LegalZoom's Co-Founders Share Their Secrets of Starting a Successful Business for February's "National Start a Business Month"

LOS ANGELES, CA--(Marketwire - February 2, 2010) - Ten years ago today, LegalZoom.com was little more than an idea that attorneys Brian Liu and Brian Lee had sketched on a napkin. A decade later, LegalZoom is the nation's top online legal document company. In honor of February's National Start a Business Month, the LegalZoom co-founders share their story and their five secrets for success.

While Liu and Lee were working 90 hour weeks for prestigious law firms, their friends and family would ask them for legal help with everything from business formations to wills. The two Brians quickly realized they held the entrepreneur's golden ticket in their hands: an unmet consumer need that they were ideally qualified to fill. That realization led to LegalZoom's launch and service to more than 1 million customers within the company's first decade.

"Our goal has always been to empower Americans to take care of common legal needs in an easy and affordable way," says co-founder and Chairman, Brian Liu. "When we created LegalZoom, we took careful notes during every phase of the business formation process and applied what we learned to make starting a business easier for entrepreneurs."

Today, LegalZoom provides the services friends and family asked for, and more. Liu adds, "When it comes to National Start a Business Month, LegalZoom has the tools and resources for every would-be entrepreneur to get started on their business today."

LegalZoom's 5 Steps to Turning a Daydream into a Dream Business

Step #1: Do your homework. LegalZoom offers a comprehensive Education Center to answer all of your questions so you can make the informed decisions that will turn your dreams into a thriving business.

Step #2: Protect your ideas with a patent, copyright or trademark. LegalZoom makes it easy to protect your intellectual property. Instead of finding, downloading, filling-out and mailing-in all of the necessary government forms, simply answer our questionnaire and LegalZoom will do the rest.

Step #3: Protect yourself by making your business a formal entity -- whether it's an LLC, LLP or Inc. A proper business entity can give your business credibility, limit personal liability, and bring tax and business advantages. From your first declaration, to your grand opening, and throughout the business life cycle, LegalZoom offers the self-help legal services entrepreneurs need to start their business within budget and within the law.

Step #4: Find partners. From securing company business cards, opening a business bank account, or starting a Web site, LegalZoom has screened and selected a list of qualified vendors for you to consider.

Step #5: Grow your company. Corporate minutes, annual reports, partnership agreements, operating agreements, TAX ID's -- make sure every base is covered to maximize profits and operate legally.

About LegalZoom.com

Launched in 2001 by a founding team that includes famed attorney Robert Shapiro, LegalZoom.com has become the nation's leading online legal service. LegalZoom merges innovative technology with personalized service to deliver a simple, cost-effective way to take care of common legal needs. Legal Zoom is not a law firm and can only provide self-help services at your specific direction. LegalZoom service offerings include: Wills, Living Wills, Incorporation, LLC Formation, Living Trusts, Powers of Attorney, Divorce, Small Claims, Trademarks, Patents, and Copyrights.