Legally protecting your business in 4 steps

When starting up a new business, there can be many problems that happen along the way. They can either small issues or pitfalls that provide a long-term issue, resulting in your business burning to the floor before it’s truly had a chance to take off. This can be a common occurrence when it comes to pitfalls related to legal issues. If you have problems with the law this can have a negative impact on your business.

Considering this, here are 4 ways you can protect your business from a legal perspective.

 

Online protection

The majority of users and customers revert to online platforms to discover products and services. This is why having an online presence as a business is a must. At the same time, you also need to be aware of how you protect yourself legally online.


There are several considerations that you need to make including privacy policies, creating disclaimers, business statements, terms and conditions etc. This may feel like a long-winded process, but in the long run it’ll be extremely beneficial for protecting their business.

 

Creating employee contracts

It’s likely in the future, when your business grows you’ll be looking to hire employees on a full term basis. If so, you’ll need to create contracts for your employees which outlines their role, responsibilities and terms of their employment.

In signing the document, this means the employee agrees to the terms and conditions the contract and what they have to oblige to whilst under employment of the business. This provides less of a risk that employees can take legal action against you through dispute resolution solicitors for clauses in the contract.

 

Contracts with work

If you happen to be in a trade of work that deals with clients, contracts should also apply for clients too. Paying on time and for the right amount is key to maintaining your cash flow as a business. If clients decide to drop out outside the terms of the contract or are unable to pay on time, signed contracts are there for your legal protection in these situations.

This is particularly important if you’re a freelancer or a business that’s well established as it prevents clients from taking advantage of you.

 

Have a partnership agreement in place

It can be easier to set up a business when you have a partner. This makes cash flow easier and more funds available as part of the investment for the company. Even if the partner you have is a close friend or someone you trust dearly, you should still consider putting a partnership agreement in place. This will help to put a structure in place about how the business is run, the roles of each partner and how the business will be dissolved later down the line.

There are many changes that could occur to the business during the partnership which means you should keep yourselves protected. You can arrange a solicitor to put the agreement in place, but should also consider hiring a mediation solicitor in case disagreements occur later down the line. 

 

Final thoughts

The points highlighted above would be considered the main aspects of protecting yourself legally with your business. However, there may also be unique legal requirements that are specific to your niche. Keep this in mind and do the research so you’re covered in the short and long term.