About Alan Kaufman- www.Arkk.com Expertise I can answer questions about starting a small business, acquiring products (both for sale as well as consumables), sales and marketing, advertising and shipping. Everything and anything about running a successful small business.
I get many questions that the answers to can be found with just a little research on the Internet, or at a local library, those places should be your first stop. However it seems that the overall majority of people asking me questions, are looking for the easy way to the answers without putting in a little work, and being self-reliant.
In many cases the questions are very good, but cannot be answered on this forum because I don't have enough information to do so. Keep in mind, that in order to give good information, I must have good information. So if I ask you to contact me through my web site, please do so.
I have given many people the opportunity to my counseling, but few have accepted my offer. That leads me to believe they were not serious about starting a business in the first place, and were not only wasting my time, but theirs as well. If this keeps happening, I will eventually drop off this forum. If I drop off this forum, many other people will have to go without my expertise. So, if I offer you private consultation, take me up on it, or don't bother asking for information. If you're too lazy to do as I ask, or if it's too much trouble, then get your answers from someone else.
My time is worth money. When I offer my services at NO COST, I would expect someone who is serious about making a better life for themselves to take advantage of my generous offer to council.
Experience I have spent many years acquiring the knowledge I have. I have put in the hours, days, months and yes years, learning how to build and run a successful business.
Education/Credentials My credentials are almost forty years in the arena of business. I have worked with, Mom and Pop businesses, numerous clothing boutiques, major retailers of fine mens clothing from the manufacturing side, and pharmaceuticals (reponsible for about $25 million dallars per year in sales), and my own adhesive tape company (for almost 19 years)selling to National Chains, drug wholesalers and distributors.
Question Hello, I am starting a small home business and would like to design a logo. What am I allowed to use and advertise? For example, can I use a Disney character as part of my logo? I'm sure there are copyright laws for this. I have no plans to copyright my finished logo, but I'm a little confused on what I am allowed to do. Should I just hire some one to draw a design my own character?Thanks in advance for your help.
Answer Hi Wailym,
You don't give me a lot of information, so I'll try to answer your questions as they are.
As far as what you can design, the answer is anything you like, as long as it can't be mistaken for an already copyrighted design. And as long as it doesn't infringe on anything that's already out there, advertise away.
No you may not use Disney characters as part of you logo, unless you get written permission from the Disney folks, and that's unlikely.
Do you plan on having your business fail? Is that the reason you are not planning to have your logo copyrighted?
In my opinion, if it's worth creating, it should be worth having it copyrighted for your own protection.
You can create your own logo, meaning that you personally can do it, or you can hire someone to do it for you. Either way, a logo will be created.
