Whether you’re just starting up, or you’re an established business, you’re not just doing it for fun. Certain measures must be made to protect your assets and livelihood. Here’s what many successful business people have done to prevail.
LLC or Corporation?
You don’t see many people in a business where everything they have is at risk. Just about every business is in the form of either a limited liability company or a corporation. When properly run, these forms of business entities operate to protect personal assets. They’re not that expensive to set up either. After that, annual reports to your state’s governing authority aren’t a significant expense.
Insurance
You don’t want the burden and expense of litigation when somebody files an unfounded discrimination or harassment claim against you. If you’re producing a product, a person can claim injury from that product. If you have employees, one of them might get hurt on the job. Most insurance agents can help you with business insurance. If he or she doesn’t sell business insurance, they’ll know somebody who does. Don’t risk everything you’ve worked for. Get properly insured. Nobody likes paying premiums, but everybody is thankful that they did when a claim arises.
Business Attorney
There are causes of action for lawsuits that you never contemplated. You might be innocently infringing on somebody’s trademark, or you could be thrown into the middle of a warranty or commission dispute. Although you have insurance, not every risk is covered. The attorney for your business can either point you in the right direction through sound advice or formally represent you in disputes that aren’t covered by insurance. A business litigation attorney knows that it takes time to prepare and evaluate these sort of matters. Some issues might be resolved with a few letters and 10-minute phone calls. Other issues can take quite a bit longer. If you don’t have a business attorney, inquire with other business people. They can refer you to somebody.
An Accountant for Your Business
Hopefully the day will come when you need to concentrate on your product or service and not on the numbers. That’s what accountants are for. Every successful business has at least one accountant. He or she will help keep you legal while also keeping you organized and focused on growing your business. A good accountant will always be on top of your business and changing tax laws.
You’ve expanded from your basement to your garage, and now you have a dedicated place of business. Success smells sweet. Protect it. It’s your livelihood.
