $500 on Facebook ads when go do anything Google a adwards or stuff what are you going to spend $500 on compared to something like this and you can still do all that stuff like 9 by12 postcards are are just an enhancement to something you’re else you’re doing you could send your own mailers out and do 9 by 12 oh is that Mary Grace Mary Grace what oh I’m recording but it’s fine I’m just going to be talking it’s going to sound like I’m talking to myself I got interrupted there for a second by MGK let’s talk about the pricing structure $500 this is a sample card my favorite template currently uh by the way these are canva temp templates if you do pick up my course which is high respon marketing.com 9×12 it’s in the description below uh I share this this template you can fit as many ads as you want on this you can you can fit like Tim’s cardi doesn’t have a ton of ad I think he sells fewer ads for higher amounts some people like like Scott meiser who I got to have on as a podcast he does an 11 by 14 so he does an even giant like a even larger card and he has many of these that go out with lots of ads on them you can do this is another format that I really liked um Joshua melur one of my marketing students put this card out this is a nice nice thing but you can you can fit anywhere from like a dozen to to uh 18 ads 18 is like a Tic Tac Toe shape so it’s like it’s like nine on each side it’s just like a Tic Tac Toe you can squeeze all different size ads that’s it’s really flexible it’s on you you have to decide how many ads you want to put on on this and then just figure out how much you want to charge each one it’s going to cost around $4,400 in printing and Postage and design so anything that you charge so if you charge $550 per ad and you have 16 ads are making I think it’s like $4,800 profit you can bump that up to $600 you can squeeze an extra ad in there however much you want to make it’s a it’s a very very flexible system I would just give yourself enough time to sell the ads we’re going to talk about that in a little bit but you don’t want to you don’t want to have too many ad spaces on there and you’re just starting out and you can’t sell them all then you end up with a bunch of space that you can’t fill and now you’re sending the card out maybe you didn’t make as much as you should have or you just have a bunch of empty space which could have been used elsewhere so you it’s kind of this this balance it’s just this balance of how much you want you really want to charge it’s up to you that’s the beauty of business is what you charge is is totally up to you but if if you’re in this $500 to $550 range that’s a good balance because it’s every business can afford it so yes you probably should be charging more you know they the the you could charge $800 to $1,000 and be totally worth it for businesses but they may not have that amount on them like just able to spend right away is the more you start getting into $800 plus the harder it is to get people to just be like yes I’m on this let’s go here you go here’s 500 bucks let me run this card or whatever it’s just much easier when you’re starting out in my opinion to charge 500 you’re some kind of salesperson I haven’t I’ve never heard of this it’s a little bit sketchy you’re you’re by you thinking you’re becoming making this like big credible thing and making it look really big when it’s not you’re just actually pushing sales away it is way better million times better please follow this your best course of action is to just pres introduce yourself to other businesses walk in call my I would just walk in introduce yourself as a business owner yourself local business owner and tell them I’m sending out this want to introduce myself I am sending out a big postcard in the mail to 10,000 people I’m advertising on it and I’m wondering if other businesses might want to just share the cost and we all get on it and we don’t have any competitors so one per category you’d be the only HVAC guy you’d be the only dentist I thought of you that’s it you’re introducing yourself you’re explaining that you’re just trying to get other businesses on to share the cost and instead of spending $8,800 it’s now only going to be500 so if you if you present it like that you are going to sell so many spaces so fast go in and make it a habit of talking to five business owners a day you will have this card sold you will probably have this card sold in a week but give yourself two weeks and you will have it sold that means you’re gonna have $5,000 in profit in your pocket you gonna you gonna have $5,000 give or take in profit in two weeks from when you start talking to business owners if you just talk to five business owners a day go introduce yourself I’m soand so I’m I own whatever business or maybe just say I’m just starting up a local business I’m going to do this postcard I’d like to promote other local businesses on it and we all share the cost it’s just local businesses get a sample from me I sell these samples hit me on my contact information is in the description below hit me up anytime get some samples and I charge we charge $25 for samples uh we we just put a bunch in a a flat rate envelope and and you’ll have some to walk around you can even customize your own if you want I’ll print short runs for you whatever just just contact me put this thing in a business owner’s hands explain what you’re doing don’t get fancy don’t try to make yourself look into you’re just going to come off as a sales rep you’re just another local business owner looking to share the cost instead of spending $8,800 instead instead of spending $10,000 it’s going to be $500 that’s it if you present it like that you’re going to sell spaces like crazy and you’re going to have good business you’re going to make a lot of new connections you’re going to make a ton of connections other business owners and some of them aren’t going to do it but they’re if you ask they’ll point you to ones that will you know they’re for whatever reason they don’t want to do it ask them if they know anyone that might want to and you’re going to find that they uh like you and may say they’re friend that you’re going to sell spaces that way and even if they buy ask them do you have any other business owner friends that might want to get on this card the I’d like to bring up the power of exclusivity these CS while you don’t have to are really powerful when they only have one one business per industry so one Pizzeria one dentist because you can you one it’s good for the consumer getting it they don’t have to see a million like they see one but two you can leverage that you can say you know I just I’m putting one per category so one HVAC one lawyer went to do you I thought of you I went to you first you can use that if they’re iffy and you can say look I don’t you know I totally understand if you don’t want to but I I I got to put a plumber on here so either if you want it we’ll lock down to space if not I’ve got to go find another plumber but just be warn be warned you can use that tone be warned that don’t be mad when this comes out and it goes to 10,000 people and the only plumber on there is your competitor like it’d be probably a pretty good thing for you to be H this use that kind of tonality because it makes sense to the business owner oh crap this is going to 10,000 people uh I don’t want someone else being on there this will work really good for realtors too because they fight for this kind of space so if you’re sending these to 10,000 like local people it’s in their territory like they do not want they’re not going to pass up $500 now some Realtors are broke they’re broke you know they’re they’re Realtors can be the type of people that don’t have $500 because they’re some of them are just glorified like just hobbyist people but actual Realtors who who are full-time Realtors are not going to pass up $500 especially if they have a team if it’s exra broke broken they put their whole team on there for $500 like they are not going to pass it up and see some especially if if they start balking at it and you say you know I just want to let you know a re we’re putting a realtor on here uh if you don’t want someone else you know another realtor being on 10,000 of these you should probably lock down a space you’re going to sell the space Realtors Insurance chiropractor dentist they’re all great to put on here I would also suggest getting I call them anchor ads I talk about this so much in my courses so if this really interests to you and you want to put some money into a course go check out my Mastery course because I go through every every little thing um I’m trying to keep it simple uh for this podcast but anchor ads are are kind of good and that’s where you really really put extra effort in getting like a like a popular restaurant a popular some food related anything that’s really really popular uh especially food pizza and try to get them on your card there’s a lot of different ways you can do that but just put the extra effort to get them on your card because that adds a lot of credit credibility when you’re selling other EDS you can say hey Luigi’s pizza’s on here or whatever it it adds credibility the more your card fills up the more credibility you start automatically gaining because they see other businesses doing it but also it make it gives it a lot of value to the to the customer to the recipient so when the recipients get this they’re really happy and they like getting the card and they share it with their friends and becomes and you can tie this into social you know you can make social posts and you can get people sharing it on Facebook and you’re sharing it on Facebook and other businesses want to get on it because they heard about on Facebook you can also have advertise on here you’re going to get people once the cards out that they’re going to see it other business owners how do I get on this they’re going to call you and be like I want on this or how did I not know about this I can’t believe this once the card goes out you gain like just a lot of credibility so a lot of marketers and business people will do this too just to just to cement some credibility in the in the area you know I’m the person that puts this out uh it’s it’s a fast way to get a lot of clients if you’re if you’re a marketer you can in you can really quickly get a dozen or more client paying clients and you can sell them all whatever other services you have so now you have a lot of people you have a dozen people in your in your stable that have paid you that you’re doing marketing for and you’re probably getting them good