Business Meeting
Posted in business on December 21st, 2009I survived! And learned quite a bit. The lawyer trip was very.. interesting. 
Let me try to paint a picture for you so you can better imagine just how intense this meeting was.
The lawyer was short, stocky and round with a balding head. He was almost a foot shorter than me, and me being 5′ 10″ doesn’t really help things most of the time. He was an overly friendly type of guy, eager to sell you so he puts all his efforts into impressing you type of man. A used car salesman feel to him. His office was downtown, in one of those big skyscrapers. Walking into the room was very intimidating. He had a bunch of modern office furniture, and looked powerful. It really suited the place. Everything, including the walls, was a warm oak. No modular furniture for him, everything was very sleek. I guess with money does come power in most cases.
Eamon, my sister’s boyfriend (who had set up the meeting) and I had been waiting in the reception area for about 10 minutes, and I guess to try to make you relaxed they had put up a festive, artfully decorated Christmas tree. Gold ribbon, ornaments, lights, everything. It was all rather overbearing, frankly. 
When he met us, he ushered us into a big conference room, which I guess was nice, but kinda excessive since it was only 4 people.
I don’t know if he talked to us this way because we were young, or he likes to intimidate all his potential clients, but all through the meeting he seemed like he was trying to scare us, like we didn’t understand how serious owning a business was. Come on, Eamon is 22, quite an adult by most standards! I had half a mind to stand up and call him out on it, but frankly, we needed help. I could swallow a couple insults every now and then. Heck, most people talk to me like that anyways, so what’s the difference if one more guy thinks me a child still? But while insulting us, he kept emphasizing that he didn’t charge us unless he told us about it, no hidden fees. He said it about 20 times at least. That made me more suspicious if anything.
Although he talked to us like children, he did at least answer all our questions, while scaring us in the process! We realize now we have a lot more work cut out for us than we could have possibly imagined, and we thought there was going to be a lot, and we might just wait till next year to officially create this business. Tax stuff is going to be a problem, so keeping it as just a hobby among friends might actually work better for a while. The startup costs, although we already have inventory, is a bit high. Just for starters, it would be $750 just for him to get us a business certificate! 
But, we know it will be an LLC now, at least. It’s a start. If we can get to the point where we are doing $5000 a month of ebay alone, though, then we’ll know it’s time. And we might go back to him to do all our paperwork and whatnot, just might.
So yes, it was a fun, informative trip. 
Ever been to a lawyer?
December 21st, 2009 at 1:36 pm
what kind of business are you planning on opening up?
December 21st, 2009 at 2:12 pm
I am always more suspicious of things when people try to drive a very specific point.
At least you got the tough stuff out of the way! $750 for a certificate? wow, steep prices. Hopefully, you can recoup that quickly. I assume you’re moving forward as planned – so exciting. I can’t wait to see this grow for you!
December 21st, 2009 at 8:05 pm
he is trying to scare you huh. LOLs so, you want to start a business?
December 21st, 2009 at 10:58 pm
Good luck with everything. I does seem very intimidating. I’ve never been to a lawyer, but I imagine that it would be very spooking no matter what was going on.
December 22nd, 2009 at 7:47 am
hheh well thats what a lawyer is supposed to do ;3 it seems like a pretty tough occupation to get a degree in, if you ask me ^^; and wow 750$! well he *is* a lawyer, and lawyers are known to make money
wow youre 5 10? im 5 2…T_T
nope! i never been to a lawyer…hopefully i wouldnt have to go for negative reasons X_X
December 22nd, 2009 at 7:34 pm
so the lawyer was like Cyrus Rose? lol Aftercollege im thinking about getting law.. but im still aint sure of it… for me lawyers arenbt intimidating at all.. they’re just smartass..lol ive got law subjects in college and most of mky professors were lawyers..
December 22nd, 2009 at 9:14 pm
Lol at what melle said. From your descriptions, he certainly does sound like Cyrus Rose. I always thought lawyers were intimidating, and my business law professors certainly helped reinforce that impression. I doubt I’ll be visiting one any time soon.
December 23rd, 2009 at 7:07 pm
I think it’s very exciting that you actually made the plunge to go and talk to a lawyer about your future career goals of owning your own business! It is a little scary! My family owns their own business and it took a long time for them to get things going and even now that it’s up it can still be a challenge from time to time.
I wish you all the best with it, though. Lawyers can be such d-bags, but at least you got something out of it and you are thinking clearly. I think it’s incredibly mature that you even weighed out your options and realized it might be best to wait until you launch it! Kudos to you!
Happy Holidays!
-M.
December 24th, 2009 at 3:55 am
I know the feeling of being intimidated by people who are more “superior” than you are but what sucks is, sometimes people in authority abuse this kind of power over us. Psh. At least it’s over now.
I’ve never had a meeting with a lawyer before O_o I just didn’t need to, I suppose?
Merry Christmas!
December 24th, 2009 at 10:45 am
Nope. I’ve never been to a lawyer yet, and I hope I never have to. I may like Phoenix Wright, Miles Edgeworth, Franziska von Karma, and Godot, but I am that fond of real lawyers as I am with fictional! XD