Nothing is more exciting than the day you finally open up your own business. At the same time, you should know that you are taking on a great deal of public and private responsibility. There are many legal issues that can come your way from this point forward. Here are 5 great ways to prepare for these legal challenges.
1. Make Sure You Have Expert Legal Counsel
One of the most important things that you can do to prepare your firm for a future legal challenge will be to hire legal counsel. There are any number of challenges that can come from a variety of directions. One of the first people you should have on tap will be an L&I attorney. This is an expert who will handle injury issues on your behalf.
You will also need a range of other lawyers to handle other aspects of your business. This can cover everything from the property you are renting for your business to the trademarks you have reserved on its behalf. Any and every area of your career should be covered to give you the best protection from liability.
2. Make Sure You Budget for Legal Expenses
You never know in advance when a legal issue can suddenly pop up. These are the kinds of issues that tend to hit you out of nowhere. For this reason, it’s a good idea to be prepared. One of the best ways to do so will be to budget for it in advance. This way, you can quickly lawyer up to meet a new legal challenge.
The budget that you prepare for this purpose needs to be fairly well stocked. It needs to include operating and other expenses for a variety of lawyers. These should be lawyers that represent each area of your business. Any money that you don’t use in a given time period can be simply be rolled over to the next one.
3. Book Twice as Much Time as You Need
Another rule of thumb that you should observe when dealing with serious legal issues will be to book more time than you really need. This is a preliminary move that can end up saving you a great deal of time, energy, and money. It all comes down to being able to get the maximum time and attention for each issue.
The key here will be to book roughly twice as much time with a lawyer as you think you will need. The reason is that you want to be sure that you get each and every aspect of an issue looked at. The more time you take, the quicker you can get it resolved. The time that you don’t use can be discarded at no cost.
4. Get Legal Advice Before a Big Decision
The worst thing that any business owner can do is to jump on a bandwagon blindly with no advance protection. This is a move that, more often than not, ends up costing you credibility, time, or money. It can also land you in serious legal trouble if you didn’t take the time to make sure the choice was a good one.
Instead of ending up with egg on your face, it’s always better to cover yourself in advance. The best way for you to do so will be to get expert legal advice before you make a major decision that will impact your business.
5. Make Sure Your Legal Protection Overlaps
There is no reason for you not to have multiple levels of legal protection at the same time. This is the way that major businesses all over the world prepare themselves for legal trouble. You should do likewise. You need to make sure that you have different lawyers covering all of the basic areas of your business.
Don’t Go into Business Without Protecting Yourself
It’s never a good idea to try to start a new business without first securing full legal backing. You never know when someone may injure themselves at your office. There is no way to know if the contractor who built your office is going to sue you out of the blue. The more legal protection you have, the better.