Starting a business and need some advice

[CClasvegas]

I'm in the search of starting a website based clothing boutique. As for any legal documents, what do I need? I know about the LLC but what about copyright infringement? How do I know if the name of the store is already taken or already has rights to? How do I properly protect myself and my business from any legal action?

I want to get all the legal stuff completely done before I start to proceed with this.

Your advice will be deeply appreciated.

[bettyjean]

Congrats on gearing up to start your own business!

All the stuff you are talking about can be found for you by a trademark attorney. The easiest way would to be ask around or look one up in your area and hire them to check that out for you. If that is out of your price range, there is a more affordable option that might be able to help you. Pre-paid legal services do stuff like that. You basically sign up with them and pay a monthly fee to have access to an attorney to help you with all kinds of stuff. You can ask them as many questions as you want without paying anything extra. The company I dealt with was called Pre-Paid Legal.

LegalZoom also offers trademark forms and does the name research when you order the package. I did this first and, honestly, it was a waste of several hundred dollars. The service itself is good if you already know the ins and outs of trademark law. But if you don't and you do something incorrectly, you will still have to hire an independent trademark attorney to fix it all. So, if you are going to do it this way, it is probably best to just hire a trademark attorney to begin with.

Hope this helps!

[aaroneden]

Betty is right about the legal aspects of this. Additionally you should check out services like Shopify or other plug-and-play eCommerce platforms. You could easily have a site up for your idea in a few hours and can then focus on Marketing and Sales rather than the development of the store.

Good luck!

[generationy]

I totally agree with the previous posts but I would also suggest using websites that offer easy to use forms and navigation to get through the process. Have you tried legalzoom.com or simiar sites? They are specifically designed for people such as yourself that want to start right but need some help in doing so. It is also far cheaper to start this rather than consulting with an attorney. Whatever works well for you and your budget.

Wish you the best of luck. If you also want a professional looking website for your clothing company, why not try our wix.com or similar sites? I think you will find that there is a lot out there to get you going.