Business owners often act as manager, employee, human relations director, maintenance worker, and salesperson. All these jobs require some knowledge and a desire to learn more. However, you should not try to be your own attorney. For legal issues, a small business needs a corporate counsel. Here are three reasons why:
You can’t do everything.
It is hard to run a small business. Trying to do it all can be stressful and keep you from being as productive as you need to be. In fact, financial planning and business law issues may be a little outside your field of expertise.
Your corporate counsel can take on some of the heavy lifting that goes with running a business. In addition to offering advice when problems arise, corporate counsel can keep an eye out for future potential problems.
It’s good to have a team.
Staying on the theme of not doing everything yourself, building a team of professionals can help your business run smoothly. Generally, your team might include a CPA, key management employees, and, of course, your corporate counsel.
Any team needs a manager and that’s you. Delegating important areas of your business can take away some of the stress while helping build your success.
It’s best to be prepared.
A business owner makes decisions that could have far-reaching legal and financial implications for the company. Your corporate counsel may prevent some problems by helping you be prepared. Just a few of the sometimes preventable problems owners face include:
- Contract disputes with vendors, clients, employees, and other owners can be minimized by drafting strong contracts.
- Legal disputes that get out of hand may have been easier to settle early in the dispute.
- Commercial leases sometimes have provisions that are difficult to understand and may be detrimental.
- Power struggles after a co-owner leaves could have been avoided by putting a strong buy-sell agreement in place.
- Prevent the misappropriation of intellectual property by using laws to protect it.
Running a small business is hard. Your corporate counsel can help.
Learn More About How Corporate Counsel Can Meet Your Small Business Needs
Attorney Richard Sierra at the Florida Small Business Center assists clients like you with business and litigation matters. As always, Our Goal Is to Help You Succeed tm. For an appointment, you may call us at 1-866-842-5202 or use the contact form on our website. we represent clients throughout South Florida, including Coral Springs, Coconut Creek, Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Pompano Beach, Sunrise, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and surrounding communities.