Issues Archives - GUJRAT INDIA

The Effects Of Tobacco On Women And Smoking Health Issues

While we consider female lack of desire and women’s health news on carcinogens in cigarettes position a risk to everyone, our world’s women are over twice as likely as males to get aggressive kinds of lung cancer and more likely to establish it at an earlier age.

– And women, it turns out, have an even harder time stopping than guys.

– Stopping cigarette smoking is much easier said than done.

– Females are likewise more likely to die of lung cancer than breast cancer.

– Stronger withdrawal signs may be credited to hormonal agents or the larger nicotine dosage absorbed by smaller female bodies.

No matter female’s age, the dangers of cigarette smoking add to female lack of desire and women’s health news everywhere today tells us infertility, osteoporosis, blindness, and stress and anxiety, surely may result.

The expecting mothers who smoke threat not just their health, but their children’.

Passing smoke impacts the children and other individuals around moms who smoke.

Smoking cigarettes and smoking health issues is a vice that almost always starts during adolescence.

They probably never will when teens finish from high school without ever smoking routinely.

Smoking problems while kids turn into women’s smoking problems and the latter get the worse health problems.

Youths may exhibit symptoms of addiction within a couple of weeks or days right after they began smoking cigarettes.

While cigarette smoking was unusual in women through the history books, but during the late 1800’s, and in to the 1910’s, the tobacco industry recognized the potential of women as a gold mine for the expansion of the cigarette market.

In truth, tobacco business released the campaign slogan, “Instead of a sweets like ice cream and candy, grab a smoke,” which quickly encouraged women to smoke so as not to gain weight.

This was followed by, “You’ve come a long, terribly long way, young lady,” as a tribute to the burgeoning women for equal rights parade.

These marketing projects not just portrayed female’s cigarette smokers as stunning, enjoyable and independent, but also sent out subliminal messages that cigarette smoking assists women to manage their weight.

Cigarette ads are banned in kids and teenager’s magazines.

In a previous discussion I explored the many things in the way for women and a life of self-confidence and success.

But still in much of the world billions of dollars are spent on other ways to advertises like alongside the highway, billboards, and adult publications which can quickly be accessed by the youth.

Because since the late 1980’s lung cancer has actually exceeded breast cancer as the leading cause of cancer deaths among females in the United States.

Cigarette smoking causes heart illness, which is the number one killer of the western world’s female population.

Women who smoke likewise damage their beauty they once held, and they do recognize this in the mirror.

Smoking speeds up the aging procedure and produces more facial wrinkles, gum illness, oral decay, raspy voice, and bad breath, and female lack of desire and women’s health news on this is everywhere.

I mean mental health is likewise affected due to anxiety and stress anxiety conditions.

Ladies are more likely to be depressed and be a woman with lack of libido, than non-smokers, which young and older women with anxiety disorders are more likely to smoke.

Some females, nevertheless, are finding innovative methods to break the practice for the rest of their lives.

Participating in activities where smoking cigarettes would not fit, such as exercising, biking, mountain-climbing, as well as turning to a non-smoking lifestyle that consists of going to smoke-free places with your kids.

The dangers of smoking for women has increased attention and awareness for young women’s health and from female entrepreneurs and companies, resulting in a number of jobs that focus on supporting tobacco cessation efforts particularly for our lovely women of the world.

The Course in Miracles states, “The body can not know. And while you limit your awareness to its tiny senses, you will not see the grandeur that surrounds you.”

Regardless of age, the threats of smoking contribute to all kinds of women’s health issues and lead to female lack of desire and women’s health news has shown us of the infertility, anxiety and stress, osteoporosis, and loss of sight.

While cigarette smoking was unusual in ladies during the start of their coming out time for equality ages ago, the tobacco market recognized the potential of ladies as a market for the growth of the cigarette industry.

We have grown as Spirit and our awakening to a better life, and that’s why we have discovered things like, “Smoking cigarettes triggers heart disease,” which is the number one killer of women.

Females are more likely today, and as we move forward in generations, to no longer have as much concern over female lack of desire and women’s health news about other women’s issues holding our fine women of the world back.

( Always be sure to search the net for helpful material on being a confident woman today and moving forward in life.)

To “a long way baby” for success and love for life!