results so I I would like to talk about results you’re not you don’t have a crystal ball so you can’t promise people any kind of results you don’t know maybe their business sucks you can’t say hey you’re going to get 1% response or something because you don’t know maybe they didn’t put a great offer maybe their business sucks maybe it was a bad time whatever all you can do is give them exposure it’s all this is It’s a plat it’s a platform it’s a the postcard is a platform where people can advertise to 10,000 or however many you’re sending I think Scott does like 20,000 he these he does 20,000 I believe of these you’re giving them a platform where they can get their business in front of 10 20,000 people and that’s it okay but the results is not your you can’t determine that so don’t go telling people they’re going to get 5,000 people through the door or some crazy nonsense because then they’re going to be upset when you told them one thing don’t even don’t even touch that subject you don’t want that does the bill does people sell Billboards and advertising any did they ever guarantee response they don’t they just collect the checks because they just have a platform the radio ad okay the people don’t they can they can play the radio ad they can play the commercial they cannot tell you you’re going to get x amount response and they will always be filling those spaces and people will always be writing those checks because they want that platform they want space on that platform so it’s actually a smart thing to Target and and talk to businesses that maybe spend a lot of money on branded advertising like insurance agents and lawyers and workers coming car dealers because they may want space on your card they may be easy spots to fill they don’t mind spending money over and over because it’s just get it’s securing that they’ll they’ll be the only one in that industry they don’t want to see the other car dealer how you think a car dealer you start putting out these cards every month you think a car dealer want does wants his competitor being on that one every month every month these things go out it’s going to get more and more like exclusive I want to be that one on that card how do I get on that card and they will pay money to make sure that they’re the only ones on that card it’s actually really cheap advertising and it’s the exclusivity is very is is very high uh we should talk about competition competition because you’re going to may be wondering well Jake I see these other place like valp Pac and money maer and uh maybe a lot of its magazine type stuff you usually either see a magazine type format like a catalog magazine that comes in the mail or you’ll see a uh envelope like Val pack it comes in an envelope and there’s a million ads these are not competing with that these these pieces do not compete with with that it’s tot totally different you may have businesses that also say you know well I do vpac I do money mail or I do CL the Clipper Magazine and they may have good results with those they may have okay results but this is different in a in those other competitors they’re one they’re probably not exclusive or they charge you through the roof to be exclusive so you’re squashed in there with all sorts of other competitors if you’re running a 20% off sale your competitor may be running a 30% off sale or you’re running a 10% right next to you is your direct competitor running a 20% sale and you’re like oh crap you know I just spent all this money thousands of dollars these things cost thousands of dollars and commit long-term contracts and commitments and now you’re squashed in there with another competitor who’s got a better deal than you so that’s a an advantage that the postcard has over those uh and but also it’s getting 100% exposure so when the postcard doesn’t have any envelope it doesn’t have any catalogs you’re not on page 76 where they have to thumb through all these pages to actually see you or or open an envelope the moment you start doing stuff like that you lose the exposure so if you send if you send 10,000 envelope mailers or 10,000 catalog mailers how many of those people will actually see your ads squashed in the middle how many of them because I probably less than half open them so you’ve already thrown half of them out the window those numbers half of them are garbage and then only so many will check through the whole thing and notice you it’s actually a really small percentage you may have a thousand people out of 10,000 that actually saw you it’s probably even less plus you’re in there with competitors and it’s a different crowd so the people who open Money Mailer vpac could they’re the like the coupon clipping crowd and they can sometimes be the people that you don’t necessarily want I use that I I explain that to uh other businesses when I’m talking with them about advertising on 92 postcard or a postcard in general as they may say like you know I do the the valp pack I do the money mailer and stuff and know like I just don’t like that whole coupon thing and the people that well that’s because the people who are specifically looking in those and opening those are that crowd so by advertising on a postcard that doesn’t have competitors that’s a kind of a more uh upscale look to it and it’s reduced ads there’s not so many ads uh you’re you’re reaching people whether they’re coupon Clippers Clipper people or not you’re reaching everyone so you are reaching all the people they’re all seeing it when 10,000 of these get mailed 10,000 people are seeing it whether they like it or not they have to you get this in the mail you have to see it you can’t not see this you have to touch it you have to look at it touch it transport it wherever like you have to do a lot of stuff with this you can’t just grab the envelope and say oh it’s blue envelope throw it out money oh tabed catalog throw it out they have to see it and you will get business just from people who weren’t even like would have never opened the envelope they would have never opened the catalog but this is something they were forced to see and it was something that they wanted so very very high high advantage over other other competitors like there it really isn’t a competing thing it’s a totally different thing and when you look at price so like it might be let’s say like a Val pack or I don’t know what they charge but maybe they’re cheaper per P per piece you know they might advertise like they advertise for 1 cent per delivery you know you’re spending $1,000 but you’re getting 100,000 mailers it’s only one penny each meanwhile you’re at 5 cents or 10 cents each if you start explaining the numbers where if half of these people it’s probably far less than half or more than half throw this out well it’s not really two cents is it it’s really like 4 cents and if only a certain fraction of those people actually get to your ad it’s actually a much higher so it’s actually more expensive to advertise in these because so fewer people are looking would you rather put bluntly would you rather have 10,000 postcards sent or 10,000 envelopes sent the postcards would be seen by 10,000 people the envelope would require people to open it it’s a fraction of the people would see it uh picking the areas you may Wonder Jake how do I pick these areas like how do I choose who I’m going to send these two again in my course if you pick on my course I go through all of that step by step but to not complicate things just think of who go on eddm USPS.com that’s the Every Door Direct Mail a routing map tool it’s very user friendly when when the site isn’t glitching but it’s it’s pretty user friendly and start looking around at the neighborhoods you can click and just pick neighborhoods on a map and it generates how many people just find think of the areas that local businesses would want to Target just just do the thinking for them think okay I’m going to get a dozen or more businesses what are the areas maybe I’m going to get a lot of home service so maybe I should pick kind of the more homeowner routes more upscale routes because they’re going to want to reach these you got to think you’re going to be presenting this to other businesses and you want to make this as attractive as possible you want to pick areas that are attractive like you’re a business owner and you want to reach a certain areas yourself you and if someone comes along and says hey I’m I thought of you I’m mailing these I’m another business owner I’m advertising on this and I’m hoping to get other local businesses to and we can all promote ourselves and it’s going to this neighborhood this neighborhood this neighborhood this part of town even print these out even print the things out and show them where it’s going like it’s gonna be super attractive you imagine some imagine you’re a business owner and a guy or girl comes up to you and it’s like hey I own another business you know I want to introduce myself I’m sending out this big postcard we’re going to put other local businesses on it just trying to promote small local business and we’re going to this area this area this area it’s 10,000 people and they’re all going to get this and then they’re super sold they see the postcard they see where it’s going they’re like holy crap this thing sounds amazing what the heck this is incredible well how much is this going to cost and they’re probably thinking it’s going to cost thousands of dollars you’re talking this massive postcard is going to 10,000 people it’s going to the neighborhoods that they want to reach like it’s going to good neighborhoods everyone’s going to see this it feels great it looks great they like you they’re doing business with another business owner not just a sales repap another business own another local business owner and they’re thinking this thing is going to cost thousands the thing that’s on their mind is like yeah okay I’m like super excited about this but this this thing’s going to cost a fortune it’s going to cost thousands that was going to cost me $5,000 I $5,000 and then you tell them it’s you know we’re sharing the cost because they have found out how to get the cheapest printing the cheapest Postage and we’re it’s we’re just splitting up the cost if we can get the whole card fill it’s 500 bucks $500 it’s it we’re just sharing the cost if you word it like that if you if you use the tonality like that it’s just 500 bucks we’re all going to share the cost including you uh it is just like a it’s like a going off it’s like what the are you kidding me are you kidding me the actually you this may sound so good that it’s hard to believe it’s