๐ชStarting a business: don't lose the family savings
What should you think through first before borrowing money to open a shop or a company?
Tips from this section that apply in the United States. This section describes legal rules, mostly mainland Chinaโs. It is general information, not legal advice; for your own case, talk to a lawyer.
๐งฎStarting a business: don't lose the family savingsโ
Debts of a sole proprietor (ไธชไฝๆท) are paid from money and property in your own name. If it can't be told whether the whole family ran the business together, the whole family's property pays. Opening a company is not a safe harbor either: when the company can't pay its debts, the investment you promised but that is not yet due can be demanded early. So decide how much to put in by this test: even if it is all lost, you can still pay the mortgage and see a doctor.
High value
Evidence B
Saves money
๐ก๏ธStarting a business: don't lose the family savingsโ
If what you sign is a "joint and several liability guarantee," then when the company can't pay, the creditor can skip the company and ask you directly. A "general guarantee" means the company is sued first, and only what is still short after its property is sold falls to you. If your spouse signs along, both people's household property is put in, and the "limited" in a limited company no longer counts for you personally.
High value
Evidence A
Saves money
๐ฅStarting a business: don't lose the family savingsโ
Once your name is on the register, you are legally a shareholder. The money you promised at registration must be paid on schedule, and if you don't pay, you owe the company for its losses on top of paying it in. If other shareholders did not actually pay in their money when the company was set up, you also share in repaying the shortfall. The business was run by someone else, and the debts are in your name.
Top value
Evidence A
Saves money
๐Starting a business: don't lose the family savingsโ
A study in Italy found that founders who first set a hypothesis and then tested it against market feedback did better in business. They were also more likely to change direction in time, and did not give up earlier. So if no one will prepay and no one will place a small order, don't believe that "if I make it, people will come to buy."
Moderate value
Evidence B
Saves money
๐ญStarting a business: don't lose the family savingsโ
The difference between one sample and a thousand pieces is where the money is tied up. Yield decides the real cost. Minimum order and payment terms decide how much you must advance first. Inventory decides when the money comes back. If the product is on the compulsory certification list, it may not leave the factory or be sold without certification and the certification mark.
Moderate value
Evidence C
Saves money
๐จStarting a business: don't lose the family savingsโ
Changing the color, swapping the background or adding your own icon to someone else's image is still using their work without permission. Copying someone else's artwork to make money is the crime of infringing copyright (ไพต็ฏ่ไฝๆ็ฝช), with up to 3 years, if you earn 30,000 CNY, do 50,000 CNY of business, or print 500 copies. On the trademark side, being "similar enough to be confused" is itself infringement.
High value
Evidence A
Keeps you free
๐Starting a business: don't lose the family savingsโ
Take nurses as an example: the regulation says that on finding a patient in critical condition, they must notify the doctor at once, and on finding a doctor's order that breaks the rules, they must raise it with the doctor who gave it. It is the same in other posts: first see where your own procedure draws the line at "must report." Also, if you voluntarily give emergency help and hurt the person, you do not have to pay compensation.
Moderate value
Evidence B
Keeps you free
๐ก๏ธStarting a business: don't lose the family savingsโ
These scams take a sum first, then keep getting you to add more through "upgrade packages," advanced payment for goods and "unfreezing fees." The orders and income in the back end may be fabricated, and when you try to withdraw, you can't. Boosting sales by fake orders is itself illegal, and a management agency that is caught is fined.
