I’m reading a lot of stories in online newspapers about how towns in the U.S. are starting to recognize how many entrepreneurs operate businesses at home.

It’s about time.

These articles talk about specifics on:

• Permit costs
• Types of approved businesses
• Rules, regulations, and restrictions

Many of us who operate at home want to do so openly. As I say at my in-person classes, we’re not hurting children or animals. We simply want to chart our own success course and, at the same time, bring joy and comfort to individuals as well as more revenue opportunities to corporations through what we design for them.

One story I recently read was about home-based business policies in a Florida town, which is fantastic news for what may be coming for designers in that state.

How do you feel about the policies in your state or country regarding home-based businesses? Are they too restrictive or very accommodating?

Shirley George Frazier

Related articles:

1. Would Water Damage Close Your Business for Good?
2. Does the Law Let You Make or Drop Ship Gift Baskets?

“Dear (Your Name),

We have recently found that your business name infringes on our client’s name, and we request that you immediately cease and desist using your business name on letterhead, business cards, and on your website.“

How would you feel receiving this type of letter, especially at the beginning of the year?

It could happen if your business name or the name of one of your signature designs violates a federally-filed trademark.

Gift basket business name and design names have a tendency to overlap each other, and if you’re not careful, such a letter may be directed at you. That’s why I spoke with Robin Gronsky, attorney at law specializing in small business, about this and other legal matters on the CD Legal Tips to Keep Your Company Out of Court.

What’s your first step if you receive this notice?

Shirley George Frazier

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Making sense of the sales tax laws in your state or country is an important part of running a gift basket business.

That’s because you need to know when to collect taxes and how to remit them.

However, there are times when collecting taxes on some sales and not on others will be confusing, a good reason why getting advice from an accountant that specializes in small business rules will be a huge help. That’s a point I make on pages 71 and 72 in the updated gift basket book.

This article about collecting taxes on bagels sold in New York is a good example of a law that makes you say, “Huh?”

According to the article, New York state’s laws on bagel sales are:

• If it’s sold whole, the bagel is not taxed.
• If it’s sliced and/or topped with a spread, it’s taxed.
• If the customer leaves the store without eating the bagel, it’s not taxed.
• If the customer eats the bagel in the store, it’s taxed.

Can you imagine trying to figure out how to apply tax to a gift basket in that manner? Thankfully, U.S. laws generally mandate taxing gift baskets sold to residents in the state where you do business and not to out-of-state customers. Other laws may apply according to where you live.

What if a state’s or country’s laws specified a gift basket tax if:

• The customer owns a cat but not a dog.
• The place where the basket is delivered is surrounded by a white picket fence.
• The recipient works in construction but only on houses, not commercial buildings.

If these examples make you shake your head, you can imagine what bagel sellers are going through.

The bottom line is to know your tax laws and maintain a relationship with a knowledgeable accountant who can update you on rules you can’t possibly decipher on your own.

What problems have you experienced with sales tax laws in your area?

Shirley George Frazier

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What if your postal mailbox included an attorney’s letter telling you to cease and desist from using the name you chose for your gift basket business?

That’s what’s happening right now to a New Jersey-based gift basket company whose name allegedly resembles a well-known brand, according to a trademark infringement lawsuit lodged by Build-A-Bear.

The big bear retail business, which is often found in malls across the U.S., states in their lawsuit that a gift basket firm’s name copies their own, which causes consumer confusion.

You can read the story here.

Such lawsuits have occurred in the past, some of which come to light in the news and others that are settled without media knowledge. This problem is an example of what you may not know when starting your business, which is why I interviewed small business attorney, Robin Gronsky, on the CD Legal Tips to Keep Your Company Out of Court.

How would you react if you were in this gift basket business’s shoes?

Shirley George Frazier

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You start a business making gift baskets, and your enterprise does a lot more good than harm in your region. It:

With all of this goodness, and much more that I haven’t mentioned here, why don’t cities bring their home-based business rules up to speed with the way people make money today?

Everyone doesn’t work in a traditional office, and some of us would rather not. I can understand that there must be rules for people who work at home, but it seems that many cities don’t want to know you work there or, if they find out, they immediately want you to stop.

I’ve often said in my classes that we don’t hurt children or animals, and we’re not employing or exploiting minors or illegal residents. Our deliveries don’t clog up the roadways anymore than orders that arrive to people receiving items from home shopping shows.

