And for you and yours as well!
...Jim Thompson
-- | James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | | | Voice:(480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat | | E-mail Icon at
There is te possibility of making your stained glass items, and putting them on consignment in local stores. Do a DBA at minimum, and an LLC at the other extreme and use that name exclusively. A few banks get snippy about opening an account without a business license (eg: BofA) and some are not. Ask what monthly fees are, minimum balance, etc and go to the least expensive (eg: WaMu?). Since you are not making like a store, a business licence is not required. Research the bit concerning resale permit; do get copies of permit from stores that carry your products as they are the ones that pay the sales tax(es).
"Bob Eld" wrote in news:wse5l.15109$ snipped-for-privacy@nlpi064.nbdc.sbc.com:
Thanks for your reply, Bob - that's the level I'd be at: stuff done in my spare bedroom (clling it a "studio" would be pretentious ;) ). The primary item would be the glasswork, and I want to add in a solar light part as a "bonus". It seems like everyone and their dog makes "candleholders", so a decently-bright solar light bit would be different (most garden lights are too dim).
I'm not worried that the *item* would be harmful - my main fear is that there always seems to be some idiot who's hell-bent on finding some way to turn the most inanely-harmless item into something lethal...and in the US, equally- dumbass juries seem equally hell-bent upon rewarding such blatant idiocy...
This would be so simple (pretty much kiddie level for you guys ;) ) that I can't imagine anyone having a patent. And wouldn't know what to search on at the patents website. The simplest version is just a rechargeable battery, a solar cell, and an LED.
My most complex idea would've added in a battery-charging circuit (I wanted to be able to charge the batteries more quickly; most solar lights need a full day to charge); & all the info is already on-line...
"Kris Krieger" skrev i meddelelsen news:Xns9B80B6A504329meadowmuffin@216.168.3.70...
This is also an international forum so experiences will vary a lot.
In my case, Denmark, there is no specific definition of when you are in business so it is much safer to make it explicit by registering a company and getting a product liability and owner accident/liability insurance. The risk is f.ex. that if you enter into a business contract it can be on pretty much any terms that are not in conflict with the law, whereas a consumer contract is regulated by consumer protection laws. So, if you sell stuff from your house, buy a photocopier from a business supplier, then wants the money back because it does not work you may get stitched with having entered into the commercial contract that will basicallysay that it's your own damn fault ;-). Serious business suppliers only trade with other, VAT-registered, businesses but the rip-off-artists are always there!
There is also the tax risk: If you do not register, the tax people will choose for you whether you are a business or not, depending on what maximises their revenue. You might not like that!!
In Denmark it's free to register a business - one can do it online. Business tax is 25% flat-rate on profits. Most expenses are deductible including the insurance costs. Holding companies are tax free. One can therefore transfer profits between subsidiaries via a holding company. All in All - It's not a bad deal compared to how the "land of the free (tm)" US'anians gets nickled & dimed to death!
I.O.W. For me, a registered business is a cheap and readily available/disposable entity so there is no reason to avoid it.
Maybe, Maybe not. Want to bet your house on some crazy jury??
Maybe you should pay a person to design the circuit for you ;-) and concentrate on what *you* are good at. There are not that many hours in that design so it wont break the bank. Most consultants will have a working design already that you can "buy".
Nah, Give it a go, just get the proper business set up before you do.
The USPTO (Patent and Trademark Office) would grant a patent on a roofing nail if the application had the right paperwork and (importantly) the proper fees were paid.
-- Rich Webb Norfolk, VA
Getting a corp or LLC only matter is you have something the attorneys can get, ie $$$$$, if like me you got nothing so no lawyer today is going to go after me! Bottom line if you have assets they will try, if you have nothing, I mean nothing in your name they typically won't f$ck with ya!
If you're a lawyer or in the financial & insurance arena, this truely is the land of the free. If you actually produce real goods or services, this is the land of the oppressed. God forbid if you should try to export!
I have some of those "garden lights"; solar panel on top to recharge a single NiCd cell which drives an oscillating boost circuit so the LED can light. And i do not like them for the very reasons you mention: (1) not very bright, and (2) almost never charges up enough to be useful for even 2 hours nevermind the current drain VS amp-hour capacity of the cell. If you can reasonably solve at least one of those problems, it would be a kickass product. A crazy idea i have (if it does not take a lot of power - say 10mW or less) is to add a proximity detector (PIR?) to turn on the light only when needed (someone nearby .and. dark). Naturally, added stuff increases the price (your cost and retail price for reasonable profit) so either product benefits must be sufficent to "con" potential buyer, .or. the increase does not require a sales price beyond the more expensive versions on the market.
If you do come up with something more useable, please let me know.
A patent is a bit pricey these daze, and is only worth the size of your bank account. Someone could file a VERY similar patent with one minor and obvious change, and then drag you thru courts until your piddling $500K is gone, and sell their version from the start until the patent runs out. This has happened. The diesel engine originally used in Greyhound busses was designed, developed and patented by a small group of individuals, and sold to Greyhound. GM changed intake for exhaust in their patent and killed the small company in the courts.
FORGET patents!
Robert Baer wrote in news:H7idncQOIvSVh8rUnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@posted.localnet:
The product would end up being pricier than the things you can getin Walmart (or Home Depot/Lowe's/etc. if you want to pay more), but considering the cost of the glass, my glassworking skill input, and my time input (as well as design time, since I always design my own things), it'd be stupid to put some cehapjunk littel thing into them.
I have the *concept* down, and even the ICs I'd want to use. The problem I'm having is that I can learn just about anything *except* math, computer programming, and other linear-logical 'relatives', so it's been exceedingly time-consuming (with Zero to show for it) re: figuring out the "math stuff" - i.e., connecting the example circuits (got diagrams fromt he Maxim website) and changing the examples so as to utilize the desired voltage.
IOW, my problem is my frustrating, math-challenged BRAIN. I hate not being able to conquer something; I can learn anything that has a right-brain component, but anything linear-logical (such as math and comuter programming
- and electronics) is extremely difficult for me, and isn't getting easier for me as I get older. It also doesn't help, of course, that I'm also preoccupied in that I somehow tore my rotator cuff this past Summer, and will be having surgery on my shoulder on Jan 13 =:-p Plus there is quite a bit of financial and other stress here at this point in time. Not too condicive to learning something new in one's weakest subject-area. But still, I'm very frustrated at my own lack of ability to do even a relatively simple project like this.
I didn't think of a proximity sensor because the idea is to have the glass art - well, OK CRAFT ;) - object lit as much as possible.
Using single-unit pricing, I added the unaltered thign up to about $46 before taxes. (I'm sure mega-bulk pricing could go to half that, or maybe even less
- assuming one has the $$ to afford to buy bulk, AND the ability to manufacture that many units...) I figure I could then max out the price of the stained-glass unit at $80 or so, so the whole thing would come to about $125 or $130.
My theory is, there is no way I can compete with teh things sold in WalMart, so I have to go for the "artsy-fartsy" people (another good reason to use my own designs - fewer people can afford these things, so the goal is to be *as unique as possible*.
To be honest, I don't know enough to know what might actually be more useable! =:-o
What I'd figured (and got tantalizingly close to) was this, and the documents I looked at follow the diagram - the lights I planned out would be pretty large, with a potential 7"X7" area on top for solar cells - It's even possible that a decent-enough solar cell would make the booster circuit unnecessary, which would reduce the price a lot:
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