Whether you are about to start up your own business or you have been
running your own business for years, protecting your business legally is
essential. Any ideas, copyrights, patents, software and financial
information should be protected with a non-disclosure agreement.
Protecting these can help keep your business safe against other
businesses, that may wish to replicate your work. Non-disclosure
agreements can also offer some protection in relation to the information
you disclose. Non-disclosure agreements can be used by just one person
as way of disclosing information or can be used by two parties as a
deterrent against disclosing confidential information.
If you own or are setting up a limited company, a shareholders
agreement must be set up. A shareholders agreement outlines and
regulates the arrangements between you and other shareholders in the
business. With this in mind, it is essential to agree to the
shareholders agreement as well as writing down who owns the shares and
in what amounts.
In addition to this, the framework of how your company is operated
also needs to be set out, as well as who makes the decisions and how
they are going to be made. Signing and setting up agreements such as
these are also essential for avoiding any future disputes.
If someone decides to invest in or loans money to your business an
investor agreement should be made. By setting up such an agreement,
investors will be able to see the terms on which they are giving money
formally written down. With this you must write down how many
shares they get, what type they are and what their value is. This
agreement should also address the following questions/issues:
· Will their shares get diluted if more money comes in?
· What are the procedures for running the company and its exit?
· How much control will you be giving them?
· If you fail to address potential situations such as this, it may come back to bite you later.
If your business has a website, your consumers should be able
to see your sites terms and conditions. Your websites terms and
conditions should set out how your business is run and how you expect
your customers to behave. Copying and pasting another sites terms and
conditions is not an option as there may be certain laws that you must
adhere to which is not included in theirs.
If your business has a website or you are an online business it
is more than likely that you will have software developers helping you
build your business. Setting up a software agreement is important and
can help you avoid any potential pitfalls. This type of contract should
include answers to questions/issues such as:
· What’s the price?
· When will it be paid?
· What are the development milestones?
· Who will own the software?
· Who will deal with bugs, changes and maintenance and at what cost?
Your businesses software could be a key factor in running your company so ensuring that the paperwork is correct is vital.
If you are thinking of starting your own business or if you already
have your business but lack the legal documents which could protect you,
LawStore Business can help you! LawStore Business provides legal
packages for both startups and established businesses.
Legal services may seem like a costly, overwhelming expense but
ensuring that the right legal procedures and documents are in place
from the outset will help prevent against any unforeseen, costly
difficulties that your business may face later on. They will also ensure
that your businesses identity is protected right from the beginning.
The LawStore's Business Start-up Legal Packages offer cost effective,
fixed fee solutions for all your start-up needs from Company Formation
through to Contracts, Terms and Conditions and even website services and
privacy policies, designed to assist new and even established
businesses in all the necessary legal preparations required.
To find out more about LawStore Business' legal packages simply click here or call them on 0845 603 6544 today!
No comments:
Post a Comment