Freshman Seminar, Periods 3 & 4

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

AIM: Students will be able to choose a legal structure for their own businesses.

DO NOW: Interpret the quote as it relates to your own experience, and make sure to include an example. Also, What does "to be ready" mean? ....

"The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes." -- Benjamin Disraeli, former Prime Minister of Great Brittain

This was reviewed, discussed and collected.
Students were asked next to list five things they must ask a parent/guardian for permission to do. Listed on board. Discussed.

Discussion points: How does this related to choosing a legal structure for our businesses?
There are roles in the organization, in a hierarchy, for example and President, Vice President, Sales Manager, Promotion Manager, etc. Not everyone is President. Each has to take orders from a higher authority and follow a set of laws, regulations, and procedures to operate and remain in business. This includes the requirement to pay taxes on the money received when doing business. What happens if you don't pay taxes on the income of your new business? There are legal consequences, including prison and fines.

Homework:

Meet with your business partners again after school, either in person, online, or by phone and draw up a draft of a partnership agreement with them. Make sure you specify the role of each partner and state the duties of each, as well as the time and money each will invest/contribute to the business. Then also decide how the profits will be divided. You don't need to have real dollar amounts, just to know, if one person invests 10% of the money, and 50% of the time, how much in terms of percentage of the profits will he/she receive? You must determine who has what responsibilities and how much of the profit will be distributed to the partners.

Make sure you always write down the meeting details, also known as the "minutes" of the meeting and type them up for each meeting.

Please bring your partnership agreements to class as you would your regular homework. This assignment is due on Thursday, not tomorrow, to allow you time to connect with your business partners.