May 6, 2026 | 10 Who can sign a business contract? Literally anyone can sign a contract on behalf of your business, even without your permission. Whether your business will be bound by that contract depends on the signer's authority—and that's not always clear-cut. Businesses with multiple owners or employees are at greater risk of this becoming a problem. Actual & Apparent Authority Actual authority to sign contracts is straightforward—it's the people you, as the owner, authorize to sign on...

April 1, 2026 | 9 That's a co-op?? Cooperatives are businesses that are owned by stakeholders (like employees, customers, or other membership group) and where major decisions are made democratically. Every member-owner gets one vote, regardless of how much they invested. Co-ops can be for-profit, nonprofit, or not-for-profit (a non-charity that reinvests all its profits into the organization). People often mistakenly think that co-ops are inefficient, outdated, and unprofitable. But co-ops...

March 4, 2026 | 8 Are handshake agreements legally binding? Yes, sometimes. The purpose of a legally binding promise (AKA a contract) is to be able to enforce the promise or be compensated if the other person breaks their word. How do you enforce an oral contract? Enforcing a contract that was never written down is the same as enforcing any other contract but with the added burden of proving the contract exists in the first place. That's hard to do if it's just your word against the other...