Solve Funding Issues to Finance SME’s Growth Plans

SME’s are developing rapidly and flourishing enormously worldwide. Since its initiation and establishment, there some extremely important and basic requirements to be met and adopted. These requirements include; infrastructure and employment requirements, a developed information technology infrastructure along with funding sources, which is the most important aspect of the sustainability of these SME’s.

Funding sources are the strengthening pillars for such small and medium-sized enterprises.

SME (small to medium enterprise) is a convenient term for categorizing businesses and other organizations that are somewhere between “small office-home office” (SOHO) size and the larger enterprise.

Unavailability of timely and adequate funds has an immense adverse effect on the growth of these SME’s which in turn affects the growth of the Indian economy. Such insufficient funding sources serve as the crucial barrier in the development and sustenance of SME’s.

The economic development in India is hugely dependent on the performance of small or micro and medium enterprises. They are the powerhouse of innovation, entrepreneurial spirit and enormous talent, which is required for the nation’s development in the economic sector.

Indian SME sector:

This sector contributes to the industrial output, provides employment to masses. They also contribute widely in exports. These organizations produce quality products for national and international markets.

The presence of SME’s is greatly acknowledged. The manufacturing sector is rapidly advancing because of the contribution of these organizations.

Undoubtedly, these SME’s are performing their best, despite their limited sources. Still, there are multiple cases of these organizations facing funding issues.

The solution for funding issues faced by SME’s:

The government has been taking initiatives like setting up the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council, announcing National Manufacturing Policy (NMP) and much more to energize and boost the manufacturing sector.

Banks have made stable strides to support SME’s. However, such approaches by banks for funding are limited and restricted because by controlling and managing risk, they ultimately create value. Thus, banks are not always a rightful solution as a funding source.Access to capital markets is rare, in the case of SME’s. Therefore, such organizations hugely depend on borrowed funds from some financial institutions and banks.

Mostly commercial banks provide extended working capital and financial institutions provide investment credits. Universal banking services, working capital, and term loans are becoming available for SME’s for funding.Meanwhile, the traditional requirements of finance are still actively in use, for creating the asset and working capital.Globalization is generating a demand for introduction and development new financial and support services.

The RBI should issue necessary guidelines to all banks on credit flow. Moreover, the Government should work rigorously to create an environment conducive for growth for the SMEs that restrains the need for capital and debt.

Setting up SME-targeted banks that provide priority to lending to the SME sector.

Financing schemes for SMEs can be formulated and be beneficial. These might be highly risky, but promises great returns. There is also a need for a reduction in the interest rates. SMEs has been paying high-interest rates for bank loans. The loan structure should restructure, on an urgent basis as lower interest rates are an extremely important need for SME’s.

Delayed payments are yet another major area of concern for SME’s that lead to reduced working capital.

Recycling of funds and various business operations are majorly affected due to delay in dues settlement. Defaulting customers are mostly large enterprises and the SMEs due to fear of losing business are not able to report against them.

An automated portal could be established by the government, wherein SMEs makes available their customer detailings.The government can also send automated reminders to defaulting organizations, in the cases of payment defaults.

As it is well known all over that, for the government, the Budget is an occasion to set up new financial goals and economic goals, allocate financial resources and provide policy directions. During Budget presentations, the Finance Minister announces new policies, schemes, projects and allocates finance for the development of several sectors of the economy, to meet the overall goals of socioeconomic growth.

For SMEs, the potential sources of finance are very limited. However, their usefulness is limited because of mostly practical problems. Crowdfunding also supplies chain financing are some funding sources.

Some more funding sources for SME’s

The owner, family, and friends of SME

An excellent source of finance. Mostly, such investors, invest not just for financial gains and are willing to accept lower returns than other investors. However, the key limitation, for most of these organizations, is that, that the finance they can build personally, from friends and family, is limited.

Trade credit

SMEs can take credit from their respective suppliers. It is however just short-term and, if the suppliers are big companies who have identified and categorized them as potentially risky SME, the possibility to extend may be limited, for the credit period.

The business angel

A wealthy individual who is willing to take the risk of investing in SMEs. However, they are just found in rarity. Once such an individual is interested they can become useful to the SME, as they have great business plans and contacts.

Factoring and invoice discounting

These sources help the organizations to raise finance. It is only short-term and is mostly more costly than an overdraft. However, with the SME growth rate, their receivables will grow thereby the amount they can borrow from invoice discounting will also rapidly growing.

Leasing

Leasing assets is a better option rather than buying.them, as it avoids to raise the capital cost. However, leasing is mostly possible on tangible assets.

