So You Want to Start Your Own Business . . .
Congratulations! Deciding to tackle such an endeavor is half the battle (or "journey," depending upon how you choose to look at it). Now for the other half of the battle/journey. This article provides some helpful tips for starting a business.
In addition to the basics, such as educating yourself in the field or industry of interest and creating a business plan, there are several legal issues that should be addressed when starting a business.
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Team First: Gather your team of professionals experienced in their field and recruit competent personnel that highly value intergrity.
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Customers/Clients Second: Without the Team there are no Customer/Clients. Don't make the mistake of making Customers/Clients a higher priority than your Team, or your team will leave or worse, stay without true loyalty and commitment.
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Profit Third: Without the Team and Customers/Clients there is no profit. Making profit a priority over Team and Customers/Clients often results in short term gain and long term loss.
If you are not the only participant in the business, a well-drafted Joint Venture Agreement is essential for your success. Misunderstandings between founders bring down businesses everyday. Don't let it happen to you. Joint Venture Agreements are a common means to avoid such misunderstandings.
Your Joint Venture Agreement should clearly set forth each participant's role, expectations, duties and responsibilities. The JV Agreement should also set forth what will happen if a participant no longer complies with the JV Agreement, voluntarily or involuntarily (e.g., disability or death). Click here for Joint Venture Agreement Checklist.
ESTABLISH A SEPARATE ENTITY. Next, establish a separate legal entity, such as a Limited Liability Company [LLC], to protect the personal assets of the participants from activities of the business. Open a separate bank account for the LLC and make sure you do not co-mingle personal funds with LLC funds, as this is a means for dissolving the LLC protection.
CONTRACTS. All contracts should be entered into by the legal entity (LLC or corporation) instead of entering into it personally, to avoid personal liability. In addition, you must sign all contracts in your capacity as a Manager or Officer of the entity (LLC), e.g, "John Doe, as Manager of ABC, LLC," otherwise, you could be personally liable for claims arising out of the contract.
TRADEMARK REGISTRATION. Register your Trademark with the USPTO to protect use of your trademark by others. Remember, its first come first serve with trademarks. That is, first use in commerce wins the rights and registration of a trademark creates an assumption of exclusive rights to use the mark (courts recognize this assumption). Register the copyrights to your web site and other marketing material for the same reason as stated for trademarks.
Also, confirm that you have proper web site content, to reduce the risk of liability. assure you are in compliance with all laws, including, obtaining all applicable licenses and record keeping related to immigration law compliance.
Protect your business interests by utilizing comprehensive confidentiality agreements, non-circumvention agreements, non-compete agreements, employee agreements, independent contractor agreements, and other well-drafted agreements specific to your business.
If you have employees, make sure you have all employer posters required by the Federal and State government. Also, hiring a payroll service to cover your payroll compliance needs, may be a good idea. Note, if only the owners are working for the LLC, you may not be required to run payroll.
Congratulations again; you are on your way!
You will only pass this path once . . . do it right!
Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have. I do not charge for the initial telephone consultation or for client e-mails or telephone calls.
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