There are so many laws and regulations that differ from country to country that it’s hard to keep up with them all.  It can also be a challenge to determine which ones affect you and your business.  Some are obvious, like many of the small business tax laws or the basic copyright laws.  While others are confusing as all get out.

Take for example the product safety laws.  At first glance you may be thinking that the various consumer product safety laws associated with child safety don’t really apply to digital scrapbooking.  Then again - maybe they do.  If part of your business activities includes printing and binding your digi-scrap art products into books that are going to be used by children, do the laws apply to you?  If you sell non-digital products in your online store along side your digi-art products (ringed books or photo albums and such) - are they likely to be purchased for projects made for younger audiences?  Could they be used in school classrooms?  Are you selling your digital products in a physical medium like CD’s of artwork that could potentially end up in the hands of a 12 year old sitting in front of the computer using your products?

The choices for how your products are marketed can even make a difference.  For example, if you show a picture of a family looking at pictures in a scrapbook and a child is included in this family - does it imply that your finished scrapbooks could be considered to be made for adults AND children alike?  It may sound totally ridiculous to you that your digital scrapbooking business could be affected by laws and regulations related to other businesses as far out in left field as the toy business.  However, the fact is that in this day and age we often see outragous lawsuits or something like seemingly silly claims, being seen by millions on YouTube and other internet avenues - completely wiping out small businesses.

There could also be real concerns about the types of materials used in the products you deliver to your customers and how those materials could be unsafe to children!

So what do you do about it?  I mean how do you run your business without being paranoid of breaking laws or getting sued, or deciding to walk away because it’s all so very overwhelming?  There are several things you can do as an entrepreneur to feel more comfortable.  Be prepared for bad things to come about - even if you think it won’t happen to you.  Consider things you can do to protect your business and your family from false claims, from disasters, or from breaking laws that you didn’t even think would affect you.  Put things in place now so you can sleep better at night, knowing your business is on the right track.

Research the Obvious

• Check out the local laws and regulations associated with running a small business in your home.  These laws will vary based on the country where you live, as well as the smaller townships such as providence, cities, counties, etc.
• Look into the tax laws for your areas also.  Research this info both online and offline.  Not only do the various tax associations have local offices where you can talk with trained personnel and get answers to your questions, but they have a wealth of information and additional resources via websites too.
• What form of business have you chosen and how does that affect your personal or business assets should a loss occur?  It can be drastically different depending on if you’ve chosen to conduct your business as a Sole Proprietor, a Limited Liability Company, an S-Corporation, or  one of the other business types that are available to you.  So visit the government offices that apply to your location and business needs.

You may find there are license requirements for you to conduct a digital scrapbooking business in your home.  Then again, maybe there aren’t, but how will you know unless you thoroughly research it?

Get Straight Talk from the Right Professionals

Consulting with a professional before getting started, or when you question how to do something the legal way may be all that’s needed.  Then again you may feel it would be better for you to hire or keep on retainer certain professionals for their ongoing services.

• An accountant or other financial adviser is almost a must in any business endeavor.
• You may want to look at getting business advice from an attorney that is well versed in consumer safety practices if you distribute consumer goods that are delivered offline (scrapbooks, CD’s, crafting products, or finished art products of other types, etc).
• Keep in mind your local insurance agent who can give you council on whether or not you need coverage for loss or damaged equipment or even digital files that make up your digi-art inventory.  Do you have customers come to your home for consultations?  Do you have products your display in homes or use your car for business purposes?  Are there additional insurance needs associated with your business activities that you haven’t thought of?

Just as I encourage you to research in multiple places, I also encourage you to ’shop’ around for your professionals too.  Like coordinating efforts with the right doctor, dentist, vet, or car mechanic - you need to feel comfortable with the business professionals you work with too.  So don’t be shy about choosing the ones that fit well for you and your business!

Digi-Scrapping and Toys

So back to the question I asked in the title of this post - how (if at all) do the product safety laws currently under question in the USA, affect your digi-scrapping business?  Since your business is going to be different from mine, I can’t really answer that question for you.  Surprisingly enough, for me and my business there may actually be a connection.  But I’m not sure.  So I’m off to do additional research and get some advice from my professional team.  If this is one of those questionable concerns you’d like to do more research on yourself, here’s a few links to help get you started:

• Digital Journal Lifestyle Article
• Info at Handmade Toys Alliance
• CPSC document / CPSIA Request for Comments document
• Article at CafeMom
• Viewpoints from various people posting on YouTube

Curious about what got me looking into this toy thing a little further?  A conversation prompt at one of the many S4O scrapbooking Yahoo Groups.  While some of these groups are specifically for paper scrappers, I still find them of interest to the digital scrapbooking side of the house too sometimes.

Do you have an opinion about this?  I’d like to hear it.  Please share your thoughts by leaving a comment!

~ Cindy (aka PaintChip)

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