actually true and you’ll find when you talk to business own about that they stop everything they’re like their ear they at once they were a little hesitant and now they’re like they’re like all attention is on you like this is just amazing this is so smart this is brilliant how do I get on this how do I get other people like is this for real are you are you a real person you know and if you’re another business owner are you a real person if you’re another AI generated salesperson if you’re like a like a a business owner that’s doing this as another way to advertise on your business and get in some you’re going to make connections you’re going to be like yeah I’m a real you know I’m local realt are here you know maybe they recognize you from the thing you’re just trying to put this thing together with other local businesses it’s like the best thing in the world it’s like the best thing for a business because little local businesses are not supposed to get this kind of ad advertising your vast majority of local businesses do are never supposed to mail 10,000 of these they’re never supposed to have the advertising budget of $10,000 like even if they did it wouldn’t make sense like you you can’t spend your retail Boutique you spent $10,000 on your hair salon you spent 10,000 on mailers you can get a ton of response you’ll never recoup like 10,000 it be really hard to recoup that because the the the ticket price is so low or your little C F or something but now you’re able it’s suddenly putting I had 13 years ago I just when I started putting this out I started doing it for myself but I remember so vividly I’m sitting on the floor of of our house and I’m like I want to come up with a system that allows even people with even businesses with just hardly any advertising budget and I want to make it I want to give them a lot of advertising I I just knew and I’ve never lost that passion like I just I knew that I could figure out a way because I had figured it out for myself by putting this together for myself like getting free advertising I knew that I could figure out ways to get everyday local in the trenches just starting out just making it just surviving or businesses that have been around but don’t have big advertising budgets a way to really get good advertising really solid working tons of advertising for really cheap like really affordable and I’d still make money in the process and me making money was actually an after even though I needed it at the time it was an afterthought because I was like I just know if I can put something like this together and I started adding all sorts of stuff onto it too and like adding upsells like maybe for $200 more I could add all this into directory and additional M all sorts of stuff uh and which is all explained really in my my course too so if you really want to get into that stuff go pick up the course it’s well worth it but I just I just knew that I had to put something together for the local everyday business owner which also makes sense for businesses with lots of advertising budget because they can actually buy a whole Space you can have a car dealer just buy the whole space in fact one of my first cards I saw a person advertising this is a good story I I saw this it’s a beauty school okay he’s a beauty school do you remember mg do you remember John Paulo’s Beauty School Institute or something do you remember that yeahand you remember that well I was um I was was was I was on like my first or second card or something this was like one of my first cards but I had seen this beauty school okay it’s like you could go to school to be a but a beautician or whatever cosmetology and it had popped up and they were doing just insane amounts of advertising they had the cars all wrapped and they had Billboards and I was like this is definitely a an Advertiser like this is a a a place that’s going to advertise so I called them and I got some guy on the phone and he’s like we don’t advertise and we don’t then hangs up on me I’m like what and I think he said that or not interested or something and I’m like just like thinking I’m like this can’t like they’re advertising everywhere I see them everywhere I’m like they’re they’re gonna want this so I found the email of the owner John Paulo and I it was an AOL address it was at AOL.com and uh there’s a really funny story I got to tell you after I that’s that’s hilarious mg I’ll tell you it after I turn the camera off because I it was so funny about that but so I email him and I’m like John I’m like I’m a you know whatever and I’m putting this thing out and he literally emails me right back and he’s like I want the whole side how much for the whole side of the card I’m in San Diego right now I’m on the beach or something he’s like I I want the whole side give me the whole side and I was like yes and I sold it to him for I don’t know like $33,000 or something I can’t even remember but it basically you know I I figured out how much every ad would cost to if if you were buying the entire backspace and uh gave a slight discount or something and that that sold I was like oh crap this makes sense now you have half the card sold now you only have to sell half the ads and every ad is you know essentially profit like it almost covered the whole cost of the card so you can also double up on ads triple up on ads um you can break ads into very small sections you can mix mix of you can see on here I use a thing called a column that’s that’s in my course but column ads you know all different sizes there’s so much flexibility it’s your business you can do whatever you want but you will you take on this system you will absolutely if you follow it and you follow everything I just said go through it again read you’re at the gym you’re driving go through this podcast again if you’re not buying the course just go through this podcast multiple times get it take notes uh just follow it I think I’ve covered everything I if as far as the printing and stuff just hit me up Jake uh printing forup che.com or high-response marketing.com my information’s below don’t worry about that part that that is just a logistical part that won’t that you don’t have to worry about uh just follow all these steps talk introduce yourself talk with other business owners you’re going to sell this thing out in no time it’s great for anyone to do I I can’t stress how amazing this whole system is I again I still have to pinch myself all the time that this is even still a thing last thing I want to because it’s so great last thing I want to mention is that it’s a it’s an asset you’re it’s like a building like if you own real estate on a next to a highway you could build a billboard and have the billboard on there if you own a media station and could run TV commercials you know you own it you are actually building a platform with Noone down you like you you start this from zero you’re building a platform and that platform becomes more and more valuable the more you put these out the more valuable that platform is because it gets known it gets well received it gets a lot of exposure you’ll have lots of advertisers and you will now have an asset you can technically sell it there’s a lot of people have sold their 9 by12 businesses over the year because you can just sell this asset in the advertisers to someone who wants to take it on so you can you can do this to get out you you can also double up you can run two cards a month that’s twice the profit you can run three cards a month you can go to new areas you can rotate around you can hire salespeople you can you will actually start if you if you keep doing cards they’re going to get so popular that you’ll have more clients and you know what to do with it so a after a few cards you’ll only be filling one or two spaces you know you’ll only be filling like a handful of spaces because you will already have people reupping and ready to go on the next one so the the hard part is really only in that first one or two cards if you put out a card right after your first card uh you still have to kind of start from scratch because the first people haven’t even like had their first card go out yet so it’s generally one or two cards until you start getting like repeat advertisers uh 50 to 80% will repeat and especially if you don’t promise results and you’re just promising that you’ll you’ll get it out uh you’re going to have a large majority of them re-upping so now you’re only filling half the spaces a handful of spaces you’ll actually get so many people that you can start doing 11 by 14s and stuff like that like Scott does work in fill bigger things or you have so many people you need to just do a second card you have to do another card or you have people saying I’ll go on any card you can do I want to go in this area that area and you start doing another card to another area you can do fewer amounts of cards you can do 5,000 10,000 or in my course I talk about doing two 5,000 cards so the the flexibility is unbelievable the the possibilities are endless and a lot of a lot of marketers will even just do these once in a while you don’t have to do them every month even know once in a while just to bring in new new clients new customers keep things fresh maybe you need maybe you want to go on vacation you want to take that trip or whatever sideo the whever they go the uh Thailand or whatever they get the girls or whatever you need that 5,000 you probably do a lot you could probably go wherever you want $5,000 Air flight you could just put out a card and go on vacation whatever you want to do buy the couch that you always wanted I don’t know whatever you do with with $5,000 well I can’t tell you what you’re going to do with $5,000 that’s up to you but I can just tell you how to do it so I hope you do it I hope you get a card out if you have any questions email me I hope I’ve answered everything go through this podcast as many times as you need buy the course go check out the course I got five installments okay the course my 92 Mastery course has five installments I madean five different parts that detail every step in in super detail so if you’re only con if you’re only interested or confused about one particular part you can pick up in individual parts and they’re independent or you can get the whole thing at a discount just get all five and go go big boy and get get get all done and make the $5,000 that’s what I want you to do
Getting new customers is the lifeblood of any business. The consensus in most marketing and business literature is that getting new customers is also the most expensive way to increase business sales.
