Unf*ck Your Biz With Braden

On today's episode I'm talking about the latest scams, bullshit you can avoid as a business owner, and what to look out. I record an updated version of this episode almost every year (you can listen to past Stop Paying for Bullshit versions on episodes 10, 102, 259, and 312). This week’s episode is brought to you by the Contract Club®. All the contracts you need, all in one place. Just pay the cover, and you’re in for life. Join now for $200 before the price doubles on December 1st.  The main purpose of this episode is that you need to have a base knowledge and understanding of some tax and legal basics in order to get the most out of who you're hiring so you don't get f*cked over.  Bullshit You Need to Stop Paying For 1. Overpriced registered agents - Hiring a registered agent is not necessarily a bad idea, it can protect you from your home address being listed with the state or you may not live in the state where you filed your LLC, though you usually want to form your LLC in the state in which you live. But, you can find registered agent services for $75-$150/year. I worked with a client almost 10 years ago who was paying an online service $300/year for a registered agent. Way too much! 2. Companies that offer LLC filing services - Essentially you're already filling out a bunch of forms and then just paying them to file them for you and then you don't really know what your ongoing obligations are. I had a student in Unf*ck Your Biz who had a bookkeeper and a CPA but filed her LLC with an online filing service and was not aware she also needed to file annual statements of information and pay her annual franchise tax along with filing a franchise tax return. That's something her CPA really should have flagged, but it's a good thing for you to know so you can ask your tax preparer. Because she went four years without paying these fees, her bank account got levied for ~$3,500. And I've had this happen to several other students, but instead of the levy their LLC was involuntarily dissolved.  In addition, these filing services don't walk you through anything, they just give you the forms you can get yourself on your state's website. And because they don't explain anything to you, I've had clients who used these services and filed incorrectly, like a corporation when they needed an LLC which also led to them paying way more in taxes.  3. Spam mailers - Labor law posters are big example of this. When you form your LLC, there are people who monitor those registrations and then send you notices saying under state law XYZ you're required to have labor law posters. Buy ours for $X. If you are actually required to have them, you can get them from the state. These companies try and charge you for things that you may actually need, but doing it under the guide of trying to appear like a state agency to mislead you into spending money.  4. Trademark registry letters - I've seen letters that quote $1,500 for trademark registry. And I don't even I don't even know what this one is because you apply and register your trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. That's what you pay an attorney for. We've filed over 200 of them. But then as soon as you file, you get these scam letters like, "Allow us, private company that sounds like a government entity but isn't, to register your trademark. You need to send us $1,500." and it's a complete scam. Anytime you file a trademark, all communication should go through your lawyer, via email from the trademark office.  5. BOI filing compliance letters - Sometimes companies try to scare you into paying them to file your BOI for you. It's probably a scam, especially because that's been temporarily frozen in under the Trump administration. Anytime you get a letter asking you to pay any money, check to see who it's coming from and note that any of these emails should have a .gov email address.   6. Electing S Corp status too early - I get so many ads and social media posts saying to form an S corp to save you $10,000+. The truth to this is that yes, S corps can save you money, more on that in future episodes, but the amount you save is often overstated by the people trying to sell you the service and if you're a brand new business owner not making much money, usually less than $70,000+, then an S Corp would actually cost you more money that it would save you.  7. Overhyped tax deductions - If you don't need it for your business, don't buy it. You're spending more on whatever it is you're buying than that deduction is saving you in taxes.  New Bullshit to Look Out for in 2027 8. 1099s you don't need to send - The threshold to send 1099s went from $600 to $2,000 for 2026 payments. Those things are being updated on a regular basis, stay tuned for a whole episode on 1099 rules in January.  9. Subscription creep - Software prices keep climbing. Keep an eye on what you're paying for and how much you're actually using them. 10. AI - I can't blame you for using AI for so much in your business, but it can be bad news if you're using it too much. Make sure you're not stacking AI subscriptions like Chat GPT, Claude, Jasper, AI notetakers, the list goes on and it adds up. And don't use AI contract generators. They may seem cheap upfront, but the generic contract you get may be compiling clauses that aren't relevant or enforceable which would cause your contract to be thrown out if you end up in a legal issue. Also stay clear of AI logos and brand names because content generated purely by AI cannot be copyrighted.  And please, be very wary of AI legal and tax advice because it can cause all kinds of problems.        