Listing

An SME can become quoted by acquiring a listing on the stock exchange. Thus, raising finance would become less of an issue. But before listing can be considered the organization must grow to the considerable size that a listing is feasible.

Supply chain financing

SCF is new and is somehow different than the methods of traditional working capital financing, such as offering settlement discounts, as it promotes collaboration between the buyers and sellers in the supply chain.

The venture capitalist

A venture capitalist organization is mostly a subsidiary of a company that has worthy cash holdings and might need to be invested. Such subsidiaries are at high-risk, potentially high-return part of their investment portfolio. To attract venture capital funding, such organization has to have a business strategy and idea, that may help to create, high returns that the venture capitalist is seeking. Thus, operating in regular business, venture capitalist financing may be impossible for many SME’s.

The above mentioned are the various solutions for SME’s to deal with the issue insufficient funding sources.

Understanding Legal Issues Surrounding Franchising

Choosing to buy a franchise rather than starting your own business can have a lot of advantages, and the franchiser running certain things can certainly simplify your operation. On the other hand, it can also be considerably more complicated in some ways, one of which is the tangle of legal issues that is particular to buying a franchise. Many sources strongly recommend that you acquire a franchise lawyer when you are thinking about buying a franchise to help you mine through these legal issues.

One of the most important documents you will have to figure out is the UFOC (uniform franchise operating circular) which the franchiser is required to create by the Federal Trade Commission. This UFOC discloses a number of things about the franchiser and the business they are selling you, including what they do, their business experience, the fees you can expect to pay, what kind of investment you will have to make, and whether or not they have been involved in any lawsuits. Reading this document can tell you a great deal about a franchiser, and understanding it will help you decide whether buying their franchise is right for you.

Another document that you need to pay close attention to and may need a lawyer to help you understand is the franchise/legal agreement, which will spell out your and the franchiser’s rights and obligations. This will tell you things like how long the franchise agreement is for, how you can use their trademark, and what can cause the agreement to be terminated.

As you are reviewing these documents, make sure to pay close attention to how much control the franchiser has over the operation of your business, which can certainly vary based on the industry and company. If you are unwilling to cede a lot of control, make sure to select a franchiser that fits that need, and make sure you understand what the franchiser is offering in their documents in terms of how much control they will have in managing your business, because if you run into conflicts with them about the operation of the business later, you want to be sure you knew what you were getting into.

You should be suspicious of any franchiser who does not want you to understand these legal documents. If they try to dissuade you from getting a franchise attorney or from reading them thoroughly, you might reconsider whether or not you want to do business with them. A good franchiser will have nothing to hide in these documents, and will want you to read and understand them completely.

Understanding the UFOC and franchise agreement of a franchiser is not enough, however. You will need to do a lot more research and homework before deciding to buy a franchise. Some other things you might do to help you figure out if you are getting a good franchise are to talk to current franchisees and to avoid anything that seems too good to be true. Being smart about buying your franchise can help you avoid big pitfalls, legal and otherwise.

Navigating Through Tough American Economic and National Health Care, Health Insurance Reform Issues

For Practicing Agency Brokers, Trusted Insurance Advisers, And Financial Planning Consultants….

From time to time, there is a need for guidance in Financial Services Practice; now is definitely one of those times. There are two distinct issues working in tandem which determine modifications in the future conduct of our business: The Economy and the Reforms. Here are ideas on how to navigate our way through the maze. This can most certainly be done. With care, thoughtful performance, and innovation, Financial Services Professionals can serve the general public and make the experience satisfying and profitable. Let’s begin with some commentary on the general economic circumstances first. Following that, we’ll take up the Reform issues, how to move through them, and how the way we advise members of the general public on savings, insurance, investment, and retirement concerns.

1.To begin the economic discussion, we need to address the full and true extent of just what we as a nation and we as practitioners are up against. As of this writing, in the winter of 2009, unemployment, including the employed, self-employed, and business owners, has passed 10%, about 15 to 16 million people. Add another 6 to 7 percent to that, which includes the part-timers, disabled, retired, and those of working age who have stopped looking. We are looking at about 22 million Americans not drawing active paychecks. The closing of businesses, branch locations, shops, stores, retail, wholesale, and service sectors, adds to the severity of the overall problems. It is conceded that there are many who are drawing from savings, taking early pensions/Social Security income, receiving extended unemployment compensation, and retirees on full pensions. That said, the loss of productivity is simply staggering. All this decreases the taxes available from which cities, counties, states, and the federal government must fund budgets. Naturally, all this leads to ever worsening annual deficits and unfunded liabilities. Finally, federal government for the past 30+ years has pursued deficit-spending policies which add to all of this. A look at USDEBTCLOCK.ORG tells the whole story in real time. Take a look and notice a few things.