Your New Client Attraction System is like creating a funnel that inputs a constant stream of new customers. You put leads for potential customers into the top of the funnel and those customers pre-sell themselves, eventually popping out of the end of the funnel ready to become a new customer.
In good times, particularly, you may never have to worry about getting new customers. However, there are times when new business may just dry up.
Who is your target customer? Have you looked at your business now to see which customers generate eighty per cent of your sales? Not surprisingly, those customers are probably only twenty per cent of your customer base.
Now what do they look like? Age, gender, type of business, education, etc. The potentials are long and this work can be tedious. But if you don’t know who you want to work with, how are you going to find them?
You are also going to identify the 20 to 40% of your customers who are not generating that much income and who are perhaps a pain to work with. You need to not look for more of those customers and stop working with the ones that you have. You know them. They are the ones that you wake up at night thinking about. They are the ones who call at the last minute. They are the ones who complain about the amount they are being charged. They are the ones that don’t pay their bills timely. You have permission to tell them to go somewhere else to be served. You need to be able to identify them before they become your customers or clients.
Once you find out who your “golden customers” are, how do you find more of them?
How did those customers find you? Were they referrals from other customers? Were they referrals from certain types of other referral sources? I get a lot of business from prior customers but I also get a lot of referrals from other lawyers, accountants, and financial planners as well as business brokers.
Who else does business with your “golden customers”? Who are their vendors? Who do they sell to? Who advises them? Can you identify and cultivate those referral sources?
Where do your “golden customers” hang out? Do they go to similar churches or schools? Do they belong to similar organizations or associations?
For example, if your target “golden customers” are lawyers, they belong to bar associations. If you want to find them, you can contact the bar association and meet the two most important people to getting you introduced: the executive director and the immediate past president. The current president is busy with their duties but the immediate past president has made all of the contacts but no longer is tied up with the day to day affairs of the association!
In real estate, one of the adages is location, location, location. Visibility may attract tenants, customers, etc. A billboard on a road with no traffic has little chance of being seen by potential customers.
How do you get in front of potential customers or referral sources?
If potential customers don’t know what you do, how will they know to reach out to you when they need what you offer?
When someone asks you what do you do or what your company does, what do you say? Most people answer with what they are rather than what we do. I am an attorney, but what I do is buy and sell businesses? What I really do though is help successful people become even more successful. Which answer would you want to hear?
What problems do you solve for your customers or clients? You know how successful business owners want to get more money from their business. I help successful business owners become more successful.
One of the best answers I have heard was a collision repair shop owner. He made it quite clear and simple, “I fix broke cars”. Perhaps not the best English but I bet you got the picture.
In one of his books, author and marketing guru Jay Abraham talks about the ways you can increase the income from your business. As he puts it, there are only three ways to increase business income:
Get new customers
Get your existing customers to buy more frequently
Increase the amount that customers are spending with you.
Frankly, he is right and we should look at those ways. I should warn you though that while each of those strategies alone is excellent, wait until you see how you might use them!
First let’s look at where you are now. For this exercise you can substitute your numbers for your business. You get about 200 prospects into your funnel and you are able to close 20% of the prospects to customers, resulting in 40 customers. Each of them spends $1,000 so your monthly sales are $40,000.
Your funnel works but you want to see if you can increase the number of prospects by 20%.
So, we ramp up your prospecting through email marketing, advertising, word of mouth, or new referral sources to increase the new customers by 20% to 48 customers per month. Your gross sales are now $48,000 per month. Congratulations, you just grew your business by 20%!
As an alternative to adding new customers, it might be just as effective though to increase your closing rate. So let’s interview your top 3 sales people and video their sales presentations. They have probably never even compared notes and probably did not want to. However, after a lively discussion, you were able to use the best of their presentations and script a sales presentation that they and your other salespeople can rehearse. The result is a 20% increase in your closing ratio so you can increase sales with just the same number of prospects and without additional expense of more salespeople!
Your gross sales are now $48,000 per month. Congratulations, you just grew your business by 20%! But now you have your thinking cap on. What if we just raised our prices by 20%? Our products give the customer more benefit than we have considered. We have not increased prices in years. Let’s push until the customer starts saying no.
Your gross sales are now $48,000 per month. Congratulations, you just grew your business by 20%! Just by raising the price of your product which probably cost nothing to do.
How could you increase your business by more than 60%?
What if we combine the above? We increase the number of prospects. We increase our closing ratio. We increase the price. We do each of those at 20%.
The result is not 20% plus 20% plus 20% but actually 72.80%! Congratulations! We also just significantly increased the value of your business for a sale.
It’s cheaper to increase the amount your existing customers buy, because once someone has bought from you, then you have a higher chance of selling them again and you don’t have to pay to find that customer again.
That brings up an interesting question that will be the subject of another system that will be discussed: Do you have a system to capture the information on customers to retain them and do more business?
Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to reach your target audience and promote your business. It’s also a great way to stay in touch with existing customers and nurture relationships. But sending mass emails can be a challenge, especially if you have a large list of subscribers.
That’s where email marketing software comes in. These programs can help you send mass emails efficiently and effectively, while also providing features to track your results and improve your campaigns.
In this blog post, we’ll review 5 to 10 of the most popular email marketing programs on the market. We’ll discuss the features of each program, as well as the pros and cons of using it.
5 to 10 email programs that will send mass emails:
SendGrid is a cloud-based email delivery platform that allows users to send and track emails. It is a popular choice for businesses of all sizes, as it is easy to use and offers a variety of features.
Features:
Email list management
Email creation and design
Email automation
Email analytics
Email validation
Email deliverability tools
Pros:
Easy to use
Affordable pricing
Comprehensive set of features
Good deliverability rates
Reliable customer support
Cons:
Can be limited for businesses with very large subscriber lists
Some features are only available on paid plans
Examples of use:
Send welcome emails to new subscribers
Send promotional emails about new products or services
Send educational emails about your industry
Send newsletters
Send abandoned cart emails
Send birthday emails
Send transactional emails, such as order confirmations and shipping notifications
Ease of implementation:
SendGrid is relatively easy to implement. You can create an account and start sending emails in just a few minutes. SendGrid also offers a variety of tutorials and resources to help you get started.
Overall, SendGrid is a good email marketing platform for businesses of all sizes. It is easy to use, affordable, and offers a variety of features. However, it can be limited for businesses with very large subscriber lists, and some features are only available on paid plans.
AWeber is a popular email marketing platform that’s known for its ease of use and reliable deliverability rates. AWeber offers a variety of features, including:
Email list management
Email creation and design
Email automation
Email analytics
AWeber is a good option for businesses of all sizes, but it’s especially popular with small businesses and entrepreneurs.
Pros:
Easy to use
Reliable deliverability rates
Good customer support
Affordable pricing
Cons:
Some features are only available on paid plans
Can be limited for businesses with large subscriber lists
You could use AWeber to send a series of sales emails to a list of leads that you have collected from your website. The first email in the series could introduce yourself and your company, and the subsequent emails could provide more information about your products or services and why they are the best solution for your leads’ needs.
GMass is a Gmail add-on that allows you to send mass emails from your Gmail account. GMass offers a variety of features, including:
Email personalization
Email tracking
Email scheduling
Email automation
GMass is a good option for businesses that use Gmail and want to keep their email marketing in one place.
Pros:
Easy to use
Affordable
Good deliverability rates
Integrates with Gmail
Cons:
Can be limited for businesses with large subscriber lists
Can be difficult to set up for complex email campaigns
You could use GMass to send a cold email to a list of potential customers. The email could introduce yourself and your company, and explain how your products or services can help them solve a problem or achieve a goal.
GetResponse
GetResponse is an all-in-one email marketing platform that offers a variety of features, including:
Email list management
Email creation and design
Email automation
Email analytics
Landing page builder
Webinar hosting
GetResponse is a good option for businesses of all sizes, but it’s especially popular with medium and large businesses.
