There are a lot of risks when you’re talking about going into business. Everyone knows that. A business is essentially a gamble that your products and services, and the way you deliver them, will win you back a return. Maybe even some profit. However, it’s not just losing money that can be a risk. There are some legal issues that won’t only lose you money. They might lose you the whole business and give you a criminal record to go with it. The following risks of that nature are why you should have legal advice as a businessman.
Your structure matters
One of the very first decisions you need to make in making your business official is one of the decisions that a lot of business owners fail at. Which legal structure is right for you Sole proprietorships are the easiest choice, for example. The founder is responsible for getting all licenses together and managing the businesses themselves. A lot of self-employed people take this route. However, when you involve more people, there are more options in terms of organization. Choosing the wrong one for how you organize the business between you can lead to taxation and other issues down the line.
It’s ever changing
Even for the more experience business people, getting into a new venture provides a lot of new opportunities. Naturally, it means that it provides more risks, as well. Almost every industry has its own set of licenses, provisions and rules to be followed. Some of them are obvious, whilst others can be very involved and complicated indeed. Just because you know how to run a B2B supplier, for example, doesn’t mean you have everything you need to know about working with food. Lawyers like Larry Pino can help business people acclimate to new business environments. You can learn more about Larry here.
Your employees have rights
Unless you’re working mainly as someone self-employed, you’re going to need some employees on your side. There are few small business owners who don’t take their employees seriously. However, circumstances can lead to them failing to take into account all their employees’ rights. For one, you need to be very careful making an environment free of discrimination and harassment. As well as wrongful dismissal. Similarly, being late in your payments can be a hassle, too. Whilst most employees will seek to sort these issues out with their employers, you don’t want to risk them getting legal help.
Health and safety laws
One of the other employee rights is so prevalent in law that it deserves to be highlighted all on its own. We’re talking about their right to a work environment that takes all the possible precautions to ensure their health and safety laws. This applies to all kinds of workplaces. From oil rigs to supermarket floors. If an employee can prove that an injury is caused by poor health and safety standards, it can be a lot of trouble. So it’s best to have your employees as well as a legal advisor to put together all the right provisions.
Intellectual property
One key aspect of business is the ideas and the products that you actually make money from. Until you take the right steps to protect, it can be easy for someone else to steal the unique selling point of your business. Even worse, they can patent it before you, meaning you can’t use it. Worst of all is finding that someone else has already patented it. Proving that you have inadvertently been infringing on their intellectual property. This is an area of law that can be convoluted and complicated for even experienced business people. So it’s best to have someone take a close look with you at how to be protect your business.
The impacts of the environment
The modern age is becoming more and more dominated by the steps that we are all taking to mitigate our impact on the environment. The same consideration is expected and sometimes legally required to our businesses. Whether it’s the air, land or the water. You need to ensure your business is doing everything it can to fight its polluting elements. You can get into trouble with the state and even federal government for not doing your part.
Hopefully we’ve proven in this article that we’re not just trying to make you paranoid. The missteps you make and the risks from outside your business can be very serious indeed. Being unprepared for them means posing a serious risk to you, your employees and the company as a whole. Make sure you’re not in that position.