Get a lawyer on your side
AN ATTORNEY CAN MAKE THINGS EASY IN THE LONG RUN Do you have the necessary forms, did you use the correct terms, and what about the labour regulations? Business can be a legal minefield these days. Make sure you start off on the right legal footing.
There are many facets to making a business work and an entrepreneur can’t possibly manage or control every one of them. Not that you should want to because, as the old saying goes: “If you want to get something done, you have to do it yourself.” But there are some aspects of a business that are simply beyond an entrepreneur’s area of expertise, such as the legal side, and that is where lawyers come in.
Entrepreneurs have always been wary of the need for a lawyer and usually only hire one when a crisis arises because lawyers don’t come cheap and small businesses need every penny to survive. So lawyers can be seen as an unnecessary expense.
But I beg to reconsider: lawyers are absolutely necessary.
Lawyers deal with the legal framework that regulates society, which by implication means you get many types of lawyers practicing different types of law. From an entrepreneur’s perspective, you’ll want to get someone practicing corporate law.
A corporate lawyer helps a business operate within the different regulations set out by government. Fully understanding the legal framework of how to operate within the mining or financial sectors can be a nightmare for the untrained and lawyers can provide guidelines and advice.
Lawyers also help with contract drafting or performing due diligence on documents to ensure the terms are favourable to you before signing. And then there’s labour law. Lawyers are vital to help you stay within the wide ambit of labour regulations while dealing with your employees.
And you constantly face the possibility of a client not paying you after you have delivered product to them; lawyers come in handy in that situation. The same goes if your supplier delivers below-standard product to you; lawyers can help. And, finally, when dealing with banks; loan repayments sometimes overwhelm a business to the point where it defaults. Lawyers can help keep the banks at bay while you sort out your finances.
So lawyers are necessary. The next obvious question that arises is should you keep one on retainer or hire on a per-need basis? It may seem cheaper to hire when you need one because on-retainer requires you to cough up on a regular basis. On the other hand, a retainer gives you a dedicated lawyer and the relationship you build allows him or her to understand your business. So he or she can advise you according to the intimate knowledge he or she has about your business.
And then there’s always legal insurance. Many retail legal insurance firms nowadays have a corporate section. They can help establish the necessary legal skeleton on which you can build your successful dream company.