The national debt stands at some $12+ trillion, while the federal budget shows in the neighborhood of $3+ trillion. Take a closer look and it can be seen that $1.7 trillion is taxes, while the difference is annual debt – sale of treasuries, printing of currency. The unfunded liabilities of Medicare/Medicaid, Prescriptions, Social Security top $106 trillion! To get an idea of what these liabilities mean, consider that this funding is what must be contractually paid out in entitlements over the lifetime of those presently enrolled in these programs, say, from now and over the next 20 to 30 years. And that will become progressively larger as the Baby Boomers begin checking into the systems. This is merely the highlighted treatment of the issues and doesn’t take in figures on the levels below the federal programs and subsidies: state, and related deep concerns over inflation, tax increases, brain drain, not to mention the TARP, STIMULUS, industry handouts/loans, and funds to individuals and non-governmental organizations under Acts in force, such as new mortgages and existing mortgage relief.

We read, see, and hear the word “unsustainable” a lot. Another phrase is ” the debasing of our currency.” Still another is “breaking the buck.” Are these figures actually important to us? Well, yes. One example will suffice: the interest alone on just the national debt is about $340 billion/year, or about 12% of the national budget. And that is going to get much higher. Relate that to a family making, say, $75,000/year. With this level of household debt, that family will pay some $9,000/yr. merely to pay interest, not even to reduce its debt obligations! Just recently on CNBC, a professor of finance designated the U.S. Dollar as fiat currency, which it is. Watch just about any television station and note all the advertisements about gold. Yet, many Americans just roll on as if everything is going to be just fine. Let’s hope for that miracle. The American People have been through some very difficult times over the past 250+ years and have managed to rebound. That could happen again. This time, however, things are quite different and difficult.

Does all this mean that Americans should just roll over, play dead, and let the federal government take care of everything? As a nation, will we file for default and a kind of national bankruptcy? This may be a legitimate senario; and it could be solved through establishment of a new currency sometime in the future, after everything gets paid off in near worthless U.S. currency. But, nations and the people in them, get hurt—badly. Russia, Panama, Argentina, Germany, Cuba (and there are more examples out there), all went through this, and the people there know just how bad this is: a national nightmare from which one cannot awaken. Special note on Argentina: The collapse of that country’s currency, the Peso, not long ago, lead to black markets, swap meets, trading for needed goods with hard assets, such as gold, bartering and trading in kind, not to mention increases in violence and crime. When new prices and wages readjust to some new currency, the resultant pricing of goods and services is extremely unfavorable to individuals and businesses. One can hope and pray that this does not happen or at least is some years away. Some experts suggest anything from 2 to 20 years—-read: nobody knows for sure! That said, this leads to strategies that we in the financial services industry can and should probably look into and maybe adopt. If all this sounds like gloom and doom and just too ridiculous, let me assure readers that this writer has done his research, can back it all up, and is most assuredly not making it all up as he goes along! Independent corraboration and documentation on all of this is readily available on the internet, libraries, university papers/archives, and other public records.

2. Here are some practical suggestions for Financial Services Professionals. While nobody can predict the future, this portion of the narrative is best described within two arbitrary time frames: A. 2010 to 2014-2015. B. Beyond that to, say, 2020-2025. This time division is established for specific reasons. At the time of this writing, the U.S. Government is poised to pass and place into effect a national healthcare/health insurance reform act. It doesn’t much matter whether or not one is in favor of this particular piece of legislation or some others, reform is necessary and will come very soon regardless of what the final act turns out to be.

