Small Business Owners: Don’t Make These Common Legal Mistakes

New business owners are understandably busy people. Marketing and networking quickly become the primary focus of the day and the legal stuff often gets brushed to the side. However, even small businesses can find themselves in legal trouble if the business is not set up correctly from the beginning. That means hiring a business attorney that can help you make sure you make the right choices for your company and cover all of your bases. Here are a few ways that business attorneys can help protect you:

1. Tax Laws – How familiar are you with business tax laws? Do you know what is required of you to keep documentation of and for how long? Business laws are strict, and you need to follow them from the start. A good attorney can help you understand what is expected of you as a business owner regarding tax laws and how to make sure you stay on track.
2. Business Structure – If you don’t know the legal differences between a sole proprietor, and LLC, and corporations, you won’t know which one is best for your company and your company’s needs/goals. Find an experienced attorney like the attorney’s at Baker Harris Law in Blackfoot to help you start your business right.
3. Terms And Conditions – Terms and conditions allow you to form an agreement with your customers. The terms and conditions contain all of the specifics of your products or services and the customer’s obligations. The customer agreeing to the terms and conditions can protect you in a court if that customer tries to take legal action against you.
4. Employee Documentation – You are required to obtain specific documentation on your employees. Each employee should have their own file that keeps all of their personal information and anything related to their work performance, reviews, accidents or injuries, and reprimand. This is a big deal and by not complying with this law you can risk your business being shut down.
5. Non-Disclosure/Non-Compete Agreements – Companies that use secret recipes or formulas to make their products require all employees to sign non-disclosure and non-compete agreements so that the employee cannot leave and take the recipe/formula with them. These agreements protect you from having your employees take your clients with them when they leave or working for a competitor. Without an attorney, many business owners fail to make sure these agreements are in place.

Depending on your business, you may need to provide privacy policies to your clients or other documentation for them to read. By hiring a professional business attorney, like the attorneys at Baker Harris Law, you can keep yourself and your company protected from the start. You don’t have to stress about finding yourself in a complicated legal situation in the future if you take care of your responsibilities from the start. Get ahead of the game and stay one-step-ahead by consulting with our experienced attorneys and making sure you understand what you need to do every step of the way.