On today's episode of the podcast I'm walking you through how I conduct my monthly profit reports, breaking down my revenue and expenses, and setting my November projections.  This week’s episode is brought to you by the Contract Club®. All the contracts you need, all in one place. Just pay the cover, and you’re in for life. Join now for $200 before the price doubles on December 1st.  I've started adding my Profit Reports in-depth to my blog. You can see all the numbers and charts I mention in today's episode here: notavglaw.com/blog/profit-report-october-2026 For the step-by-step details on how to run your own Profit Report, check out episode 355 or head to our blog notavglaw.com/blog/not-your-average-profit-reports-the-intro

On today's episode of the podcast, I'm talking all about contractor law, what's changed since the last time I recorded an episode on the topic, and how hiring legally impacts you as a business owner. If you missed my last episode on contractor law, go give episode 382 a listen where I chat with HR expert Kira La Forgia about the legal risks of hiring. 

On today's episode of the podcast I chat with Samantha Burmeister, founder of Nomad Copy, abut AI's impact on copywriters and business owners.About Sam From corporate to copywriter, Sam was traveling full time and travel blogging when she ended up started her business which led her to the name, Nomad Copy. Her business took off in 2020 when service providers couldn't have clients uninterrupted their office, and now she writes copy for "anyone slinging their services on the internet."    The Impact of AI on Business Owners While people tell Samantha that AI is coming for her job, she tells them that AI can't do what she does which is understanding sales psychology and the buying process. People don't want to buy from a robot,  they want human connection and if you're using AI in your writing, it's not showing people what they get when they work with you and your brain. Samantha uses AI for tasks like turning her podcast plans into bullet points, but not for client tasks because people are paying for her brain.    AI Copy Disclosures  After surveying her audience and other people's audiences, people just want to know if and how you're using AI, especially on thr parts they're paying for. For example, if people are joining a program to get access to your team, only to find out your team is a bot you coded. They want to know if they're paying for a template or a GPT. People are paying for AI, they just want to know what they're getting. What percentage of what you're offering is AI? People are looking for the answers in your sales pages.    AI Transparency Clauses We got asked inside the Contract Club® "           Get in Touch with Samantha Burmeister Connect with Sam on Threads @nomad.copy

On today's episode of the podcast I chat with Erin Perkins, accessibility educator for small business owners and founder of Successible, a Chrome extension for entrepreneurs, agencies, and businesses that helps you finds the accessibility leaks in your content. I'm a lifetime member of Successible, and Erin's trademark attorney. About Erin Erin identifies as deafblind, a spectrum on which the accessibility needs vary person to person. Erin wears a cochlear implant and hearing aids and her vision is 40-50 degree peripheral. She created Successible, which she describes as like spell check, but for accessibility. It allows you to check your website, your email, your courses before you actually click publish to make sure that they are accessible. Erin focuses her work on digital accessibility to create access to online spaces.  Digital Accessibility Example A prime example of the need for digital accessibility is the Dominos lawsuit in 2019 where a blind man could not use screen-reading software to order food online. Domino's response was he could order in person because their physical location met accessibility standards. The Supreme Court ruled in the customer's favor and laws have been amended to address that you must have digital accessibility regardless of your physical accessibility.  Digital Accessibility Law Governing law on accessibility varies by location, and the United Sates is really behind in the digital accessibility space compared to other countries. We'd rather focus on the European Accessibility Act because it is more in line with how technology is. It came to be June 28, 2025 and basically it require privates and public sector organization to make key digital product and services accessible with people with disability which align with the web content accessibility guideline 2.1 level AA. The European Accessibility Act applies to us in America because your website is accessible worldwide. There are two exceptions: 1) If you are a microenterprise, which mean you're a business that has less than 10 employees and you make less than $2 million, you are generally exempt from that service requirement and 2) if it provides a disproportionate um economic burden which you have to prove formal documentation.   While this may not apply now, if you are aspiring to this point, you will have to go back and make everything on your website accessible once you hit that point and it will cost you a lot more down the road. Lawsuits do happen over website accessibility, and while you shouldn't live in fear, you should make sure to keep accessibility in mind as you grow. What Does Successible Check For?  The Chrome extension is Erin's solution for business owners who want to be accessible without feeling they had to be an expert. It flags color contrast (which is one of the easiest fixes to make, you may just need to switch up your color combos or what brand color you put on what background), heading order (allows screen readers to read outlines to determine the sections and allow you to skim and decide what section to read more of), alt text (concise text that allows people who use screen reader to understand what's being communicated visually. If this image is going to take you somewhere when clicking on it, you'll need to put that in the alt text too), and video captions. To see Successible in action, watch the demo mentioned in the episode at bradendrake.com/successible  Accessibility with AI Language learning models like Claude don't have accessibility built in, so they don't take aspects like color contract into account when building, you'll need to give guidance.    Get in Touch with Erin Perkins Connect with Erin on Threads @mabely_qCheck out Erin's website www.mabelyq.comGet access to Successible with my affiliate link at bradenadamdrake--mabelyq.thrivecart.com/successible-checkout/

