Being a Business Partner with Integrity

At Safe Shield we strive to help protect your business while allowing you more time to focus on the day-to-day needs of your customers. For a wonderful example of this, look no further than Integrity Auto and Truck, an auto repair business in St. Cloud. Founded by Jason Brehmer almost five years ago, they have been a Safe Shield Client for the past two years. It has been satisfying to work with Integrity Auto and Truck because we are able to provide Jason with the peace of mind that his business is compliant and he doesn’t have to worry about it.

In Jason’s own words: “I could go on and on about the challenges that I face in business. As the business grows, new ones come up and I start to see my shortcomings just as much as my strengths appear. One of them was realizing that no matter how much ambition or drive I have, I simply can’t do it all. It either doesn’t get done or slips through the cracks. A perfect example of this is my corporate documents. I always thought “yeah, I’ll get to them”, but I didn’t. The other component is that I’m a car expert, not a corporate expert. I started to ask myself, “if my LLC isn’t bullet proof, then what good is it?” and “do I know how to make it that way?” After that, the choice was easy. Kent and his team have been great to work with. They call me and remind me, even hound me if need be, to make sure that my ducks are in a row. It is good piece of mind, and priceless.” Jason started Integrity Auto and Truck as a life goal and the work that he does is very rewarding. Safe Shield has strived to help Jason accomplish his goals and run a successful business, while being able to directly see the fruits of his labor.

“There are so many ways they have helped” said Jason. “From making sure I keep my documents in order, to things getting filed as needed. My bank likes them too because of the online access to all of my records. Best feature for me out of all of it, is them calling me and making sure things get done because it is far too easy to keep putting things off.”

We look forward to helping Jason deal with the new challenges that come with owning a business and are excited to see continued growth at Integrity Auto and Truck over the years to come.

Safe Shield Client: Cohlab

Cohlab, founded a year and 4 months ago by Heather Robbins and Cliff Robbins, is one of Safe Shield’s newest clients. Cohlab helps small businesses create a collaborative web and mobile strategy that is both understandable and affordable. Heather and Cliff got the idea after they learned about the struggles their aunt and uncle were having maintaining and understanding the technology surrounding their business’ website. After discovering that many other business owners were experiencing the same frustrations, Heather and Cliff decided to open Cohlab- a company small business owners can turn to for help in growing their business’ online visibility.

While the partnership between Cohlab and Safe Shield is new, Heather and Cliff compliant. So far Kent and the Safe Shield team have helped Cohlab get their documentation and certification in order. “Working with Safe Shield not only gives us one less thing to worry about it also

know what a value it is to their business, “We started with Safe Shield just a month ago; which is a year too late. We wish we would have met Kent when we were first starting to plan the business.” Heather and Cliff are realizing how much they didn’t know about what needs to happen in order for their business to stay provides us with a trusted advisor.”

Knowing that Cohlab’s compliance needs are taken care of, Heather and Cliff are focusing on growing their business. Within the next couple of months they plan to move out of their home office into an office building in downtown St. Cloud. All the while knowing that Kent and the rest of the team from Safe Shield will take care of their business affairs to keep them safe and compliant.

Client Profile: DAYTA Marketing

Safe Shield is in business to protect you and help your business succeed. Which is why it is wonderful to see a client like DAYTA Marketing prosper while enjoying peace of mind. Headquartered in St. Cloud, MN, DAYTA Marketing is a marketing firm specializing in social media. The company was created when CEO and founder Luke Riordan teamed up with his uncle and now business partner John Riordan during Luke’s final semester at St. Johns University. “I decided there was no better time for me to start a business coming straight out of college. I had an awesome mentor and business partner, the market was ready and was in need of social media marketing services”, said Luke Riordan. On February 1st 2012 DAYTA Marketing was born.

In the 2 years DAYTA Marketing has been open, they have gained over 100 clients and opened a second location in Minneapolis, MN. All of DAYTA Marketing’s success has made Luke realize that as the CEO his time is valuable. It is one of the reasons in December of 2013 he called Safe Shield. It has only been 2 months since Safe Shield started working with DAYTA Marketing and Luke can already feel the difference, “Safe Shield takes a lot of pressure off my shoulders. They are proactive and provide invaluable advice when dealing with corporate compliance and formalities. We should have started using them sooner.” With the new office in Minneapolis, both Luke and John and have spent a lot of time traveling. Fortunately, they never have to remember to pack any of their business documents; they can securely access their corporate record book and other important documents via the Internet from anywhere thanks to Safe Shield’s cloud-based Online Record Management System. 

For Luke, watching the company and the team of employees grow is the most rewarding part of his job. Of course a larger company means more responsibility, “Our company will become more complex and having Safe Shield help guide our company in the right direction is very important. Safe Shield's affordable compliance services ensure our company is compliant with both state and federal laws.”

Safe Shield is very excited to see what the future has in store for DAYTA Marketing. Good Luck – and enjoy peace of mind knowing that we’ve got your back.

The Desire to be an Entrepreneur

Behind every business is an entrepreneur; somebody who decided they wanted to venture out and build their own company. Starting your own business is a time consuming process that includes strategic planning and most importantly creating the foundation and structure of a business entity that will protect you. So why do people choose to start their own business?

