Starting a Scrap Metal Art Business

Business Structure

Review the following scenario and respond to the follow-up questions in an APA formatted report. Students will also submit a PowerPoint presentation of no more than 8 slides summarizing the case and your response, to be posted and discussed by peers in Unit 11.
Case
Tom, Dick, and Harry have been best friends since kindergarten. Tom is the business brain of the group. Dick is the mechanical one and Harry is the creative one. All grown-up, the boys decided that they should start making some serious money to provide for their expanding families. The boys decided that they salvage small scrap metal pieces, nuts, and bolts from junkyards and salvage yards which Harry would design and Dick would cast and weld into decorative art pieces. Tom will raise money from friends and family and look for distribution channels. Dick has a stepdaughter, Dorothy, who is 16 and mechanically inclined as well. Dorothy could be Dick’s apprentice. Harry’s wife, Helen, is a recent BBA graduate from Yorkville University specializing in marketing and she could be recruited to help with sales and marketing. Helen’s good friend, Fern, is an award-winning designer with a national home decor chain who the group might be able to induce to join them. Tom’s twin brother, Tim, recently won the lottery and is pursuing his dream to be a photographer. Dick’s wife, Janine, is a real estate agent; she believes she has found an old warehouse in the industrial part of town that could be turned into their headquarters. The owner of the warehouse, Jordan, is retiring and open to the idea of selling or renting the space.

How might the business be structured? What might be some of the legal issues that could arise in operating the business and selling the product? What are some of the agreements that might be needed?