On today's episode of the podcast I'm walking you through how I conduct my monthly profit reports, breaking down my revenue and expenses, and setting my October projections.  This week’s episode is brought to you by the Contract Club®. All the contracts you need, all in one place. Just pay the cover, and you’re in for life.  I've started adding my Profit Reports in-depth to my blog. You can see all the numbers and charts I mention in today's episode here: notavglaw.com/blog/profit-report-september-2026 For the step-by-step details on how to run your own Profit Report, check out episode 355 or head to our blog notavglaw.com/blog/not-your-average-profit-reports-the-intro

On today's episode of the podcast, I'm sharing my story of loneliness and entrepreneurship.  You're invited! I'm hosting a free live training on October 1 called Plan Your Best Year. I'll be sharing my planning process and how you can get your business besties involved to achieve your goals with the help of community and collaboration. Sign up for Plan Your Best Year at Bradendrake.com/training  If you've heard the phrase, "You're only as good as the company you keep," I tend to think it's true. And the question is, who is the company you keep in your business? For many of us, it may be Claude, but we also need a human person. And I learned early on in my business that that human person wasn't always going to be someone close to me in my personal life. And that's what leads me to my journey through loneliness. I started my business in 2017 and I was so excited but my husband at the time didn't seem that genuinely interested and I had a lot of insecurities about talking about my business as well because our biggest issue was money and finances and I felt like the conversation would pivot to when is my business going to be able to contribute more. My parents didn't really ask me many questions, they just wanted me to be happy and successful. My husband's friends thought I had "a cute little business" despite being a lawyer. I was losing touch with college and law school friends as we spread across the country. I felt like I was in a vacuum.  I went out and got a WeWork office I could not afford to meet people. I met a few, started a networking group, started listening to podcasts, attending Rising Tide meet-ups and that was my intro to the wedding industry and working with creatives.  Through this I met a woman who ran a $10k mastermind that I joined (note that the year before that I had made $30k for the year and was on track for $70k in revenue that year but with like $30-40k profit, a $10k mastermind was a lot of money). I was finding myself shuffling money around every month when it came time for my payment, but it ended up being one of the best investments I've ever made in myself or my business.  I was put in a group of six and to this day, almost seven years later, we still meet every month (this is usually frowned upon, you would re-enroll in the mastermind, but the woman who led our program didn't host another mastermind). We still text almost daily and they are my core group of friends.  I went on to join Amy Porterfield's program Momentum and was put in a peer pod for a couple years.  I then joined Stu McClaren's mastermind that went for the duration of his course and now I'm in another mastermind that meets monthly. As you can see, I've had a lot of iterations of business and brainstorming groups. At any time I feel like I need at least two places to go and ask questions.  I'll often journal, then talk to my team and my mastermind about my ideas. Over the last seven years with my mastermind group, that's where I came up with the Unf*ck Your Biz name, created the Contract Club, was encouraged to launch my affiliate program, we navigated the launch of my podcast, its retirement, and its relaunch, and navigated a couple rebrands. We've talked each other down from wanting to quit our businesses. Sometimes we just need people in our corner to tell us we're doing alright.  All this to say, if your friends and family don't share your business interests, it's okay and it's time for you to find some business besties beyond just the people who respond to your Instagram stories for surface-level conversations. People you can really talk to.  This is why I'm launching my own mastermind on October 1st and it's wayyyy less than $10,000 (though I don't have beef with a $10k mastermind). Have questions about joining? Sign up to attend my webinar on October 1st or DM me @bradenadamdrake on Instagram