There are many interesting facts and statistics that explain why people choose to start their own business and the desire to become an entrepreneur is on the rise. According to a survey conducted by Rassumssen University, 71% of Millennials would prefer to work for themselves and 60% of them say they likely will do so within two years. For many, freedom plays a big part in entrepreneurship and more college graduates are choosing to forgo nontraditional employment paths.

Freedom for future entrepreneurs means the power to control their working conditions. They want to be able to work wherever and whenever they like, work on projects they find interesting and travel while working. Its notions like working while traveling that illustrate the point entrepreneurship is not a title or a job description, it is a way of life and it requires desire.

Are you ready to embody the entrepreneurial lifestyle? Click HERE to check out the entity formation section of Safe Shield’s website. “Chase the vision, not the money, the money will end up following you.” —Tony Hsieh, Zappos CEO.

How Safe Shield Started

How Safe Shield Started

With 12 years in operations management, Kent Gustafson was looking to start his own business. The idea for opening a company like Safe Shield started when Gustafson learned that the majority of businesses do not meet basic corporate compliance requirements. He felt compelled to help protect the “little guys”, which resulted in the founding of Safe Shield. The first goal of Safe Shield was to help small businesses already in existence, protect themselves. Shortly after, entity formations services were added. Gustafson wanted to offer resources and support to start-up business owners to ensure they got their business started off on the right foot.

Making sure that businesses start off on the right foot is even more crucial since according to Entrepreneur.com, entrepreneurship is growing at an exponential rate. “ ‘Young people all over the world are looking at the startup career path as a way out of the gloomy years their parents have brought upon them since the financial crisis started’ ”, stated Torsten Kolind, the CEO of YouNoodle

It’s been nearly 7 years since Safe Shield first opened. When asked why he keeps coming back to work Gustafson said, “I love helping people. Clients come to us with excitement about pursuing their new business venture, but have many questions and often times don’t know where to start. I love answering their questions, giving them clear direction, and handling all of the details that they don’t know how to, or simply don’t want to, deal with… We want our clients and future clients to know, unequivocally, that we are 100% focused on looking out for their best interests.”

In order to help even more businesses, Safe Shield has started communicating on social media. Keep an eye out for free tips on starting your business and advice on growing your already existing small business on our Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn pages

Is Starting A Business As Easy As 1-2-3?

Is starting a business as easy as 1-2-3? If you have ever started a business before, my guess is that you are shaking your head NO because you know as well as I do that starting a business is complex and typically involves many moving parts. It requires a lot more than a great business idea, hanging a sign on a building, then selling your product or service...

When starting a business, surrounding yourself with the right people is paramount to your success. You should choose an established business advisor who can assist you with your strategic plan including sales and marketing, operations and delivery, human resources and customer service. It is also imperative that you find the right accountant, banking institution and insurance provider. If you miss the mark in any of these areas, it may put your new business in a difficult position that could be hard to recover from.

It is also extremely important to work with a trusted advisor who can form your new business entity properly. It amazes me how many new business owners go to great lengths to perfect their business plan and all of the items referenced above, but take the do-it-yourself approach to entity formation or choose to work with a sub-standard service provider when addressing the most important aspect of the start-up business process... namely creating the foundation and structure of the business entity that will protect them. If given the time to think through this logically most people would recognize that this is a foolish approach, but starting a business is a time consuming process and many things simply fail to receive the attention that they deserve.

In my years of experience working with hundreds of business owners, I have yet to see a do-it-yourselfer who has come close to getting it right. In fact, this choice always ends with the same result...failure.

I have also seen many business owners who recognize that they are not equipped to handle this process on their own, but choose instead to utilize an "affordable" online service they assume is trustworthy. Ever heard the saying "you get what you pay for"? I will be exploring this matter in great detail in my next post, so please stay tuned for that.

In the meantime, please contact Safe Shield with any questions or concerns that you might have...

Do "Official" Notices Scare You?

Over the past 2-3 weeks, I have fielded more than a dozen inquiries from clients who were concerned by the "Official" notice that they had received from the State of Minnesota.  Each of these notices quoted statutory guidelines regarding corporate formalities and annual meeting documentation requirements for business owners.  Each notice included a Call To Action for the business owner to complete the form and submit it (along with a check to cover the fee).

While I have addressed this issue in the past, I thought it might be a good idea to focus on this matter again due to the number of inquiries we have received.  You see, the problem with these "Official" notices from the State of Minnesota is that they aren't from the State of Minnesota.  In fact, the State of Minnesota's policy is that they do not send out these types of notices to business owners.  I don't know if they feel it is an unwise use of resources or not, but I do know that it is the State's position that being familiar with statutory requirements and obligations is the business owner's responsibility, not theirs.  The bottom line is that these "Official" notices are solicitations, period.

I have to give the companies that send out these notices some credit as they do a good job of making them look "Official", as if they are indeed the State of Minnesota.  Technically, they aren't doing anything wrong and one could argue that it is simply an effective selling technique that makes good business sense.  I wonder how many people who don't know about Safe Shield, simply assume that this is a legitimate requirement from the State and write out the check?

The point that I am trying to drive home today is that sometimes things that look "Official" are anything but that, and hopefully this serves as a good reminder of that for all of us.  For our clients who made the right decision in contacting us, I applaud your good judgment and encourage you to tell other business owners about us because you know what a great job Safe Shield has done in taking care of all corporate formalities and annual review documentation requirements for you.

Whether you are our business associate, client, or trusted friend... please feel free to contact us with questions such as these.  We are here to help!