So what’s the problem? Can we be allowed to make gift baskets that foster good business and goodwill between people without the threat of cease-and-desist letters?

I discuss this situation in depth in the book, How to Start a Home-Based Gift Basket Business, which includes methods to persuade city officials to let you conduct business from the comfort of your home.

What’s going on in your city? Is your business embraced, or do you have to keep your location under wraps?

Shirley George Frazier

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There were lots of discussions about problems that cause legal headaches during yesterday’s Q&A portion of my Philadelphia Gift Show gift basket seminar.

One retailer told us about her dismay when adding a bottle of alcohol to a gift basket that was brought to her by the customer. While she didn’t buy it, she was still part of a lawsuit due to its consumption.

This is a subject discussed in the past at Ask The Gift Basket Expert and one that will always be part of the industry because of our desire to satisfy customers while attempting to keep our businesses out of the court system.

I’ve often been asked by new designers about the parameters of adding wines and alcohol to gift baskets. While it’s widely known that buying and adding it if you don’t have a liquor license is prohibited, I hear other questions such as, “Can the customer bring the wine to me?”

This ongoing dilemma and similar concerns are the reason why I spoke with small business attorney, Robin Gronsky, on the CD Legal Tips to Keep Your Company out of Court.

It’s wise to know your city’s and state’s laws about liquor, and only you can research this by calling the proper officials.

What wine and alcohol questions do you have about adding either to your gift baskets?

Shirley George Frazier

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In the book, How to Start a Home-Based Gift Basket Business, there’s a mock letter in chapter three from an attorney that states you are using the same name for your business as another firm that has trademarked the name.

The letter continues by demanding that you stop using the name and shred everything in your possession with that name, and it’s all to be done within a certain period of time.

That’s just one type of letter that can end an otherwise great day, and designers worldwide can tell you about other types of attorney demands that they’ve received in the past.

This problem is one of the reasons I spoke with attorney at law, Robin Gronsky, and recorded the conversation on the CD Legal Tips to Keep Your Company Out of Court. Robin continues to be a source of assistance to me as I operate my business.

What if you’ve not retained legal counsel to handle such letters? When you receive an attorney’s letter, it’s a situation that’s best not addressed on your own.

You may hope that the problem goes away or think you cannot afford legal advice, and you could be right. But are you willing to sacrifice all of your hard work?

In the late 1990s, I can recall traveling to New York City for months as I navigated my way through Manhattan courtrooms. It’s not fun.

Legal counsel did not accompany me to each appointment, but the counsel I retained was extremely effective, and best of all it didn’t cost me anything outside of money for postage. I was very lucky.

If you open your mail and read a letter sent by an attorney, how will you proceed?

Shirley George Frazier

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I couldn’t get Elaine McCool’s thoughtful comment to this baby baskets article I wrote earlier in the month off my mind.

Elaine is concerned, and rightfully so, about the new Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) that goes into effect in February. You can read more about it on the Toy Industry Association Web site.

For clarification, here is the focus of the CPSIA, quoted directly from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s Web site:

“Beginning February 10, 2009, children’s products cannot be sold if they contain more than 600 parts per million (ppm) total lead. Certain children’s products manufactured on or after February 10, 2009 cannot be sold if they contain more than 0.1% of certain specific phthalates or if they fail to meet new mandatory standards for toys.”

The bottom line, as I interpret it, is that the children’s products you purchase to create infant, baby, and children’s gift baskets, must pass rigorous testing for lead before placing it on store shelves for consumer purchase and including it within your baskets.

All of the mass produced, low quality, untested products shipped into the United States and sold by big box stores – the same products attributed to lost jobs and a sour economy – are now affecting us in a new, sinister way.

If you’re unsure about the quality of the targeted products in your inventory, contact the manufacturer to learn if it can be sold or if it must be discarded.

This is a huge problem that affects your investment money; however, it may become a legal problem for you if it’s added to a gift basket.

Suppliers that sell these items to us and retailers that sell baby products to the public are no doubt reeling, and some may go out of business. I’m hoping none of you are headed for closure.

There may be one bright spot in this matter – organic goods. Organics are made under specific guidelines, and even though it’s still necessary to make sure manufacturers and suppliers are within the law, organic infant and children’s goods may be out of harm’s way.

See the Organic Wholesale Supplies site for companies that will fill the void while the shakeout continues.

Thank you, Elaine, for voicing your concerns. Does anyone else have an opinion about baby goods and the new law?

Shirley George Frazier

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