{"id":5138,"date":"2016-10-20T14:09:48","date_gmt":"2016-10-20T20:09:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bgs.com\/?p=5138"},"modified":"2016-10-20T14:09:48","modified_gmt":"2016-10-20T20:09:48","slug":"is-it-real-or-make-believe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bgs.com\/blog\/2016\/10\/20\/is-it-real-or-make-believe\/","title":{"rendered":"Is it Real or Make Believe?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"renfestpic\"
\nby Carole Clark Isakson<\/a>
\nMy daughter and I recently enjoyed the weekend Renaissance Festival.We expected to be delighted by the disguises and costumes and this event did not disappoint! The make-believe is fun and often we\u2019re too excited to question \u2013 \u201c who is behind the mask?\u201d Possibly my character, possibly my training, but I\u2019m always curious as to what lies behind the facade, so I asked one particular long-haired-leather-wearing-sword-wielding giant of a man what he did during the week, \u201cI sell car insurance!\u201d he happily told me. Love it, that radical change between real and make-believe is fabulous\u2026 in the entertainment industry!
\nHowever, in the more traditional business settings disguises and make-believe can be dangerous.
\nAll kidding aside, this is a question we need to ask ourselves in ANY business setting\u2026 with whom am I doing business? Start by asking this question with regards to your suppliers, customers, and business associates.
\nSuppliers may all look excellent at first, as you are greeted with professional marketing pieces and a vibrant website. But who is behind that mask? Before betting some of your company\u2019s success on a supplier, ask some hard questions. What is the company\u2019s financial condition? Has it been sued? Filed for bankruptcy relief? Owe taxes? Many of our attorneys can check this for you, but you can also get some of this information yourself using PACER Public Access to Court Electronic Records<\/a>. Professional trade groups can also assist in vetting suppliers. In addition, we recommend that you review the suppliers agreements AHEAD of time \u2013 don\u2019t wait to find out that they will not accept liability for damaged products, for instance.
\nCustomers\u2026 the key to business! But if you are extending credit, you need to know if that customer is also hiding behind a mask. The inquiry is the same as you have done for suppliers; again, PACER is a good source of information. I think we can all agree that it would be better NOT to make a sale if the sale ends up being charged off for non-payment. Check out your customers, and ask the hard questions. The business attorneys at BGS<\/a> can help you see through potential disguises in your business relationships, give us a call!
\nOne of the most commonly overlooked business relationship is that which you have with the other owners of your business, your business associates. No one starts a business with another person unless he is confident that he knows who that other person really is. But it is a reality that situations, and people, change over time. The success or failure of a business can have a huge impact on your relationship with your business partners. From experience, lots of experience (across a company of experts), it is best to try to deal with that up front \u2013 while solidifying the beginning of your business, take the time to also clarify its end. Doing this requires an agreement that covers FORSEEABLE \u201cwhat ifs\u201d, including:
\nWhat if an owner wishes to retire?
\nWhat if an owner wishes to cash in on success?
\nWhat if an owner becomes too ill to work, or heaven forbid, dies unexpectedly? None of us are immortal!
\nShould the company have the option to buy that person\u2019s ownership at a set price?
\nShould that option actually be mandatory?
\nShould all the owners be free to sell their ownership interests to anyone, at any time, at any price?
\nDo you want your business partner pledging his stock to a bank?
\nThese are all basic questions that a business should have answered. For more information about the work I do, please see my profile page <\/a> and contact me, I can assist you with these issues, as can my partner Dan Ganter <\/a>. Please Contact Us <\/a> if your business doesn\u2019t have a shareholder agreement or member control agreement in place, or if you have any other questions about deciphering facades from reality in your business.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Carole Clark Isakson My daughter and I recently enjoyed the weekend Renaissance Festival.We expected to be delighted by the disguises and costumes and this event did not disappoint! The make-believe is fun and often we\u2019re too excited to question \u2013 \u201c who is behind the mask?\u201d Possibly my character, possibly my training, but I\u2019m always curious as to what lies behind the facade, so I asked one particular long-haired-leather-wearing-sword-wielding giant of a man what he did during the week, \u201cI sell car insurance!\u201d he happily told me. Love it, that radical change between real and make-believe is fabulous\u2026 in the entertainment industry! However, in the more traditional business settings disguises and make-believe can be dangerous. All kidding aside, this is a question we need to ask ourselves in ANY business setting\u2026 with whom am I doing business? Start by asking this question with regards to your suppliers, customers, and business associates. Suppliers may all look excellent at first, as you are greeted with professional marketing pieces and a vibrant website. But who is behind that mask? Before betting some of your company\u2019s success on a supplier, ask some hard questions. What is the company\u2019s financial condition? Has it been sued? Filed for bankruptcy relief? Owe taxes? Many of our attorneys can check…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"yoast_head":"\nIs it Real or Make Believe? - Barna, Guzy & Steffen, LTD.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bgs.com\/blog\/2016\/10\/20\/is-it-real-or-make-believe\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is it Real or Make Believe? - Barna, Guzy & Steffen, LTD.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"by Carole Clark Isakson My daughter and I recently enjoyed the weekend Renaissance Festival.We expected to be delighted by the disguises and costumes and this event did not disappoint! The make-believe is fun and often we\u2019re too excited to question \u2013 \u201c who is behind the mask?\u201d Possibly my character, possibly my training, but I\u2019m always curious as to what lies behind the facade, so I asked one particular long-haired-leather-wearing-sword-wielding giant of a man what he did during the week, \u201cI sell car insurance!\u201d he happily told me. Love it, that radical change between real and make-believe is fabulous\u2026 in the entertainment industry! However, in the more traditional business settings disguises and make-believe can be dangerous. All kidding aside, this is a question we need to ask ourselves in ANY business setting\u2026 with whom am I doing business? Start by asking this question with regards to your suppliers, customers, and business associates. Suppliers may all look excellent at first, as you are greeted with professional marketing pieces and a vibrant website. But who is behind that mask? Before betting some of your company\u2019s success on a supplier, ask some hard questions. What is the company\u2019s financial condition? Has it been sued? Filed for bankruptcy relief? Owe taxes? Many of our attorneys can check...