Newly Published Business Guide - Authored by Baltimore Professional - Helps Businesses Move to the Next Level

(I-Newswire) January 25, 2010 - (Baltimore, MD) – Business owners contemplating expansion, entrepreneurs crafting business plans, CEOs reviewing legal agreements, executives looking to strengthen their management skills, and corporate leaders trying to improve their bottom lines have a new tool at their fingertips with the recent release of The Business Owner’s Pocket Guide, a resource that offers pragmatic advice, tips and guidance on founding and managing a business.

Eliot Wagonheim, Baltimore-based attorney and author of The Business Owner’s Pocket Guide, has counseled companies and individuals for the past two decades on legal matters involving banking, general business operations, construction, litigation, employment matters, mergers and acquisitions and real estate. He has appeared on local television programs, served as a keynote speaker at corporate events, written numerous articles published in newspapers such as The Baltimore Sun and Baltimore Business Journal and has authored several financial and business publications including The Art of Getting Paid (1996), Get Your Money: How to Protect Your Business Without Losing Your Customers (2000), and The DebtCollect® Recovery System (2004) and the Pocket Guide series (2007-2010).

“In today’s business climate, where the margin of error is more narrow and unforgiving than ever, decision-makers in business need access to resources that help them make smart, knowledge-based decisions,” said Wagonheim. “The Business Owner’s Pocket Guide is a practical, no-nonsense tool that can help a fledgling company become a thriving one.”

The Business Owner’s Pocket Guide guides readers through topics critical to growing a business such as contract language and risk evaluation, banking and credit lines, employment matters, business models, succession planning, smart strategies on marketing and communication, hiring/firing and management.

New business owners will find Wagonheim’s counsel on taking on a partner or investor helpful in his chapter on “Growing a Business” where he stresses that no business owner should consider a partner without first carefully developing a relationship with that person on a non-equity basis. There are a number of options or “equity alternatives,” which Wagonheim outlines, that can be offered in lieu of transferring an actual stake in the company. Additionally, terms and conditions of a partnership should be carefully laid out in writing to include a detailed description of responsibilities, governance, termination, exit strategy and post-separation obligations.

The information found in the chapter on employees will help managers looking to improve their turnover rate by examining the hiring process among other topics. An important issue discussed by Wagonheim is discrimination. One particular point for all employers is the avoidance of questions which can seem harmless, but which can unintentionally land a company in hot water on issues concerning race, gender, age and religious discrimination.

Seasoned professionals will find Wagonheim’s advice on succession planning valuable as the timing, steps and decisions can be detailed and need to be careful considered. One strong point Wagonheim makes is that an ideal succession plan is put into motion five years out and involves a multitude of considerations including the choice of successor, recruitment timeline, training, compensation and benefits for the successor and more.

The Business Owner’s Pocket Guide is available for no charge at www.wagonheim.com or by calling 410-584-1110.

The Business Owner’s Pocket Guide is the third in a series by Wagonheim. His other publications - The Contractor’s Pocket Guide and The Banker’s Pocket Guide were released over the past several years.

Wagonheim is founder and managing member of Wagonheim & Associates LLC, a Baltimore-based law firm catering to individual and corporate clients whose business activities require broad-based legal services. The firm distinguishes itself from other law firms through the breadth and complexity of their practice, multi-state reach, and the single-minded goal of achieving clients' objectives. For more information on Wagonheim, visit the company website at www.wagonheim.com or the company blog at www.bottomlinebusinessinsights.com.

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