It’s not easy to run a business. Not only do you have marketing, employee, accounting, and retail efficiency issues to consider, but there’s a whole legal minefield you must avoid troubling in order to make it through alive and stable.
Running a small business can be so chaotic from a schedule perspective that it can be easy to overlook certain issues. This guide exists to try and help you become more adept at preventing yourself from falling into certain legal traps, and setting up the systems that will allow you to truly benefit from a preemptive and measured approach.
Patent & Copyright Law
If you have something you consider truly original, then it’s important to have it patented or copyrighted immediately. Before you can even structure a business, you need this guarantee, or else your entire enterprise is operating on shaky ground. This is as true for large corporations as it is for small businesses, as being litigated against regarding a stolen idea can truly take the wind out of your sails, subject you to fines, and tarnish the reputation of your firm. It’s important to know exactly what regulating bodies to submit your idea to before it is approved, and to also keep up to date on other corporations who may be stepping on your toes in the industry, as this of course works both ways.
Employee Contracts
Offering solid and well crafted employee contracts helps save you against a multitude of negligence claims and insurance issues. It’s important to clearly list the roles you expect an employee to conduct, any possibility of overtime over the allotted hours, and the generalised expectations you have for them. Safety should also be a massive component, as hiring someone usually means making them a promise of reasonable care and training.
It’s important to pour over your employment contracts to the letter, as employees will often only act within the parameters you have set for them. It might be listing clearly the potential amount of hours you can call them in for, or detailing the qualifications you expect them to achieve after you hire them. This should stay uniform to a degree between staff member to staff member, but a small amount of customisation can allow for more appropriate contracts to be drawn up between employees.
Legal Team
When legal issues do strike (which they are likely to,) it’s important to provide the means to overcome this. Having a solid legal team at your back, such as the fine services offered by Hunter Street Chambers can allow for a swift, effective and thorough response to any claim against you. A legal team is discerning, can proof the validity of claims and argue against them, or can advise your against certain courses of action you may be considering. Your legal team, whether outsourced or in house will act as your counsel, and will inform every decision you make. As you grow and your business deals become intertwined with other firms, or as you grow for dominance, these services are more of a critical necessity instead of something pleasant to have, so be sure to choose well.
These tips should offer your business the armour it needs to keep operating effectively. We hope they’ve helped.
