Six Ways to Protect Your Company in 2019

A new business has enough to worry about without the addition of legal trouble. With how complicated the legal system is, and how many branches of it affect businesses today, it can be a real challenge to stay within the law without inadvertently breaching it.

Not only are there plenty of laws to follow, but they also change. One year you might be well within the legal system, the next you’re breaching it because they have made a change to how you’ve been running your business for the last five, ten, or even twenty years.

Adapting with the times is a sign of a successful business, and to help you improve your company’s adaptability, you will want to follow this guide:

1. Have a Legal Team of Experts on Hand

Legal advice is invaluable, which, of course, is why it can be so expensive. For new businesses, small businesses, and those who have a narrow profit margin, this can mean a difficult period can be incredibly difficult to budget for.

A great way to avoid the unexpected legal fees, however, is to subscribe to them. That way you can budget appropriately and have a professional financial lawyer on your side as you need to. If your allocated hours’ run-up, you will then benefit from an 80% discount for extra hours until the next month.

2. Create an Anti-Harassment Policy

Discrimination and harassment laws should never be taken lightly. In the States, discrimination laws usually don’t come into effect until you have more than 15 employees working for you, but this changes from state to state. Assuming is your enemy, so always check up on what you are legally entitled to do and go one step beyond.

3. Get Your Business Model Written Down

You want your company’s business model, including partner agreements, to be written down and formalized. If they aren’t this could spell trouble in the future when your partner tries to take more than his share, but you don’t have a legal document stating he can’t.

4. Get Your Company Trademarked

Another way to protect your company is to get it trademarked. Not every brand name can be, of course, but if you have a unique name, it is best to get it trademarked so that there will never be any doubt as to which company a customer is trying to deal with.

5. Get the Necessary Copyright (When Applicable)

On top of trademarking your brand your will also want to apply for patents and copyright when applicable. New products that have a unique or distinctive design can be patented and trademarked and therefore protected from copycats.

6. Keep Your Books in Order

Last but not least, you will always want to keep your accounts in order. Not having this information can make it difficult to acquire tax discounts. Still, more importantly, it can be a huge disadvantage if your company is audited or money goes missing from your account.

By keeping up to date with your finances, you better protect yourself and can work on how to budget better.