Pros:
Comprehensive set of features
Good deliverability rates
Good customer support
Affordable pricing
Cons:
Can be complex for beginners
Some features are only available on paid plans
You could use GetResponse to create a webinar funnel. The first step in the funnel would be to send an email to your subscribers inviting them to the webinar. The second step would be to send them a reminder email the day before the webinar. The third step would be to send them a follow-up email after the webinar with a link to the recording.
Instantly
Instantly is a cloud-based email marketing platform that offers a variety of features, including:
Email list management
Email creation and design
Email automation
Email analytics
SMS marketing
Landing page builder
Instantly is a good option for businesses of all sizes, but it’s especially popular with small businesses and entrepreneurs.
Pros:
Easy to use
Affordable
Good deliverability rates
Good customer support
Cons:
Can be limited for businesses with large subscriber lists
Some features are only available on paid plans
You could use Instantly to send a text message to your subscribers about a new product launch or a special promotion. You could also use Instantly to send a text message to subscribers who have abandoned their shopping carts, reminding them to complete their purchase.
ClickFunnels is a sales funnel builder that also includes email marketing features. ClickFunnels offers a variety of features, including:
Drag-and-drop landing page builder
Email list management
Email creation and design
Email automation
Email analytics
ClickFunnels is a good option for businesses that want to create and automate their entire sales process.
Pros:
Easy to use
Comprehensive set of features
Good deliverability rates
Cons:
Expensive
Can be complex for beginners
Some features are only available on paid plans
You could use ClickFunnels to create a sales funnel that includes a landing page, an order form, and a thank-you page. You could then send an email to your subscribers with a link to the landing page.
No matter which email program you choose, it is important to use it responsibly and to follow the best practices for email marketing. This includes:
Obtaining permission from subscribers before sending them emails
Sending only relevant and valuable content
Making it easy for subscribers to unsubscribe from your list
By following these best practices, you can use email marketing to build relationships with your customers and grow your business.
Here is a brief summary of each program’s ease of implementation:
SendGrid: Overall, SendGrid is a good email marketing platform for businesses of all sizes. It is easy to use, affordable, and offers a variety of features.
AWeber: Very easy to use, with an intuitive interface and a variety of tutorials and resources to help you get started.
Instantly: Relatively easy to use, but has fewer features than SendGrid and AWeber.
GetResponse: More complex than SendGrid and AWeber, but still offers a relatively easy-to-use interface.
GMass: The most difficult program to implement, as it requires you to install a Gmail add-on.
ClickFunnels: Difficult to implement, as it is a complex sales funnel builder that also includes email marketing features.
When choosing an email program, it is important to consider your needs and experience level. If you are a beginner, I recommend choosing one of the easier-to-use programs, such as SendGrid or AWeber. If you have more experience, you may want to consider a more complex program, such as GetResponse or ClickFunnels.
How to Choose the Best Business Formation Lawyer for Your Needs
It is important to work with a lawyer who is knowledgeable of the formation process of your company. The more experienced they are, the better your chances are that your business will be created in a way that has best protection of assets and reduced risks.
Choosing the right business formation lawyer is an important decision for any business owner. It can be difficult to know which law firm to choose because there are so many options available. That’s why it’s important to do your research before settling on one, so you know if they have the experience you need and if they’re qualified.
A Brief Guide to Choosing the Best Business Formation Lawyer
Your choice of a business formation lawyer is important. Make sure the lawyer does formations regularly. Lawyers are like doctors. You would not necessarily want a litigator to form your business any more than you would have your heart doctor do brain surgery or deliver a baby. A business formation lawyer who has litigation experience is important as many business lawyers have never had to deal with problems that are exposed in litigation.
Let’s talk about your situation, just give us a call at 210-690-3700.
Why Start a Business?
Starting a business is no easy task. Businesses are hard enough to run, but the risks of starting your own business are even higher.
The main reason for starting your own business is that you want to be in control of your life and not answer to someone else.
Some people start their own businesses so they can create more jobs in their communities, while others do it so they can live out their passion and work on something they care about.
Starting a business means taking care of all the responsibilities, which can include accounting, taxes, marketing strategies and more.
What is the Process for Starting a New Business?
Starting a new business is always an exciting endeavor. The process of starting a business can be very complicated and involved, but with the right guidance it can be done with ease.
This article will outline the basic steps to start a new business for you to read and understand.
Start by determining what type of business you would like to start. This step will help determine the next steps in your business formation process.
The next step is to file articles of incorporation with your state’s Secretary of State’s office or Division of Corporations. Ensure that you have all the necessary information for this step, including shareholders, company name, address, etc.
After filing articles of incorporation, you’ll need to obtain licenses and permits that are required by law for your particular type of industry or profession – these vary from state to state.
You also need to start with the end in mind. How will you get out of the business? What if you and your co-owners don’t want to play together anymore? A well crafted buy sell agreement can be crucial and avoid costly litigation in the future.
The In’s and Out’s of the Professional Corporation – What You Need to Know
This article is about the ins and outs of how to set up a company as a professional corporation.
A professional corporation (PC) is a company that limits its liability to its shareholders. This lets the company’s shareholders have limited responsibility for the company’s actions and debts. They can do this by buying shares of the company, which are meant for sale to people who qualify as professionals in a particular field or profession.
The advantages of a PC include: 1) protection from unlimited liability, 2) ease of transferability of ownership interests, 3) continuity in management, 4) continuity in operations, 5) continuity in business location, 6) professional associations with other professionals and 7) possible tax benefits.
Let’s talk about your situation, just give us a call at 210-690-3700.
What is an LLC and How Can It Help Your Business?
An LLC is a business structure that can offer a level of liability protection and tax benefits to its owners. The LLC may also be structured as a C-corporation, S-corporation, or partnership.
The liability protection in an LLC might include how the members are not personally liable for the company’s debts and obligations.
In general, when you form an LLC, you need to file paperwork with your state’s Secretary of State’s office and pay a few hundred dollars to cover filing fees.
What is a General Partnership and How Does it Compare to an S-Corporation or Limited Liability Company?
A general partnership is a legal form that is made up of at least two people. Partners share the same duties and liabilities for business. If a partner mismanages an asset, they are liable for it if another partner agrees to cover the debt.
An S-corporation is a type of corporation that limits its liability to shareholders. Shareholders have limited liability if their company fails financially, so they don’t have to worry about being sued personally by investors or lenders as long as it’s an S-corporation.
A limited liability company (LLC) offers the benefits of both corporations and partnerships, but with less formal structure than corporations.
How to Choose the Best Business Formation Lawyer for Your Needs
It is important to work with a lawyer who is knowledgeable of the formation process of your company. The more experienced they are, the better your chances are that your business will be created in a way that has best protection of assets and reduced risks.
Choosing the right business formation lawyer is an important decision for any business owner. It can be difficult to know which law firm to choose because there are so many options available. That’s why it’s important to do your research before settling on one, so you know if they have the experience you need and if they’re qualified.
Conclusion: A Brief Guide to Choosing the Best Business Formation Lawyer
Your choice of a business formation lawyer is important. Make sure the lawyer does formations regularly. Lawyers are like doctors. You would not necessarily want a litigator to form your business any more than your would have your heart doctor do brain surgery or deliver a baby. A business formation lawyer who has litigation experience is important as many business lawyers have never had to deal with problems that are exposed in litigation.
Let’s talk about your situation, just give us a call at 210-690-3700.
The Complete Guide to Business Tort Lawyers and How They Can Ensure Your Business is Protected
The Importance of Hiring a Business Torts Lawyer
A business tort lawyer is an attorney that specializes in business litigation. They may also provide expert advice on important matters like commercial contracts, franchising agreements, and trademark protections.
The best way to protect your business is by making sure it has the proper insurance coverage. A good business insurance lawyer will not only help you purchase the right kind of coverage for your company but also know how to deal with claims should they arise.
