Everything links!

I’m cleaning up the various blogs now that I’m using twitter more often. This is just a short note to post the most recent blog links of Anook:

http://hoodskein.wordpress.com

http://hoodskein.blogspot.com

Thanks for the follow!

Relocating to Anook LLC

It is exactly 10 months since the last posting. This recession has been tough!

We ended up changing the name of our company, but at least we are now registered: Anook LLC

And we are celebrating, because our flagship product got a trademark! Will Hoodskein™ break us in?

For the meantime, I have been using Twitter to get more connected to the industry we are interested in. Follow me @robertohazav in twitter. More to come as we get everything setup to take off.

Phew! Niacaniaca!!!

Inspiration: Jeremy Jones

Alright, alright, so we got too tangled up in the business start-up phase and for the past 4 weeks been referencing several awesome sites.

But what truly inspires Copa? Nine days ago we found this awesome TGRSNOWBOARDS in partnership with almighty Jeremy Jones trailer in Snowboard Magazine website (http://fresh.snowboardermag.com/videos/jeremy-jones-deeper-trailer/).

And we also found it in Youtube! So, here it is:

It is just freakin’ amazing!

What can $1 get you today?

Our “office” is buzzing this week about the almighty power of the dollar.  As small entrepreneurs, we watch every dollar in and out like a hawk!  So important to balance what you should pay for, and what you need to do yourself.  As less than stellar artists, I must say that the logo is all too important to not have someone else do it.  Check out these guys:  www.inkd.com.  They’re pretty cool, and have a huge variety of designs.  Additionally, I don’t get the feeling that they’re too corporate or indistinct – for a professional shop.

Patents – Who knew they could be so time consuming…. as always, the question is, take the risk and do it yourself… or spend the money and have it done right?

On to more fun topics – some blogs that are really interesting and great reads – great places to find the next new thing or the new breakout company!  Core 77 is a great place to see some cutting edge design.  Is this new board design the next step?

Relevant awesome sites

A site that we have found in our searches that we like about the snowsports lifestyle and trends is http://boardsport.wordpress.com/.  Check them out – they have some great posts!

Logo Design!

In the midst of all of this start-up business, we have been mired down in the details of the business.  But as the 09-10 snow season is starting to show up, we’re getting really excited to get out there and test our product!  We’ve seen so many awesome designs and styles of boards, and we’ve gotta have a great design to complement what is already out there.  We know that having a strong logo design can really help in setting us apart, especially seeing some of the not so great product that has come out.  If you have ideas of what colors to use, what style, images, etc.  tell us in the comments below, and you can help us create our image!

Which is the Best State to Incorporate a Small Business LLC

We have spent the past 5 days figuring out the next steps on setting up our new business of outdoor sports accessories. We have been tinkering around with 3 main topics:

1. How to incorporate. This includes two main issues:
a). Understanding rules of sole-proprietorship, LLC, S-Corps etc.
b). Where to do it, including home state, foreign qualification and costs associated with each

2. Patent applications, drawings and confirm using our personal names as the inventors.

3. Trademark application of product name and logo.

While these are three very different topics, what we figured out is that we need to get #1 (incorporating) done ASAP in order to file any trademarks to the company name. As well as getting it off our plate to finish the patent paperwork and submit.

This all sounds pretty straight forward, but as newby entrepreneurs it is taking us some time to figure all these out, constantly asking ourselves questions, googling a lot, reading useful blogs and asking friends and family.

We made the decision of incorporating as an LLC, but now the question is should we do it in Delaware, Nevada or our home state? We expect to transact in at least 3-4 states, so we are weighing in fees of incorporating on any of the above and then the taxes that we would incur as a foreign corporation in other states.

These are a few blogs and sites we have found useful:
Why in Delaware? : http://www.delawareintercorp.com/t-WhyIncorporateinDelaware.aspx
Home state vs other state?: http://www.bizfilings.com/Learn_About/Where_Should_I_Incorporate
What state?: http://www.startupbizhub.com/which-is-the-best-state-to-incorporate-a-small-business.htm
How to get started? : http://blog.buyerzone.com/2009/08/03/incorporation-why-you-should-and-how-to-get-started/
Why LLC? : http://thoughtsontranslation.com/2008/09/26/some-thoughts-on-incorporating/

If you have another site or advice that we should be aware of in this start-up phase, we will really appreciate it.  Our hope is that if you came about this blog, we were able to compile useful information for anyone in a similar position as us.

The Copa team

Hello world!

And so we begin, our first serious attempt to starting a new business. My wife and I are big outdoors enthusiasts and noticed a while back the opportunity for a line of accessories that we just don’t seem to find anywhere.

While we setup the licenses, submit the patent paperwork, and prepare the prototypes to confirm the opportunity with focus groups I will document our progress though this blog.

If you have any piece of advise starting-up an outdoor sports accessories business, we welcome your thoughts. Please comment on this blog with any constructive feedback, we are “virgin” entrepreneurs and aware we need to keep our mind and ears open.

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Copa … here we go!