Legal matters to open a Studio?

[song4themoon]

I have been running my studio out of my basement.. works for now but eventually I need something bigger and nicer. I have my business registered and everything legal.
A friend of mine used to own a studio back in her homestate and we now have been offered to use the office space that her in laws own for a studio. We would be splitting the rent and probably run it as two independent photographers. Now there is sooo much involved before we can start this and I know we have to sit down with a lawyer.

But for now.. can you tell me what I need to look out for. Things I need to ask, need to write out and need to take care of?

[Longwatcher]

I can only give two pieces of advice.

1. Check zoning laws - although if you are going into office space you should be golden already.

2. make sure you have an agreement with your friend that covers the issue of separation at some point. Otherwise if one of you decides to go their own way it does not get messy.

[ssim]

I have been operating out of my house as a registered business in the city I lived in. Even though I am operating out of home I decided to get a lawyer that would guide me through the process of making sure that I had all the necessary documentation and liability areas covered. At the end, this cost was deductible as a business expense.

I had never thought of liability insurance myself and hope that I never have to use it. This would cover things like, if your hot lights tipped over and started a fire. It costs me about half the revenue of one wedding per year so I thought it was "peace of mind" expense.

I also had him go over all of my self made contracts to make sure that they would stand up if for some reason they were challenged. We changed some wording.

Longwatcher gives you good advice here as well.

I don't want to have a "storefront" as I am really comfortable doing it this way. Good luck on your venture.

[Wilt]

Business license (local level); State Board of Equalization registration for payment of Sales Tax collected (and so that you do not have to pay Sales Tax on items that are used directly in the production of your end goods); compliance with zoning where your business is located;
Liability insurance (e.g. if your lights fall onto a customer and hurt them, or if they trip coming in and have to get hospital treatment after the fall!); check that the name for your business is unique in your county (to prevent issues when two non-related businesses use the exact same name) and legal notice published in the newspaper

[PhotosGuy]

check that the name for your business is unique in your county (to prevent issues when two non-related businesses use the exact same name) and legal notice published in the newspaper And make sure that you have your own phone number. Maybe a "Suite B" address too, to make it easier to redirect your mail if you need to later.