Swiss Semester Project
The purpose of this project is to go through the steps necessary to form a business in the United States. You will be determining whether the name you would like to use is available, analyzing which type of business entity is a good fit, and what types of liability issues could arise and how you can avoid liability by examining a similar court case.
Part 1
Choose a Business (Week 3)
1. Decide what your business will do. You could choose to form a business that sells goods such as clothing, electronics, or food. You could also choose a business that performs a service. Examples of service businesses include hair salons, spas, and car repair.
2. Determine the target market of your chosen business. What portion of the population will your business’s product or service? Examples of target markets include middle class families, college students, and young professionals. After you have stated your target market, explain why your product or service would specifically appeal to this segment of the population.
3. Decide where your business will operate. Make sure that the determined location of your business is consistent with your company’s target market.
4. You will add this information to your Semester Project paper.
Part 2
Choosing a Business Name (Week 4)
1. After deciding on what your business will do and where your business will operate, you will need to choose a business name. Describe your business and where it will operate. You can examine more than one name.
2. Read Chapter 5 Intellectual Property.
3. You will perform a TESS search, an Illinois state search, and a google search.
http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=tess&state=4806:okpvh7.1.1
https://www.ilsos.gov/corporatellc/
4. You will print out the results of your search (just the first page of your google search) and attach it to your paper as an Appendix.
5. You should fully explain whether or not you can use your chosen name and why.
6. Please make sure to identify whether your name is likely to be acceptable for trademark registration after reading chapter 6 in the Legal Environment of Business and Online Commerce. You should, at a minimum identify whether the name is arbitrary, fanciful, suggestive, descriptive or generic and explain why.
7. You will add this information to your Semester Project paper.
http://www.entrepreneur.com/startupbasics/namingyourbusiness/archive116244.html
https://www.sba.gov/content/how-name-business
Part 3
Choosing a Business Entity (Week 7)
1. After deciding on what your business will do and where your business will operate, what name you would like to use; you will need to choose a business entity form.
2. After reading Chapter 7 in the Legal Environment of Business and Online Commerce, you will examine the advantages and disadvantages of each type of entity and commit to one type.
3. You will then confirm that the corporate name is still available in the state that you choose to register in (if registration is necessary).
https://www.ilsos.gov/corporatellc/
4. You will fill out and print the form necessary to form your entity (Corporation, Limited Partnership, or LLC). If you choose a General Partnership, you will need to fill out a Trademark or Servicemark application form. The completed form should be attached as an Appendix to your paper.
5. You should explain why you chose the entity you did and delineate the advantages to using it above all of the other types. You must connect your specific business characteristics to the advantages and/or disadvantages.
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/38822
https://www.sba.gov/starting-business/choose-your-business-structure
Part 4
Case Summary (Week 9)
1. Create a list of all of the potential reasons why your business could be sued. You will want to read chapter 12 on Torts and Strict Liability in the Legal Environment of Business and Online Commerce textbook for ideas.
2. Choose one of the potential liabilities and locate a decided case that ruled on a similar issue.
3. You will need to provide a case summary similar to what you did for the Week 5 assignment.
4. For Part 4 of your paper, you will describe the risk, explain the case that relates to it and how you could avoid this lawsuit.
Deliverable (Week 10)
1. You will write a paper in APA format (8 page minimum) with at least 5 sources incorporating each of the previous parts.
Part 1 – business description
Part 2 – business name
Part 3 – business entity
Part 4 – business risks and case summary
2. You will submit the paper to the dropbox in Week 10 and provide a hard copy to your onsite instructor on the day the Semester Project is due.
3. APA format requires both a title page and reference page. You will also include as an appendix: A. name search results, B. business entity form, and C. a copy of the case you used.