On today's episode of the podcast, I'm sharing how the key performance indicators (KPIs) you track help you achieve your goals .  You're invited! I'm hosting a free live training on October 1 called Plan Your Best Year. I'll be sharing my planning process and how you can get your business besties involved to achieve your goals with the help of community and collaboration. Sign up for Plan Your Best Year at Bradendrake.com/training This episode is kind of a part 2 to last week's so if you missed it, give a listen to 384 - How to Set Goals You Actually Achieve.  On October 1st, I'm launching a mastermind, and the guiding light to that program will be KPIs and what to measure to track how you'll hit your goals.  The ultimate purpose of this is to come up with long term goals and figure out what you need to do in the short term to get them there and know what to measure in order to track progress of longer and shorter term goals.  What's a KPI? A key performance indicator (KPI) is a metric or data point that gives you key information about the health or current state of your business. To me, revenue is the mother of all KPIs.  Your goals will dictate what KPIs to track. For example, if you want to increase your reach and brand awareness, you may keep an eye on your Instagram story views, and let that drive your social media decisions like testing poll stickers on your stories for more engagement or using different CTAs to try and convert more link clicks from your stories.  Another KPI that's helpful to track is lead sources which you can do by asking your clients how they found you. This measurement was why we stopped the podcast, because we found a lot of our sales were made by people who said they never listened.  Focus on priorities in your business so you know what to track, and where to spend your time. The better your tracking gets, the more you'll know where to spend your time.   What types of KPIs should I track? There are three kinds - primary, secondary, and tertiary. The primary KPI is the topline number of the main thing you want to track. Let's take ads for example, If want to run ads to build my email list, the most important metric might be cost per lead because it gives a quick picture if the ad is costing me more than it's making me.  I consider the primary KPI the bottom of the funnel, the end all be all number. It's the most important but also the least because what we really need to know is how we're getting to that number.  If your primary KPI is revenue, you want to track how you're getting that revenue and what's converting. So your secondary KPIs might be the total number of people following you on social media the number of new email opt-ins you get, the number of podcast downloads, certain Facebook ads metrics, etc.  KPIs vary by business, for example one-on-one service-based businesses may focus on inquiries or sales call conversion rates as opposed to products sold or average checkout cart value.  To start tracking these secondary KPIs, it's time to move up the funnel another step to the tertiary KPIs. Let's say you start tracking your number of leads every month, conversions, and average value per client. Once you've started tracking data, you have more to compare it to.  If conversion and leads is a secondary KPI, our tertiary KPIs would be data points that inform monthly leads such as Pinterest saves or TikTok followers.  For example, if most of your traffic comes from SEO, you'll want to take a deeper look into the peaks and valleys of your blog analytics. Our goal here is not to track everything, it's to track what makes sense for your business. You can start tracking your conversion and average value per customer/client based on the lead source. You may find that while leads from one source may be plentiful, they only convert at 10% compared to 40% from another source, but that 10% conversion is taking 50% of your time.  If you free up your time, you can spend it on higher-converting projects to bring in more money.  I'm going to talk more about this on our live training that is going to be on October 1st. I'll try to come up with some new fresh examples for you all. And then I also want to ask you all to give some of your own examples to brainstorm what your main goal is that you're going to focus on in Q4 specifically and what couple KPIs you could be tracking in order to maintain or rack your progress.  See you at the training!  

On today's episode of the podcast, we're diving into my goal setting process and how to go about actually achieving the goal you set.  I'm hosting a free live training on October 1 called Plan Your Best Year. I'll be sharing my planning process and how you can get your business besties involved. Sign up for Plan Your Best Year at Bradendrake.com/training It's been a minute since I've heard a good goal setting conversation, and I'm taking a different approach to it on this episode. The reason we're talking about this today is because I'm getting ready to launch my brand new mastermind, which is all about finding your business besties, with the guiding light of the program being the numbers and achieving your profit-driven goals.  "We often overestimate what we can do in one year, but vastly overestimate what we can do in 10" is one of my favorite quotes. When we set our vision and goals, we often bite off more than we can chew but then don't appreciate how much it can compound year over year. Goal setting is like a puzzle. You may be able to do the border and the center image, but those low-opacity background pieces? Not so much. The more you work on your goals (the borders and the image) the more those background pieces (your longterm goals) become clearer where they go.  We start the goal-setting process by where we want to be 10 years from now. Once you have your long-term vision, now you come up with your three year picture to start to get you there. To make this doable, what structural changes do you need ti make? Break your picture down further into an annual goal and quarterly goals. What are reasonable stepping stones to hit those three year targets? What are the specifics of those stepping stones? Most of this goal setting process comes from the Entrepreneur Operating System from the book Traction, by Gino Wickman. Inside the system is the step of setting rocks. Rocks are based on the analogy that you have a jar and if you fill it with sand first, you have no room to add rocks, and rocks are the most important goal. But if you fill it with rocks, then sand, you'll have room for the most important goals, and then the day-to-day work (the sand) Your rocks are your big picture projects like write a book or update your website. Rocks are big projects, but ones you can work on and check off your list. With your goals in mind, set the steps you need to execute to complete these rocks.  Tune into next week's episode where we dive into how to measure the success of the steps you need to take to execute your rocks.     

On today's episode of the podcast I'm walking you through how I conduct my monthly profit reports, breaking down my revenue and expenses, and setting my September projections.  This week’s episode is brought to you by the Contract Club®. All the contracts you need, all in one place. Just pay the cover, and you’re in for life.  I've started adding my Profit Reports in-depth to my blog. You can see all the numbers and charts I mention in today's episode here: https://notavglaw.com/blog/profit-report-august-2026 For the step-by-step details on how to run your own Profit Report, check out episode 355 or head to our blog https://notavglaw.com/blog/not-your-average-profit-reports-the-intro