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bgs.com\/blog\/2016\/10\/20\/is-it-real-or-make-believe\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Barna, Guzy & Steffen, LTD.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-10-20T20:09:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/bgs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/renfestpic-91x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Carole Clark Isakson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carole Clark Isakson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bgs.com\/blog\/2016\/10\/20\/is-it-real-or-make-believe\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.bgs.com\/blog\/2016\/10\/20\/is-it-real-or-make-believe\/\",\"name\":\"Is it Real or Make Believe? - Barna, Guzy & Steffen, LTD.\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bgs.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-10-20T20:09:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-10-20T20:09:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bgs.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/cf578526284af48ebb41a289d9ac0be9\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bgs.com\/blog\/2016\/10\/20\/is-it-real-or-make-believe\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.bgs.com\/blog\/2016\/10\/20\/is-it-real-or-make-believe\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bgs.com\/blog\/2016\/10\/20\/is-it-real-or-make-believe\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.bgs.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Is it Real or Make Believe?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bgs.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.bgs.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Barna, Guzy & Steffen, LTD.\",\"description\":\"Attorneys at Law\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.bgs.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bgs.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/cf578526284af48ebb41a289d9ac0be9\",\"name\":\"Carole Clark Isakson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bgs.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/9ca7f6dc65e967327cdf64c06a921b7c\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f7756f9fb8a1d2dff6bdce502e9555e2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f7756f9fb8a1d2dff6bdce502e9555e2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Carole Clark Isakson\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.bgs.com\/blog\/author\/carole-clark-isakson\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Is it Real or Make Believe? - Barna, Guzy & Steffen, LTD.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.bgs.com\/blog\/2016\/10\/20\/is-it-real-or-make-believe\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Is it Real or Make Believe? - Barna, Guzy & Steffen, LTD.","og_description":"by Carole Clark Isakson My daughter and I recently enjoyed the weekend Renaissance Festival.We expected to be delighted by the disguises and costumes and this event did not disappoint! The make-believe is fun and often we\u2019re too excited to question \u2013 \u201c who is behind the mask?\u201d Possibly my character, possibly my training, but I\u2019m always curious as to what lies behind the facade, so I asked one particular long-haired-leather-wearing-sword-wielding giant of a man what he did during the week, \u201cI sell car insurance!\u201d he happily told me. Love it, that radical change between real and make-believe is fabulous\u2026 in the entertainment industry! However, in the more traditional business settings disguises and make-believe can be dangerous. All kidding aside, this is a question we need to ask ourselves in ANY business setting\u2026 with whom am I doing business? Start by asking this question with regards to your suppliers, customers, and business associates. Suppliers may all look excellent at first, as you are greeted with professional marketing pieces and a vibrant website. But who is behind that mask? Before betting some of your company\u2019s success on a supplier, ask some hard questions. What is the company\u2019s financial condition? Has it been sued? Filed for bankruptcy relief? Owe taxes? Many of our attorneys can check...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.bgs.com\/blog\/2016\/10\/20\/is-it-real-or-make-believe\/","og_site_name":"Barna, Guzy & Steffen, LTD.","article_published_time":"2016-10-20T20:09:48+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/bgs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/renfestpic-91x300.jpg"}],"author":"Carole Clark Isakson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Carole Clark Isakson","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.bgs.com\/blog\/2016\/10\/20\/is-it-real-or-make-believe\/","url":"https:\/\/www.bgs.com\/blog\/2016\/10\/20\/is-it-real-or-make-believe\/","name":"Is it Real or Make Believe? - Barna, Guzy & Steffen, LTD.","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bgs.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-10-20T20:09:48+00:00","dateModified":"2016-10-20T20:09:48+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bgs.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/cf578526284af48ebb41a289d9ac0be9"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bgs.com\/blog\/2016\/10\/20\/is-it-real-or-make-believe\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.bgs.com\/blog\/2016\/10\/20\/is-it-real-or-make-believe\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.bgs.com\/blog\/2016\/10\/20\/is-it-real-or-make-believe\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.bgs.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Is it Real or Make Believe?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.bgs.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.bgs.com\/blog\/","name":"Barna, Guzy & Steffen, LTD.","description":"Attorneys at Law","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.bgs.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.bgs.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/cf578526284af48ebb41a289d9ac0be9","name":"Carole Clark Isakson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.bgs.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/9ca7f6dc65e967327cdf64c06a921b7c","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f7756f9fb8a1d2dff6bdce502e9555e2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f7756f9fb8a1d2dff6bdce502e9555e2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Carole Clark Isakson"},"url":"https:\/\/www.bgs.com\/blog\/author\/carole-clark-isakson\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bgs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5138"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bgs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bgs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bgs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bgs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bgs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5138\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bgs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bgs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bgs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5138"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bgs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=5138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}