What are the Different Types of Business Torts?
Torts are a form of civil wrong that can cause injury to any person. In this lesson, we will be going over the different types of torts in Texas.
In general, there are two types of torts: intentional and negligent. However, in Texas, there are a few more specific ones that you may encounter in a small business or a professional context.
There are many types of torts that can be committed against a small business. These torts include but are not limited to:
1) Negligence: This is when one person or entity fails to exercise the degree of care that an ordinary person would in the same situation. This may range anywhere from not exercising due caution when entering an intersection, to not exercising proper care when assembling a product, or even keeping proper maintenance of public property.
2) Negligent misrepresentation. When somebody makes a statement about something without having full knowledge about it and it causes harm to someone.
3) Interference with contractual relations which is when somebody intentionally interferes with an agreement between two other parties for their own benefit even though they did not sign the contract themselves or they did not have any stake in the agreement at all.
Who is Likely to be Sued by a Plaintiff?
The plaintiff is likely to be someone who has been harmed in some way by the defendant, such as a person who has been injured by the negligence of the defendant.
Some of the most common plaintiffs are:
– Victims of car crashes or other vehicle accidents;
– A passenger in a vehicle who was injured when the driver negligently lost control;
– A person injured at work due to an employer’s negligence.
What are the Steps I Should Take if I am Being Sued?
If you are being sued, or think that you might be sued, there are some steps you should take and considerations and questions to ask yourself.
Some of the first steps to take if you think that a lawsuit is forthcoming include:
– Consider whether your conduct was willful
– Consider whether your conduct was negligent
– Consider which party’s interests will be best served by a lawsuit or settlement negotiations
– Consider whether there is a potential for punitive damages
Conclusion: Hire a Business Tort Lawyer Today to Ensure Your Business is Protected Tomorrow
Call us today at 210-690-3700 to discuss your situation.
The reason a professional such as a lawyer or doctor would incorporate his/her business is
(1) To safeguard his or her assets from unlimited responsibility, a professional such as a lawyer or doctor might incorporate his or her business.
(2) to ensure that, in the event of a hostile takeover, another professional firm would not take control and make decisions.
(3) to limit his or her obligation for other assets.
(4) to be in compliance with the law, as insurance companies need corporations for billing.
Many physicians who work as independent contractors are debating whether or not to incorporate. Physicians are shielded from some sorts of liability and may be able to lower taxes on business profits by incorporating their practice as a distinct business entity.
Some physicians appear to overestimate the benefits of incorporation without taking into account the cost and time involved in the process. Before incurring the additional cost and complexity of incorporating, a doctor should assess a number of legal, financial, and practical issues. We’ll go over the two largest possible advantages of incorporation: lower liability and tax advantages, to assist you decide which company organization is best for your firm.
Know how to shield yourself from liability.
One of the main reasons physicians prefer to incorporate is to reduce their liability. Doctors can assist protect their personal assets from responsibility in a professional lawsuit by switching from a partnership or single proprietorship to a corporation. However, incorporation only reduces some sorts of liability, so it’s crucial to know what’s covered and what’s not.
Pros: In the event of a lawsuit or unpaid debt, LLCs and other corporate structures (e.g., Professional Corporations, Professional Limited Liability Companies) can operate as a barrier between a physician’s personal and professional assets. If an LLC owes money to a vendor, creditors cannot seize an LLC member’s personal assets. In contrast, if a company member or shareholder is sued for hitting and injuring a pedestrian by accident, the plaintiff will not be entitled to seek damages from the medical practice’s assets.
A doctor who is a sole owner or a partner in a medical partnership, on the other hand, is personally liable for an unincorporated practice’s obligations and liabilities. This arrangement exposes physicians to significant professional and personal risk. Partners in a general medical partnership may be held personally accountable for one another’s medical negligence. Physicians who incorporate are protected not just from the business entity’s liability, but also from liabilities arising from the activities of other physicians in the practice. As a result, combining a practice with many physicians is strongly recommended.
Cons: While incorporation can give essential protection from certain sorts of claims, it does not provide any protection against malpractice responsibility for a physician. Malpractice insurance is the only way to protect yourself from professional malpractice lawsuits.
Furthermore, professional corporations may be held liable in the event of an accident or injury on company property or while driving corporate vehicles. However, only the corporate entity’s assets are exposed in such instances, not the personal assets of members or shareholders. Only high liability limits on business, auto, and property insurance can financially protect your company in the event of such accidents, injuries, or other claims. You can also create separate LLCs for rental properties and other assets (such as equipment) with significant liability exposure, separating them from the running side of your business/practice and providing additional protection to the operating entity. However, adding these assets will add to the complexity and cost of the process.
The bottom line: Physician liability is reduced to some extent by incorporation. Other types of insurance, such as malpractice, business liability, property, and auto insurance, cannot be replaced by it. You must compare the time, expense, and effort of incorporation against the value of reduced liability if you are considering it.
Consider your tax advantages.
Another advantage of forming a medical practice is the opportunity for preferential tax treatment. Incorporation, depending on the sort of business you choose and your financial goals for the practice, might result in significant tax savings. The specific tax benefits of incorporation, on the other hand, varies greatly amongst organizations.
Limited Liability Corporations (LLCs)
A simple LLC allows physicians to form a separate corporate entity that distributes profits (and losses due to operational expenses, equipment and real estate depreciation, and other factors) to LLC members directly. The entity itself is not subject to taxation (although it will have to file an informational tax return.) As a result, your federal and state tax burden as a member of an LLC will be similar to that of a single owner.
You must classify your LLC as an S-Corporation in order to reap the tax benefits of getting compensated as a shareholder rather than just an LLC member. Note that certain states do not allow physicians to form LLCs and instead require them to form professional companies.
S-Corporations
You can choose to be taxed as an S-Corp if you have an LLC. S-Corps have the option of passing through profits in the form of dividends to company shareholders while still being a pass-through organization. As a result, doctors can divide their earnings between salaries and dividends. Dividends are taxed at lower, more favorable rates and are exempt from payroll taxes such as FICA, self-employment, and Social Security and Medicare taxes, resulting in a nearly 15% savings in taxation.
Given the considerable tax advantages of dividends, you may be thinking to yourself, “Couldn’t I just pay myself a pittance and then divert the remainder of the profits to be paid in lower-taxed dividends?” Because the IRS is fully aware of the temptation to utilize this method, S-Corps are frequently subjected to increased tax scrutiny. Payments from an S-Corp to a corporate officer must reflect “fair compensation” for services provided, according to tax law. If auditors feel your salaried income is too low, you could lose all of your incorporation tax benefits and end up in a nasty IRS battle.
As a result, while having an S-Corp allows you to split your income between pay and dividends, you may only be able to cut a small amount of your income. Otherwise, the IRS will see an abnormally low pay as a clear red flag. S-corps also have more stringent management and operation requirements than a standard LLC, such as corporate bylaws, shareholder meetings, and stock distribution rules. Physicians should weigh the costs and complexities of running an S-corp against the tax advantages of dividend income.
C-Corporations
If you’re thinking about starting a business, you’ve probably heard about the benefits of forming a C-corporation. C-Corporations, unlike LLCs and S-Corporations, are not pass-through organizations, and their profits are taxed at corporate rates.
For the most part, a C-corporation tax structure will benefit physicians only if they keep a significant portion of their profits in the practice. You can greatly minimize your taxes on earnings kept within the practice if you plan to keep a major amount of the income in the practice to save up for future needs or expansion. However, if you intend to distribute the majority of the practice earnings in the form of dividends to shareholder physicians, you will be taxed twice.
The Bottom Line: It’s crucial to remember that incorporating isn’t a one-stop shop for immediate tax benefits and liability protection. Forming an LLC protects you from operational liability as well as the misconduct of your fellow members, and certain LLC designs might provide tax advantages. Understanding the scope of these benefits might assist you in deciding whether or not to incorporate.
