Starting a business is surprisingly simple and it seems like everyone is starting a new company these days. While it may be simple just to set up your online shop and go, you really should talk to a lawyer when you’re first starting out. A good business lawyer can be a mentor and wealth of ideas for your business. Since they’ve helped so many others grow and succeed, they’ll have insight into many different aspects of the business.
Before you embarked on your business, you probably spent some time drafting a business plan. The purpose of a business plan is to think through the various facets of the business and how they work together so you’ll have a plan for moving forward. Talking to an attorney and drafting documents with them serves a similar purpose. These documents can give you guidance on how to run and grow your business, how to deal with changes in ownership and major financial decisions, and how to handle unexpected issues in the future. Taking the time to think through these issues now gives you a road map for future success.
Your business lawyer will also help you set up an entity that protects your growing business and your personal assets. Depending on the industry you’re in, they can guide you around regulations covering everything from liability insurance to sales tax and make sure any contracts you need to have are adequate to protect you. Having the correct documentation and records processes in place early is a huge advantage to business owners. While it may seem like an unnecessary expense up front, dealing with a good, experience attorney can save you hours of headache and expense when a missing or improper document creates a conflict down the road.
If you’re forming a business with a partner, your attorney can help the two of you set up operating agreements and buy-sell agreements. These act as a road map for the future of your business and if things go well, or poorly, give you guidance on how to proceed. Often, when people form a partnership, they consider the current state of their lives, but don’t think about the future. So if, for example, one party, several years down the road, is no longer able to do their work, what happens? These are the sorts of questions your lawyer can help you discuss. They can also provide guidance on what other companies do and provide suggestions on different ways you can handle different concerns. If a business is successful and lasts longer than a year, there are all sorts of issues that are likely to arise that can be planned for and even, in some cases, mitigated.
When you choose a business lawyer, you want someone with wide experience in all the different aspects of starting, growing, and running a business. From writing your first check to hiring your first employee, the attorneys at Virtus Law Firm can give you advice and guidance to make sure you handle everything properly. Give us a call at 612.888.1000 or email us at info@virtuslaw.com and schedule a consultation today.