How to start a miniature company?

[Temperance]

Okay, hypothetical discussion time. I\'m sure that quite a bit of you have had quite a bit of experience in the miniature world, and I was wondering what needs to be done to start up a miniature company.

Some of these questions might be pretty general for any sort of company, so I\'m sure others can give advice for that.

The main question is how to deal with money. Let\'s assume that we have a small group of investors. How is the money dealt with? Some sort of \"shares\" record? How do make sure the money is secure -- simply, to avoid theft?

Second, how do we protect intellectual property? Things like non-disclosure pacts for development?

I\'m sure I have more questions, but let\'s get the ball rolling.

 

[Impernouncable]

As long as it\'s hypothetical.

I think that most of these companies start off as independent ventures of professional sculptors. It\'s a natural progression really. An artist always has designs that they can\'t sell for whatever reason. It seldom has anything to do with the quality of the work, they just can\'t find a buyer. In the case of a mini sculptor, buying a spin-caster and vulcanizer isn\'t a bad idea. Good examples of people who have done just this include Mark Copplestone and Andy Foster (Heresy), both of whom worked for GW at one time.

For one person operations like these IP and non-disclosure agreements are pretty much a non issue.

 

[AAvH-Darkblade]

Originally posted by Temperance
Second, how do we protect intellectual property? Things like non-disclosure pacts for development?

Darkblade Copy Right, again you will need to do reseach on US Copy Right Laws and Intellectual Property. Again very important, and all available at the library.

Originally posted by Temperance
I\'m sure I have more questions, but let\'s get the ball rolling.

Darkblade Do your research... that will save you a lot of grief later on... make sure you have a solid partnership agreement and make sure you know where evryone stands. Write everything down, have meeting, always have a solid paper trail for any agreement, resolution, et al.

Well, I hope that helps a little, 3.5 years ago I help a friend started a dot.com, he\'s now gone from the company and I am running it. Business is always business and the bottom line is just that, $$ are the bottom line. It can still be a ton of fun, even thought it is a lot of work.

Good luck to you.

Regards, Darkblade