Speaking for myself I saw the issue as being offended by the quote that said in effect, if you don't budget the way I think you should then you aren't a real business. There are plenty of successful businesses that don't budget and plan by any accepted standard.

I have a c-corp and a non-profit foundation. I filled out the paperwork and filed myself. It is likely that most businesses pay to do this. There are a lot of resources to help small and large businesses succeed, but telling the business owner that they are a hobby because they don't conform to a specific budget is not accurate.

We don't have board meetings and don't have a lawyer on retainer. We often work in tank tops and flip flops. We also have thousands of customers that never thought for a moment that we were not a real business.

My annoyance was completely with the unknown lawyerly type quoted, and really he doesn't matter to me. It is an attitude that I have seen elsewhere as well. In my definition the difference between hobby and business is the intent and attitude of the owners.

I think the word "budget" has a specific meaning to businesses. Businesses who seldom need a lawyer will pay for one when needed out of "contingency" or "miscellaneous". They have a plan for paying a lawyer if they need one. It is just not a budget line-item called "lawyer". And I don't blame them for taking offense at the word "hobby". Even if someone is taking a risk the shouldn't (which I don't think including legal contingencies under another line item without the word "legal" or "lawyer" qualifies as) that still does not make the business a hobby.

I think it's two things: 1) people are disagreeing with his assertion to various degrees, and 2) the hot button language you noted inspired a slight offense and a more colorful disagreement than if he had phrased his opinion differently. His delivery kind of sucked, and, to be honest, I sort of stopped thinking about his point when the first thing I thought was, "Wow, he sounds like a jackass."

Meaning, asking what do people think about having a line item for legal expenses? probably would have simply started a conversation sans epithet and emotion. It was the dude's quote and delivery.

I mean, that's not an unusual thing, is it? If someone hacks me off, my response isn't going to be as measured.

Is my opinion.

So I haven't quite figured out the copy paste thing on this pad, but ITA with Jen.

OK - I've finally edited the text and obtained all the rights I need for the graphic book. Which means I'm almost ready to turn this thing over to a graphic designer.

I have three files. A text only file that includes really extensive instructions. [Insert picturename.tif here.] [The eye should be drawn to this text first] [The eye should be drawn to that text second.] [This next text is a caption. This next text is a footnote.] All instructions and file names are in square brackets and 12 point. Actual text is all in 14 point and not in brackets. Probably as many words of instructions as of text. I also have a summary text file. And I have a graphic mockup, not professional quality but maybe helpful to the designer in seeing what I want to do.

I'm thinking I should also make a "clean" text file. One with just the text, page divisions (so layout knows which page to put what on) the graphic file name, and labeling stuff that is a photo caption or a footnote. First am I right that a graphic designer will need a clean text file to do his or her job right? Second, am I right about what instructions I should leave in the clean file: page numbers, file names and labeling photo captions and footnotes? Or is saying [photo caption] before a photo caption and [footnotes] before the footnote section of the page still too much instruction? Once I have my ducks in a row I'll start approaching graphic designers for bids.

Wow, we've been quiet since before the holidays!

So...what's everybody's plans for 2012, business-wise?

I'm trying to write more to increase my portfolio; I'm working on changing my branding a little bit to be a touch less formal and more in-line with my personality and I'm joining a co-working space (which is SO COOL, y'all; I couldn't believe it was so cheap - $15 per drop-in visit, and I plan to go in once a week. The networking possibilities are really, REALLY sweet there.)

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I'm also going to be using videos more. In fact, I'd love feedback on my introductory vid. I know, vids are supposed to be about 3 minutes, but since it's my intro, I went a little longer. It's a little rough, but it's my first one.

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I made almost NO money during the holidays, so I gotta kick my ass into high gear, and I have definitely been doing so this week.

So, hello business-y peoples. I have a business-y question!

I'm on the board of my very small self-managed coop. (Self-managed means the board does all the usual board-of-director-y stuff like deciding what color to paint the lobby and all the building management stuff like fixing leaky radiators and paying the bills.) Since my neighbors (and fellow board members) are moving at the end of March, I've taken back the Treasurer role and am rediscovering just how very much I loathe Sovereign Bank.

Does anyone have a small business account with a bank they love? What Sovereign really lacks is any kind of useful online banking services, which is incredibly frustrating. They also make it next to impossible to add or remove signers on an account, which is not convenient when the composition of the board can change every year!

What city and state are you in. There is a good chance the recomendation that will work for you will be a local credit union or banks. I think there are some national internet only institutions that work well for some people too. But if you have to deposit a lot of checks, you will probably want someone local. Although these days scanning checks is cheaper than it used to be. If you find a bank that supports it, check scanning can be done via smart phone. Again I still suspect having a place you can make a bank run to would make the most sense for a small local business like a small coop.

I know they are one of the big evil banks, but I've been using Bank of America for my small business banking. There are certainly times when they drive me nuts, but they also have very good online tools and at least where I am they have branches all over.