Physicians should factor in the costs of forming and running a corporation. Depending on the sort of corporation you form, the specific legal and accounting charges will vary. Each year, it might cost anywhere from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars.
Only you can decide if the advantages outweigh the downsides after weighing the benefits, costs, and workload of merging your medical practice. You may decide that the convenience of operating as a single proprietor is well worth the somewhat higher liability, depending on the scope of your profits or business ambitions. As the number of partners in your practice grows and your firm grows, you should consult an attorney and/or accountant to evaluate which type of corporation will provide you with the most legal and financial protection.
Another reason a professional such as a lawyer or doctor would incorporate his/her business is limited liability.
What is the meaning of limited liability?
You risk what you put in, is the greatest approach to explain limited liability. In other words, limited liability ensures that a person conducting business does not put his or her personal belongings at danger if the business fails. Any investor, partner, or member of the firm who has limited responsibility under the law cannot be held liable for any unfulfilled company commitments or debts in excess of the amount invested.
Jill and Jack are a couple.
Here’s a straightforward comparison. Jack and Jill are acquaintances. Jill is a fantastic cook, and Jack is a handyman. Both decide to create their own firm in order to profit from their abilities. Renovations are Jack’s main source of income. He purchased his own equipment and used his own name to sell his services. Jack runs his business on his own.
Jill made the decision to create a bakery. Jill has formed a small corporation (an S-Corporation) called Jill’s Cakes, Inc. before entering into business. Jill put her funds into Jill’s Cakes, Inc. as a start-up capital, then purchased her baking equipment and rented her shop on behalf of her business. There are essentially no distinctions between the two ways of doing business as long as things go well for Jack and Jill.
When things go bad, though, the distinctions become apparent. Jack scrubbed the floor before leaving the apartment he had just painted one day, but he forgot to put up a sign. When the owner entered, he slipped on the wet floor and shattered his ankle. He has filed a lawsuit against Jack for medical bills and lost pay. Jill slipped a peanut into the wrong batch of batter, triggering a serious allergic reaction in one of her customers. That consumer has filed a lawsuit against her for medical expenses as well as pain and suffering.
What is the danger to Jack and Jill? Jack is putting everything he owns on the line, including his job equipment, truck, home, and personal items. Jack must sell everything he owns to satisfy the judgment as long as it exists. Jill is just putting her business assets on the line: her culinary equipment, cash reserves, and whatever else Jill’s Cakes, Inc. owns. Her personal belongings, such as her car and residence, are, nevertheless, secure. Her company may go bankrupt, but her life will not be devastated (totally).
This anecdote, of course, depicts the worst-case situation. Many firms thrive without encountering many problems. However, many businesses fail, and it is so simple for a business owner to benefit from limited liability that everyone should.
Keeping Liability to a Minimum
Several forms of company structures provide limited liability protection to their owners. Corporations and limited liability companies are the most common (LLC). Each of these entities has its own set of benefits and downsides, but they both provide limited liability protection to their owners.
In the context of limited liability, there are a few points to keep in mind. To begin, a business must be well-maintained in order to provide the full liability protection that it was created to provide. In other words, if a corporation is simply a shell, but is conducted as if it is one and the same as the person running it, the courts will regard it as a sham, and the owners will be denied limited liability protection.
Second, even with a limited-liability company, an owner may be liable for more than his or her initial investment. When an owner has personally co-signed a loan agreement, this is the case (such as a credit card application). This signature provides the lenders with a personal guarantee of debt repayment, allowing them to pursue the owner’s personal assets in the event of failure. If final repayment is beyond the resources of the business, other owners (or investors) are not accountable, but the owner who co-signed would be responsible for that amount.
Is it possible for everyone to run a limited liability company?
No, in some occupations, the benefit of restricted liability is impossible to obtain. Law and ethics hinder professionals such as lawyers, doctors, accountants, chiropractors, engineers, and architects from minimizing their liabilities. We want these professionals to take personal responsibility for their decisions, so they make them thoughtfully every time.
The final line is that, if at all possible, anyone doing business should consider forming a limited liability company. Consider it a safety net in case the worst happens.
As the internet of things has arrived, you have assets that are digital which, while covered by normal estate planning, may require more instructions.
Have you thought about?
What are your digital assets?
domain names
hosting
phone numbers
online stored photos and videos
email accounts
social media accounts
bank and investment accounts
What will be necessary to access and control these digital assets?
Who will have a list of accounts, usernames, and passwords if you are physically or mentally unable to access them yourself?
Who will be able to access your data backups on your computer or in the cloud?
Do your present legal documents provide the proper consent to be able to access your digital assets?
Most people have some type of planning to pass on physical assets: jewelry, furniture, guns, and other valuables. It could be a written memorandum or even sticky notes (like my mother used).
But what about the 1,587 family photos that are stored in Google, Dropbox or Apple iCloud storage? Will they be lost forever or will someone be able to access them on your phone or computer?
Who will be able to access your Facebook, Instagram or other social media? What about photos or videos that may be stored there? Will they be gone forever?
What about your business digital assets? Websites, domains, hosting accounts, software access and other digital things?
Where are your financial records stored? Phones, computers, the cloud, and websites like banking or financial transactions like Fidelity are all commonly used to transact personal and business transactions.
Here are some you might not have considered:
Cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Ethereum Classic, Bitcoin SV., etc.
Quicken, Quickbooks or other financial programs
Domain names for websites through GoDaddy, Namecheap or other service
Web hosting through GoDaddy, Bluehost or other service
YouTube channels or other online video hosting
Google accounts
Online gaming
Online betting accounts
Blogs or other online content hosting
Normal bank accounts
In today’s world, there are YouTube channels that have been monetized through advertising or affiliate marketing that can generate thousands of dollars in monthly income. Without proper authorization, those assets could be completely lost!
What is proper authorization?
When you logged into an online account last, what did you have to do to get access?
Username
Password
Solve a captcha?
Receive a text code on a mobile phone?
Answer a security question or several?
If you went on an errand and were in an accident and died, would your family be able to gain access to those digital assets?
So how do you preserve authorization and access through your estate plan?
What will be needed to provide access?
Record the proper information.
What are your accounts? Create a list so that your family will know what digital assets you have and how they can get access.
Usernames
Passwords
Security questions
What mobile number is attached
How do you protect the list so that it cannot be used improperly?
A physical record can be kept in a safe place like a safety deposit box or lock storage (also fireproof), just like you keep your original will, passports, etc.
Secure online storage is also available. I always suggest using a name for it that does not indicate what it is. In other words, don’t use anything that indicates or say “Passwords”. Try something like Pet names, Recipes or something that is not quite so interesting to a searcher.
Check into online secure storage. Roboform, 1Password, and Dashlane are highly rated.
Do you really own the asset? Even though you “bought it”, software programs may only be a license to use the program and it may not be transferable. If you used a media company to create a website and pay a monthly fee, you may discover that the media company has complete control and ownership. If you don’t continue to pay the monthly fee, it’s gone!
Website source code can be copied and the site can be cloned but you can’t do that once it is gone!
Cloud storage backups. You may have data backed up in the cloud, but is it also backed up on a “hard drive” that is not on the cloud. You may also choose to have an additional online backup. It is also a good idea to scan very important documents. Bank statements are only stored in your bank online account to be accessible for a year. You may need them for tax purposes when they are no longer available. Scans of birth certificates, passports, licenses, and other important documents is a great idea. Remember though that your original will must be retained. It is difficult to probate a copy of a will.
When backing up thing, remember that “belt and suspenders” overkill is appropriate. Multiple backups are recommended but make sure that you stay secure.
Do your estate planning documents provide proper authorization? Take the time to review your documents. Blanket authorizations may not suffice. Make sure that you have a HIPAA release for medical information. Make sure that your fiduciaries can have access to and reset or recover your passwords and user names.