Care rationing is a matter of fact, already in place for some years, and will get more pronounced for everyone. There really is no other sustainable way to do any kind of reform in attempts to control steeply increasing costs of insuring seniors and those below age 65 yr. who can either not afford to be insured, can’t qualify, or act as though they don’t want to protect themselves(checking into their local hospital ER so we can all pay for that; and hospitals, in order to remain in business are already tightening up on the emergency provisions of the law). The projected costs of the one that looks like it will become the law of the land, warts and all, is estimated at between $1 and $2 trillion over the next 10 years. It will no doubt end up by 2019 considerably more. If it doesn’t, it will stand alone among all the U.S. entitlement programs in the history of the Republic to come in at or below the CBO cost estimates. Look for increasing income taxes, fewer paychecks to tax, very slow employment recovery, very fragile equities markets, more federal currency creation, more inflation, weakening U.S.Dollar.That’s the context in which we find ourselves and determines what we do as financial services advisors and implementers. Good luck. That said, let’s discuss Part A – the next 3 years.

Part A. During the next three years, things will proceed at more or less normal conduct of business in an atmosphere of continuing inflation and increasing taxes. As practitioners, we can expect to market the same or similar coverages as we do now. Adverse Selection(taking into account pre-existing conditions) will still be there to control premiums on life, individual, family, group healthcare, disability coverage, long term care insurance, retirement plans(more on this later), to mention the prominent ones. We still will be doing our due-care, due-diligence, financial planning, fact finding, observing compliance, and doing what is best for the client. There are going to be less people and businesses with which to work, and they will have less money with which to do things. Remember, the client always comes first. Words to live by.

Certainly, we owe it to those who favor us with their business to let them know what is coming as soon as we know what is in store for them and for ourselves. For the most part, we will try to continue as before – for about the next several years. After that, things begin to get very different. Let us progress to Part B, Beyond that.

Part B. After 2014-2015, health insurers drop Adverse Selection and pre-existing conditions no longer play a part in the health underwriting process, at least for much of the individual, family, small group medical insurance, and Medicare Supplementary coverages. We’ll all most likely be undergoing training, certification testing, and more state/federal regulation. There’s an upside to all of this. As long as the health insurance industry remains in play, we should be able to make as much or even more money. Nobody knows what the effect of some U.S. Health Insurance Company, Co-op, or Exchange might have on the viability of the health insurers. The CBO states that some very small percentage of the public will enroll in the Public Option plans. That remains to be seen. Many people will be subject to non-enrollment penalties and fees.

What we do know about public plans and elimination of pre-existing conditions is the example we have in Texas. This public option is called the Texas Health Insurance Risk Pool, under the jurisdiction of the State of Texas. In Pool plans, there are no pre-existing conditions to stop one from procuring a pretty good major medical insurance coverage; in fact, one actually has to have significant medical condition or conditions to be eligible. Approximately 29,000 Texans are presently enrolled, out of the millions who have commercial coverage of individual, family, or group coverage. Even with State and Federal subsidy grants each year, the premiums on these plans run 2.5 to 4 times what a similar commercial plan might cost and the coverage is not as good. In a word, it is really expensive. It may be that, since the great majority of Americans probably generally qualify by providing medical evidence of insurability anyway, the impact of accepting all applicants by the commercial insurance companies may not send the overall individual/group premiums skyrocketing(an outcome with which this author does not agree). Those who can’t afford health insurance may get federal subsidies. The fact is that nobody really has a clue. We won’t discuss the MA and OR state-run health care/insurance plans. Not working out very well. Adverse Selection Elimination is a main culprit, leading into healthcare rationing and increasing premiums.

For insurance professionals, the marketing opportunities may just turn out to be positive. Bringing into the insuring public millions of previously uninsured and underinsured younger people may be a good thing. Supplementing health insurance for seniors will be there. We need to work hard at staying in the game and not getting squeezed out by federal competition. All people out there will certainly still need competent financial services professionals, maybe even more than at present. There are those in professional positions of economics, demographics, medicine, actuarial science, and other disciplines who think that any public option may not drive out the insurers, especially knowing that private enterprise, ingenuity, innovation, increased efficiency, would allow the private sector even to drive out the public option. Look at how the Post Office, Medicare, Medicaid, VA hospitals, Social Security, and other entitlements have worked out. Remember that $106 trillion(and climbing) of unfunded liabilities and where that has put the nation and the American People. As these liabilities keep coming due, they increase the federal budget! Doesn’t sound like some great efficiency to this writer.

Finally, there is this prediction regarding earned and renewal compensation. Don’t look for some sudden drop off just because of Reform. This author has found from experience that most people are quite cautious and suspicious of new programs and will tend to retain what they have for just as long as they can, until they gain confidence in such programs, or are forced into them. Even then, many, if not most, will still retain current health insurance coverage in some form to pick up what Reform does not. That was this writer’s great surprise with Harris County here in Texas, when in 1970, the County government replaced an outdated and woefully inadequate set of fringe benefits with full comprehensive coverage. Most all the supplemental coverages that were marketed to large numbers of employees from 1965 to 1970 remained on the books for many years. That is likely to happen in our national future. So take heart.

