• What are some of the actions Jack and Sarah took prior to meeting with the attorney that are appropriate for them to have taken?
• Is it too early for Jack and Sarah to begin laying an ethical foundation for their proposed venture? If not, what steps could they take now as a foundation for an ethical culture within their firm?
• Based on information featured in the case, what challenges do you think Jack and Sarah will have keeping their partnership active?

Introduction ma State University R. Duane Ireland, Texas A&M University the name. The Internet domain name, Jack Peterson and Sarah Jones are planning to start a www.luseraccessories.com, was available, so business. Their plan is to locate and operate 10 kiosks they registered it on www.godaddy.com. Part a malls and other high-traffic areas to sell accessories of their start-up funding will be used to hire a for Apple iPhones and iPads. To complement their trademark attorney to do a formal trademark search before they use the name or do any advertising. accessory sales, the two have created a series of short Jack and Sarah met in an introduction to videos that help users learn how to make better use of entrepreneurship course at their local university. They hit their phones and IPads. The videos will be available on it off while working on the initial business plan for User Jack and Sarah's website for a one-time fee of $5.99 Accessories, which they completed as an assignment or on an app they are developing for a $5.99 one-time for the class. Their senior year, they refined the plan download fee. Both the website and the mobile app will by working on it during a business planning class. include promotions to buy additional iPhone and iPad They took first place in a university-wide business plan accessories via Jack and Sarah's kiosks or through their competition just before graduation. The win netted them $10,000 in cash and $10,000 in "in-kind" services User Accessories is the tentative name for for the business. Their plan was to use the money to the business. Jack and Sarah like to use the word establish a relationship with an accountant affiliated with tentative because they aren't completely sold on the university online store. Feasibility Analysis and Business Plan As part of their business plan, Jack and Sarah completed a product feasibility analysis for User Accessories. They first developed a concept statement and distributed it to a total of 25 people, including professors; electronic store owners; iPhone and iPad users; and the parents of young iPhone and iPad users. The responses were both positive and instructive. The idea to distribute videos dealing with how to better use your iPhone and iPad via streaming video over the Internet or via the mobile app came directly from one of the concept-statement participants. Jack and Sarah's original idea was to distribute this material in a more conventional manner. The person who came up with the idea wrote on the bottom of the concept statement, "Not only will this approach save you money (by not having to distribute actual DVDs) but it will drive traffic to your website and your app and provide you with additional e-commerce opportunities." Following the concept statement, Jack and Sarah surveyed 410 people in their target market, which is 15- to 35-year-olds. They did this by approaching people wherever they could and politely asking them to complete the survey. They persuaded one of their marketing professors to help them with the survey's design, to make sure it generalized to a larger population. They learned that 62 percent of the people in their target market own an iPhone or iPad or plan to buy one soon. The survey also listed a total of 36 iPhone and iPad accessories, which are available through vendors to which Jack and Sarah have access. The results affirmed Jack and Sarah's notion that the vast majority of people in their target market don't realize the number of Phone and iPad accessories that exist, let alone know where to get them. They also were pleased with the high degree of interest expressed by the survey participants in learning more about many of the accessories. Start-Up Capital As part of their business plan, Jack and Sarah completed one- and three-year pro forma financial statements, which demonstrate the potential viability of their business. They have commitments for $66,000 of funding from friends and family. According to their projections, they should be cash-flow positive within four months and will not need any additional infusions of cash, unless they expand the business beyond the scope of their original business plan. The projections include salaries of $45,000 per year for both Jack and Sarah, who will both work more than 40 hours a week manning the kiosks and running the business. Jack and Sarah are fortunate in that they are able to each contribute $3,000 to the business personally and were able to gain commitments of $30,000 each from their respective groups of friends and family. A year or so ago they participated in a class offered by their local Small Business Development Center (SBDC) about how to start a business and remembered an attorney saying that it is all right to talk to people about funding prior to talking to an attorney, but don't actually accept any money until you have your legal ducks in order. As a result, other than their own money, Jack and Sarah don't actually have the $66,000 yet. They can accumulate it within 30 days once they are confident that the business is a go. the attorey's office. Preparing for the Meeting with the Attorney Jack and Sarah plan to launch their business on September 15, just a couple of months prior to the start asking around the business school and the technology of the busy Christmas season. They spent some time incubator attached to their university to identify identified an attorney and made the appointment. The the name of a good small-business attorney. They appointment was scheduled for 2:15 pm on July 16 at Another takeaway that Jack and Sarah gleaned from the SBDC class was to plan carefully the time you spend with an attorney, in order to make best use of your time and minimize expenses. As a result, prior to the meeting. Jack and Sarah planned to spend several evenings at a local Barnes & Noble bookstore, looking at books that deal with forms of business ownership and other legal issues and making a concise list of issues to discuss with the attorney. They had also gone over this material in preparing their business plan. In the meeting with the attorney, they want to discussion and make recommendations. Sarah's dad is be as well informed as possible and actually lead the during his career. One thing he told her, in helping her a real estate agent and had dealt with many attorneys prepare for this meeting, is that attorneys are helpful and necessary but shouldn't make your decisions for you. Sarah shared this insight with Jack, and they were both determined to follow that advice in their upcoming meeting Jack and Sarah's Recommendations To put their list on paper and get started, Jack created a document (shown nearby) for the purposing of listing issues they wanted to discuss with the attorney. Jack and Sarah spent the next several evenings completing this list and talking about their business. When they made the call to set up the meeting with the attorney, the attorney told them that she wasn't an intellectual property lawyer, and if it looked like the business was a go after their meeting, she could arrange for them to talk to one of her partners who specialized in patent and trademark law. As a result, Jack and Sarah new that this meeting would focus more on forms of business ownership and general legal issues, and they would address their intellectual property questions at another meeting The Day Arrives The day for the meeting arrived, and Jack and Sarah met at the attorney's office at 2:15 pm. They had Jack Peterson and Sarah Jones Founders, iUser Accessories List of Legal Issues to Discuss with Attorney Issue Jack and Sarah's Recommendation e-mailed the attorney their list of issues along with their recommendations a week prior to the meeting. The attorney greeted them with a firm handshake and opened a file labeled "User Accessories, Jack Peterson and Sarah Jones." Seeing their names like that, on an attorney's file, made it seem like their company was already real. The attorney looked at both of them and placed a copy of the list they had e-mailed in front of her. The list already had a number of handwritten notes on it. The attorney smiled and said to Jack and Sarah, "Let's get started