Review your estate plan at least once a year. Make sure your lists are kept updated. The laws regarding digital assets are constantly changing to keep us with the rapid changes.
If you have not had your annual review, please call us today to follow up, 210-690-3700 or schedule on the calendar, www.scheduleonce.com/JamesMontgomery . We have a checklist that we used in the review but it is important to have the personal review, even by Zoom, to keep things current and make sure what the facts are for the situations.
An estate planning lawyer can provide you with a sense of security and protection by helping you design an estate plan that fits your needs and goals. Most people think that an estate plan only applies when you die to specify who gets your “stuff”. Estates don’t have to be “big” with lots of money and assets to have the proper estate planning. An estate lawyer though can go through a checklist with you to plan for retirement, the potential of disability during your life, the protection of your children in the event you and your spouse are in an accident, as well as planning for what happens when you die.
You may search for an “estate lawyer near me” or “estate planning attorney near me” or “estate attorney near me” but in today’s world that attorney does not have to be in the same town as you are located. It is best to have someone who is in the same state where you reside as laws affecting estate plans and probate differ from state to state. The state where your property is located is the proper place to do a probate if one is necessary.
What is involved in working with an estate planning attorney? Your estate planning lawyer will have a questionnaire that will guide you through the various decisions that you can make. Often, going through a checklist will simplify your plan and make sure that you have not missed important documents and options that you have to choose.
While many people prefer a face to face meeting, most people have found in today’s world that video conferencing and telephone along with email have streamlined the process of doing an estate plan. Documents can be quickly reviewed with email. Final documents can be produced and signed without having to go to the estate planning attorney’s office. Signatures still in most states need to be done in front of witnesses and a notary public. But the signers only have to be in the presence of the notary public normally.
What types of documents should you have as part of your estate plan?
In Texas, where I am located, probate is simple. I refer to it as the 15 minute probate state as the only court appearance in front of a judge takes 15 minutes although you may wait an hour for the hearing. In short, you don’t need to avoid probate in Texas. In states like California, Michigan, New York and Florida, where probate is difficult, lengthy and expensive, a living trust or intervivos trust is recommended because trusts don’t die.
In Texas, you don’t need a trust to avoid probate. A trust lawyer might advise you to use a living trust for other reasons. A living trust attorney can craft a trust for a special needs situation where because of disabilities, an individual cannot or will not be able in the future to manage finances. A special needs trust can protect assets if a person needs to utilize Medicare or Medicaid benefits but does not want to use personal assets before being able to access those programs or wants to avoid reimbursement claims from the government programs. If you have questions about whether a trust should be used, consult with a trust attorney like me near where you are located. If you are going with a living trust, make sure you have an experienced living trust attorney who does those trusts fairly frequently and best has some litigation experience involving trusts.
So if your estate planning attorney does not recommend a living trust, what documents and review should you do? Estate planning should include a complete review of your situation: your assets and liabilities, retirement goals, business ownership(s), cash flows, family situation, education plans, life insurance policies and potential needs, and what should happen to all of your property if you should become disabled or die. Do you have buy sell agreements involving your business and how are they funded? A will lawyer will have an extensive questionnaire and checklist to guide those conversations which might also involve your CPA or tax preparer.
Will Attorney
What documents do you need if you are using a will as the basis for your planning:
Will
Financial power of attorney (Statutory Power of Attorney)
Medical power of attorney (Durable Power of Attorney)
HIPAA Release
Directive to Physicians (Living Will)
Beneficiary Designation for bank accounts and life insurance
You can find will attorney by searching “will attorney near me” on google. Of course, you are already on the page of a will attorney so you need look no further.
You can call 210-690-3700 to schedule a time to get to know each other. You can also use our online calendar, www.scheduleonce.com/JamesMontgomery
If you have questions about the documents above, I have prepared a series of lessons that will educate you on each of the documents. Although I strongly recommend against it, you may wonder how to make a will without a lawyer. One of the lessons covers how to do make a will without a lawyer and the pitfalls that await the non-lawyer doing his or her own legal work.
Two of the most important documents are the financial power of attorney and the medical power of attorney. Perhaps worse than death, if that can be said, is the debilitating injury that disables one from being able to make decisions, a stroke or severe head injury or other situation that destroys ones capacity to make decisions. If one knows that a medical condition like Alzheimers or other diseases will result in that status, then a living trust or special needs trust should be considered. But one never knows when a serious injury or stroke might occur, having the powers of attorney in place can avoid the necessity of hiring a guardianship lawyer to file a guardianship.
A guardianship is a guardianship attorney’s dream. Imagine having to file a motion and get a court order to handle the day to day affairs of a person. The attorneys fees in a guardianship are large and ongoing. Yet that situation is easily avoidable simply by having the durable power of attorney (medical) and the statutory power of attorney (financial) in place. Those powers of attorney allow someone to stand in your shoes and make decisions for you without any court intervention.
Why a medical power of attorney? We have all seen the medical shows on TV that talk about how in an emergency the next of kin can make decisions. What people don’t realize is that decision making power like that is very limited. If you need a blood transfusion or elective surgery, the hospital needs someone with full power to make decisions. Perhaps you don’t have any next of kin or they live in New York or the west coast and are unavailable. Your girlfriend, boyfriend, or significant other is not your next of kin. There is no need to take a risk, just get a medical power of attorney signed.
Likewise the financial power of attorney allows someone to make financial decisions, pay bills, and take other day to day actions that we all do without thinking about. If you are the only person on your bank account, who will pay your bills if you are in a bad car accident and can’t function for months (or forever)? What if you get sick with COVID or something and are in a medical induced coma? There is no need to take a risk, just get a financial power of attorney signed.
What does getting an estate planning package cost? Our firm does everything on a fixed fee basis, no hourly fees unless we agree on that in advance for special services. Typically, a complete estate plan will run $2500.00 and includes not only the document preparation but also a financial overview and insurance overview. That fee also includes annual review sessions for five years and a reduced fee for any changes that you want to make during the five years (five years from the date of signing). We also provide options that you may choose for additional fees like a transfer on death deed, a children’s trust, minor child protection plan, and other specialize but desired options.
You can call 210-690-3700 to schedule a time to get to know each other. You can also use our online calendar, www.scheduleonce.com/JamesMontgomery
Probate Attorney
So what happens when you die? What do we do as your probate attorney?
The process for probate in Texas is to locate the original will (copies only in very limited situations can be used. Then an application to probate the will is prepared and filed with the probate court where you live. A search for a “probate lawyer near me” might be appropriate if you live a significant distance from San Antonio, Texas. However in this hopefully post-pandemic world many of the hearings are now conducted by Zoom so probates can be handled all over Texas.
The process that I, as your probate lawyer, will guide you through will first be to gather the information about all of the assets and liabilities of the deceased’s estate. What property was owned: real estate, personal property, bank accounts, insurance policies, intellectual property, etc. What did the deceased owe: mortgages, loans, credit cards, debts, bills, etc.
Who are the heirs of the person who has died and how can they be contacted?
When the application to probate is filed, notice must be given to the heirs and beneficiaries. Public notice is given by posting notice on the courthouse bulletin board. Ten days later the Court will hold a hearing on the application and enter an order admitting the will to probate. The executor has to attend and testify although many of the hearings are done online rather than in person due to current conditions.
The next steps with your probate lawyer are to inventory the estate. We don’t file inventories at the courthouse anymore unless there is an issue and the judge insists.
Our firm will assist with making sure any assets are transferred and all funds in accounts properly collected and delivered to the designated beneficiaries. Our goal is to make the process as painless as possible and with as little of your time as possible.
You can call 210-690-3700 to schedule a time to get to know each other. You can also use our online calendar, www.scheduleonce.com/JamesMontgomery
