Business and Tax Lawyer Blog

American Express has announced that they will be acquiring Revolution Money, formerly GratisCard, for a price of around $300 million. Revolution Money is a secure online payment company that was launched two years ago by AOL founder, Steve Case. The company securely authorizes online transactions by using PIN numbers instead of names or account numbers. Account holders can exchange money with each other free of charge. The company is considered a major competitor to PayPal.

American Express has said that they are acquiring the company in order to keep up with cutting edge payment technologies that are evolving in the marketplace. The move is designed to help them extend their leadership beyond traditional payments and into the online payment space. The deal is slated to go through in 2010.

Revolution Money will operate as a unit of American Express, with Revolution Money CEO, Jason Hogg, acting as the new unit’s president and CEO, and Revolution Money Chairman, Ted Leonsis, acting as a special advisor on online payment strategy to American Express. Find out more about the deal at American Express to Buy AOL Co-founder’s Revolution Money.

If you are considering a merger or acquisition, please contact Wood, Atter & Wolf, P.A. for legal counsel.

The Beaver Street Enterprise Center is a small business incubator that opened its doors in Jacksonville, Florida in 2003. It was established by the nonprofit group, FreshMinistries, to nurture small businesses by providing entrepreneurs with reasonably priced office space, mentoring services and opportunities for networking with other business owners.

In the incubator’s first year, fifteen fledgling businesses provided jobs for sixty two Floridians. By 2007, the center’

s businesses provided almost five hundred jobs to Florida residents, most of them from Jacksonville. The total revenue produced by these businesses has grown to close to $10 million.

Successful businesses to come out of the incubator include A. Harold & Associates, Xeye, Inc., and a Burger King Franchisee who owns six Burger King stores. The University of North Florida’s Small Business Development Center also has a presence there. Most come for the $10 per square foot office rent, but stay for the networking and relationships. Entrepreneurs credit the center with providing them the focus they need to build their businesses, the contacts with other business owners who can provide guidance, and the opportunity to meet local bankers who can help finance their operations.

The Beaver Street Center is currently home to fifteen small business tenants, and has room for two more. The Center also supports fourteen home-based businesses with shared office space, equipment and training. In addition, the Jacksonville Hospitality Institute offers a nine-week course, held in the Center, which prepares students for a career in hotels or restaurants.

Find out more about this small business incubator at Jacksonville small businesses get chance to grow on Beaver Street.

If you live in the Jacksonville, Florida or Orlando, Florida area and run a small business, please contact Wood, Atter & Wolf, P.A. for business legal counsel.

In a limited partnership, there are two classes of partners: general and limited.

The general partner is the one who runs and manages the business, oversees the day-to-day operations, and incurs personal liability on behalf of the partnership. The limited partner is simply a silent investor who typically has no management functions, and is liable on behalf of the partnership only to the extent of the amounts of money invested.

A limited partnership also features "pass through" tax treatment. For a limited partnership, a certificate of limited partnership must be filed. Limited partnerships can also be formed with a corporate general partner. What this means is that the partnership can be formed between an individual and a corporate entity. When in this form, Florida law allows the limited partners to engage in management, but by engaging in management, the limited partners incur personal liability. When a partnership involves a corporate general partner, a certificate of registration must be filed with the state.

The advantage of a Limited Partnership is that there is no liability to the limited partners for financial shortages outside of initial principal.

The disadvantages of a Limited Partnership are that the general partner is liable for any financial shortages outside of the initial principal, and the general partner bears all the risk but no liability beyond his own assets.

Before registering a business, every new business owner is confronted with the task of deciding what business form/entity to use.

Well, the basic common business forms come in 6 flavors. They are the sole proprietorship, the general partnership, limited partnership, limited liability partnership (LLP), limited liability company (LLC), and the Corporation.

This is the first in a seven-part series, where I will provide a brief introduction to the options that best suits a business owner's needs.

Earlier this year, Cuppy's Coffee, a franchise founded in Florida but later moved to Alabama, simply disappeared into oblivion leaving nearly two hundred franchisees without a franchisor. A warrant for the CEO of Cuppy's, Robert Nabors, was issued in Okaloosa County, Florida, in March of 2009. Some of the investors now face bankruptcy as a result of investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in the franchise but never even getting to open their business. Cuppy's took the franchisees' money but, never built their stores. From the start, Cuppy's was a questionable franchisor; Cuppy's grew out of the failed franchise, Java Jo'z.

Cuppy's isn't the only franchisor to be hit with lawsuits in Florida; I recently posted a blog discussing The UPS Store franchisees suing UPS alleging it withheld information from franchise purchasers regarding profitability. Another franchisor sued by its franchisee is Cold Stone Creamery, which was sued by a Tallahassee, Florida, franchisee on claims of fraud related to the store's profitability.

I find the continuous stream of investors in franchises and other business opportunities who buy into risky and questionable businesses both startling and saddening at the same time. The most important thing a potential franchisee can do is research the company; that means researching other sources of information about the franchisor and not just relying on information provided by the franchisor itself. Potential franchisees can look to sources such as, franchise magazines, franchise blogs, franchisee associations, and talk to current franchise owners to find out things like what kind of support, feedback, and dispute resolution the franchisor provides. In addition before signing any Franchise Agreement a potential purchaser should seek counsel from an attorney experienced in franchise law.