Earlier, the topic of currency debasement, creation of trillions of dollars by the Fed out of thin air, and inflation(about 2.5% annually, by the way) was touched upon, especially as related to obtaining goods, services, and accumulation/distribution of retirement funding. This leads into the arena of retirement capital, funds formation, equities markets, cash value life insurance, annuities, precious metals, commodities, bank deposits, money markets, treasury instruments, and the like. This also includes non-tax qualified and tax-qualified retirement vehicles, such as IRAs and 401(k)s, as examples. One suggestion is the recommendation that some portion of a client’s capital or retirement portfolio of funds be placed in hard assets. Gold and silver come to mind. We would defer to a precious metals specialist for that. Hedging and potential gains are two objectives that come to mind.

Everything is open to new ideas based upon the changing circumstances. Your practice is obviously going to change; caution and creativity are the guides. Whether we operate in single needs, multiple needs, or comprehensive planning modes and implementations, all of our recommendations are going to be different as compared to past years. It is a bit like attempting to walk in quicksand. And this applies to all product implementation, not just the health insurance arena. So be careful out there.

The way we operate in ethical conduct of business will change. The suggestion is put forth that in the future, starting in 2010 and beyond, we in financial services when advising businesses and individuals, will need to either form alliances with other financial professionals who are licensed in areas where we are not, or refer people to other trusted advisors in order to fully inform the people we serve of the risks and rewards to allow them to make proper, informed decisions that work for them and provide them the opportunity to form strategies and thus to protect themselves. We are definitely in for quite a ride; so fasten your seatbelts. A tip from one who is an investor, not a sales agent: dollars are currency;gold is money. Get to know the difference. Know all the new rules, regulations, and compliance requirements. Study. Engage with other professionals. There is a big job ahead for all of us, starting now.

This is by no means an exhaustive analysis of what’s ahead, but it is a beginning. Still, taken to heart, it gives us inspiration to continue to provide the most excellent advice and coverage implementation to our clients and would-be clients. We who are true professionals are in the unique position to guide, advise, offer direction, clarify, and eliminate confusion. No government bureaucrat can come close to what we do. Imagine that!

Must See Resources for Maryland Small Business Law Issues

As any business owner can tell you, there’s a huge range of potential small business law issues which you can run into, starting from the business’s inception, and continuing practically each and every day from there. However, the good news is that there is a great deal of free information available online to help you sort through the mess. Here, you’ll find a list and overview of recommended, high quality resources for Maryland small business law issues.

The first place you may want to visit will be ChooseMaryland.org. This is Maryland’s Department of Business and Economic Development website, and it has many fantastic resources, including its step by step guide to starting a business.

You’ll also find a huge range of documentation and resources for Maryland business law, business-to-government issues, certifications, contracts and permits, and more. If you’re ready to jump right into it, you can download their 88-page “Guide to Legal Aspects of Doing Business in Maryland” to see for yourself what you’re dealing with.

Another destination should be Maryland.Gov. When you visit that website and navigate to “working” you’ll see a series of resources and links about business. This will take you to other official state websites and documentation on everything from labor laws to taxation and more.

The Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation website is available at DAT.state.MD.US, and has a great deal of helpful information for Maryland small business law issues, including the appropriate filing and registration of a new business entity, the tax levels and financial-legal concerns of small businesses and on down the line from there.

The next website doesn’t deal with Maryland law issues specifically, but it’s all about the successful operation of a small business, and dealing with common legal matters. The site is Nolo.com, and within that, its “Running Your Small Business” guide. It has in-depth guides on issues such as contractors, eCommerce, business litigation, buying and selling businesses, and more.

Of course, there are also official federal government websites, such as the U.S. Small Business Administration, and Business.Gov. These will deal with federal issues, but will also provide information for state-level concerns, while providing access to the appropriate state-run departments.

Hopefully you now know about a few more places where you can go to learn more about Maryland business law issues. There’s a lot to consider, and whenever you’re in doubt, you should always seek professional legal assistance. The cost of hiring a lawyer is small when compared to the costs of not doing so, and in many cases, free consultations will be available.