Rush Nigut

Iowa Business and Franchise Law | Rush On Business youtu.be/gOG4kNbjGmw via @YouTube

Adam, I have lived this before you, so I say this with complete sincerity. Enjoy the time with your kids. That part goes fast. Be present. Teach them how to play the game the right way. Effort, attitude, and being a great teammate will matter far more than the scoreboard ever will. And do not let yourself get consumed by wins and losses at this age. That is noise. As my son who is now in sports mental performance talks about all the time, the goal is not to raise great players right now. It is to build confident, resilient young people who love competing, trust the process, and keep showing up. If they leave the field loving the game and wanting to come back tomorrow, you are doing it right.

My overall mood is dictated by whether I can manage my 8 year old’s little league team to a win and whether my 11 year old plays well on his travel baseball team. Nothing else gets to me as much. What is this mental condition?

The FBI seized a CEO's AI chat history. A federal court just ruled it's fair game. In U.S. v. Heppner, a CEO used AI to research his own criminal case. When prosecutors came for those conversations, his attorneys argued attorney-client privilege. The court said no. Chatting with AI is not the same as talking to your lawyer — and those conversations are discoverable. Here's the part most people miss: even "incognito" mode doesn't protect you. AI providers may still retain your data for 30 days or longer. It feels private. It isn't. What this means for your business right now: → Your HR team's AI conversations about employee issues? Discoverable. → Leadership using ChatGPT to think through terminations? Discoverable. → That sensitive matter you ran through a free AI tool last week? Still out there. But here's the flip side no one's talking about: If your HR team used AI to research best practices for coaching an underperforming employee — focused on legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons — that history could actually support your defense in litigation. AI conversations cut both ways. The rule is simple: treat every AI conversation like a company document. Assume it will be read by opposing counsel someday. Three things to do this week: ✔️ Implement an AI usage policy (employees are already using it whether you have one or not) ✔️ Move sensitive matters to enterprise-grade, secure systems — not public-facing AI tools ✔️ Brief your leadership team on what can and cannot go into AI platforms California employers have additional exposure here — new automated decision system (ADS) regulations are already in effect for hiring, and more legislation is moving through Sacramento right now. This isn't coming. It's here. Full breakdown of five things every California employer needs to know about AI right now: californiaemploymentlawreport.com/2026/02/the-fb…

@SMB_Attorney 💯

You guys don’t get it yet. Everyone keeps saying AI is going to replace lawyers. I don’t think people understand how this actually plays out. Let’s say you use AI to draft a contract. The contract misses something important. A year later it costs you two million dollars. What do you do? Right now, you sue your lawyer. In the AI world, you’d sue the AI company. Two things can happen. Option 1: The AI company has liability for legal advice. If that’s the case, every AI company will immediately stop letting consumers use AI for real legal work. The liability risk is massive. Option 2: The AI company has no liability because of disclaimers. If that happens, every state bar in the country will say consumers are being exposed to unregulated legal advice and call it the unauthorized practice of law. And they’ll shut it down that way. Either path leads to the same outcome. Consumer AI will be limited to generic “Wikipedia-style” legal information and LegalZoom level document prep. But the real AI tools? Those will live inside law firms. Lawyers will use them to move faster, analyze more data, and run way more matters at once. The M&A lawyer doing 5 deals at a time will do 50. Trial lawyers will run far more cases simultaneously. The idea that AI replaces lawyers probably dies. The more likely outcome is that AI supercharges the best lawyers and makes the profession even more profitable than ever.

You can draft your employee manual with AI. Just do not be surprised when a lawyer later tells you that parts of it are not lawful or enforceable.

From what I am seeing, AI, especially ChatGPT, will likely keep me in business for the rest of my career. The real issue is not the technology. It is how people use it. Most nonlawyers do not know the right prompts to ask, and more importantly, they do not recognize what they are missing in the answers. Law involves nuance. A single word, omission, or assumption can change the outcome of a dispute. AI is powerful. But without judgment, context, and experience, it often produces answers that feel complete while leaving out what matters most. That gap is where lawyers still add real value.

Are you about to sign a franchise agreement? Don’t do it without understanding what it actually says. Many people miss critical risks hidden in the fine print that could impact profitability and your ability to exit later. rushonbusiness.com/2026/02/articl…

"Franchise agreements are not negotiable” is one of the most repeated lines in franchising. It is also one of the most misunderstood. Before you sign, it helps to know what that statement really means. rushonbusiness.com/2026/02/articl…

@SMB_Attorney Great story for sure but I am sticking with the Miracle on Ice.

With a week to reflect, I’m convinced this was the greatest moment in sports history. A 2-star recruit leads the worst program ever to a national championship, beats his hometown team that wouldn’t let him walk on, and finishes it by running over the same guy who knocked him out the year before, with his mother battling MS watching from the stands. If it was a Disney movie, you’d say it was too much.

This is one of those posts you will want to read twice, then pause for a moment and reflect. It is not easy being in business for yourself.

Be careful drafting contracts with AI. You still need a lawyer review. rushonbusiness.com/2026/01/articl…

Guys, the market standard non-compete in a business sale is five (5) years. This is also required by SBA lenders. Three years is two (2) years of rest and one (1) year of preparation to come kick your ass. Never less than five (5)!

We recently closed a delicate business deal under some tough circumstances. Despite the challenges, what stood out most was how professional and respectful the other side was throughout the process. In a time when the news is full of stories about division and conflict, this experience reminded me that people can still come together, listen, and work toward solutions even when there is considerable disagreement.

Adam is one of the brightest entrepreneurs I have encountered. He embodies how success can follow when you trust your instincts and relentlessly pursue the actions needed to turn dreams into reality.

@Franchise_BW A good lesson.

Want to know why some franchisees fail and others make millions? When I was in the commercial cleaning space, we had a franchise owner who pushed back on all of the coaching we gave him This was an industry that needed heavy outbound sales/ biz dev; a lot of 'gripping and grinning' The franchise owner was averse to what he perceived as "pushy" sales His market was different; the strategies we suggested wouldn't work there Here's the deal The coaching we gave to him was the exact playbook being used across the 130 other franchise owners spanning 30 states This franchise owner ended up selling his accounts to a neighboring franchisee and closed his doors about 18 months after launching If you asked him, I'm sure he'd tell you it was a bad investment...and in his specific case, he'd be right But when you have plenty of other franchise owners running the exact same playbook doing $1 million+ annually, and in some cases upwards of $7 million annually, it's really difficult to say the system doesn't work The owners who were having the most success were the owners that were coachable and following the playbooks If you're going to invest in a franchise, make sure that you're willing to commit to the systems and processes that are in place. If you can't do that, you're going to have a bad experience

I thought what Kyle Schwarber did last night was really cool—he definitely came through in the clutch. But I have to admit, seeing him named All-Star MVP for hitting batting practice pitching is something I never expected.

Mediated a case today where everyone recognized the value of resolving it promptly. A refreshing experience.

What separates the 1% from the rest? They don’t concern themselves with the opinions of others

Hard for clients to sometime understand that a case is rarely black-and-white. Almost never.

Most prospective franchisees overlook the importance of Item 8 of the FDD. Big mistake. Why? That’s where franchisors lock you into specific vendors (and often take a cut). ☑️ No control over pricing ☑️ No choice in suppliers ☑️ Thin profit margins from Day 1 📄 Always read Item 8 before you sign.