Smartlife

Startups can have some special concerns when it comes to the process of getting a patent. Hiring a patent lawyer can get pricey, and there’s a lot of paperwork that you have to get just right so that the U.S. Patent Office doesn’t reject your application. But if you have a concept worth protecting, it’s important to get a patent — and it is possible to do so for a reasonable amount of time and money.

The Patent Process

When you apply for a patent, you’re asking the government to…

Ruby on Rails is an ideal framework for building web applications: it’s designed with rapid and flexible development in mind, making it a cost-effective option for getting a web application up and running quickly. Between the fact that Ruby on Rails is open source and it was developed to work with Agile software development methods, it can be a particularly useful framework for startups. That fact has lead more than a few Ruby on Rails developers to become very comfortable working with startups, even to the point of offering flexible…

In the past, you could market a new company by printing out a few business cards and passing the word that you were open for business. But as more startups rely on the Internet for marketing, the steps necessary to promote a company have evolved into a more complex effort. For each step of a product’s life cycle, there are corresponding steps you can take in your Internet marketing efforts to ensure the demand for your company grows.

As you introduce a new company or product, you’ll need to take…

As you work on your first startup, you’ll have questions. Working with a startup consultant can be a fast and effective way to get answers: a consultant can provide concrete guidance on methods to reduce the costs of creating a new business whole, finding capital, developing a business plan, and more. A good startup consultant has worked with several new businesses — ideally, he’s even started a few companies of his own — and can recognize potential problems far in advance. While a startup may not be sure that a…

Starting up a business requires a lot of work, from securing funding to rolling out a product to marketing it to the world. But an entrepreneur also has plenty of opportunities to outsource various startup-related tasks and projects, freeing him or her up to focus on getting the business up, operational, and churning a healthy profit. Here, we provide a list of 25 entrepreneurial outsourcing opportunities. Check it out — and let us know your suggestions.