| fcg | 0 Comments | SHOT Show

Shot Show Tips

I have been attending the Shot show for more than a decade, and after the first day of the show I am still amazed by some of the ways people in the industry approach the show. In honor of the 2016 Shot Show, here are several (needed) common sense tips we tell our clients who attend the Shot Show.

  1. Set Shot Show Goals: You need to set realistic goals for your Show. The main point is to be intentional about Shot Show. If you are looking for a new supplier, your goal can be as simple as find three new supplier options. If you are selling, you can set the goal as find five new leads for sales. The important thing is that your goals be realistic and that they are measurable.
  1. Make a Plan BEFORE the Show: While each business has different goals for the show and have different responsibilities if they are exhibitors or attendees, but it is important for everyone to have a plan before they go into the Show. The Show is so large that you cannot get your business done by simply wondering through the show. While for many of us the Show may be fun and seem like a vacation, this is a business and the successful businesses make sure to treat it like a business. Have a plan.
  1. Schedule Meetings Strategically: There is simply not enough time to get everything done that most of us want to get done at the show. Therefore, for the meetings you have scheduled you have to think strategically about planning them. If you have meetings all over the hall, make sure to schedule your meetings in the sequence that you will be coming down the hall. If you have a customer that routinely runs late to meetings or holds you over talking about irrelevant information, schedule the meeting last or later in the week when the show has dwindled.
  1. Carry Plenty of Business Cards and Literature: If you have a booth at the Show chances are you have the literature, but be sure to carry some with you when you walk the show floor. Also, if you do not have a booth, be sure to carry business cards. You never know who you will meet and where. I’ve had several clients who encountered their biggest deals of the show at a random booth or on the show floor. It is best to follow the Boy Scout motto and be prepared.
  1. Review your Progress: After each day review the contacts you have made and the progress you have made on your goals. This will allow you to make any adjustments on your next day’s plan. Also, make a list of who you need to follow up with and who should be following up with you. Then email those lists to yourself. That way when you get back you will have a short summary of each day’s activities and you are not relying on your own memory the weeks following the show.

 

| fcg | 0 Comments | Business Planning, Estate Planning, Gun Trust, SHOT Show

New Gun Trust Rules

As many of you have probably heard, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms have issued a final rule on 41F, which will effect how gun trust are regulated and managed. Before the rule, Trustees were not required to provide fingerprints for the application for NFA items. Now anyone who is deemed a responsible party, as defined in the regulation.

A responsible party is defined as:

Responsible person. In the case of an unlicensed entity, including any trust, partnership, association, company (including any Limited Liability Company (LLC), or corporation, any individual who possesses, directly or indirectly, the power or authority to direct the management and policies of the trust or entity to receive, possess, ship, transport, deliver, transfer, or otherwise dispose of a firearm for, or on behalf of, the trust or legal entity. In the case of a trust, those persons with the power or authority to direct the management and policies of the trust include any person who has the capability to exercise such power and possesses, directly or indirectly, the power or authority under any trust instrument, or under State law, to receive, possess, ship, transport, deliver, transfer, or otherwise dispose of a firearm for, or on behalf of, the trust. Examples of who may be considered a responsible person include settlors/grantors, trustees, partners, members, officers, directors, board members, or owners. An example of who may be excluded from this definition of responsible person is the beneficiary of a trust, if the beneficiary does not have the capability to exercise the powers or authorities enumerated in this section.

Unfortunately, as is the case with most legal definitions, this definition could be broadly construed or narrowly construed. We will simply have to wait for further guidance from ATF, which I am assured that they are working on putting out. As we continue to go through the updated rule and the guidance we will keep you informed of how your gun trust may be affected.

For now many of you may have trusts that may run afoul of this change. Don’t worry, it is not a retroactive ruling and they will not come and confiscate your firearms in the trust. This new rule will become effective 180 days after being published in the federal register, which would make it effective July 13, 2016. So if you have any current applications before the ATF you should be all right as well.

However, this may be a problem for those of you who wish to add to the trust. You trust that worked before, may no longer be able to pass the application process. To add to your trust you will need to amend your trust.