You’re ready to turn your idea into an actual, tangible business. We’ve had the privilege of working alongside countless visionaries like you who transformed their ideas into thriving enterprises that shape communities and change lives. It’s an exciting time.
While you’re dreaming of the world-changing possibilities of your new business venture and setting everyone up for success, it’s critical that you don’t let your business’s legal success fall by the wayside. The problems that arise from an inexperienced, DIY business formation can be costly and can even be the single thing that ends up ruining the dream after you’ve poured money, sweat, and tears into it. Attempting to cut corners by skipping the guidance of a qualified business attorney can lead to costs in the hundreds of thousands of dollars or more down the road.
Choosing the Right Structure for Your Business
Business formation is a critical juncture that sets the stage for everything that follows. You may not remember the decisions and challenges of today in a decade when your business has evolved, but you will certainly know and be continually leveraging your business structure until the day you cash out.
Businesses can take on many forms—LLCs, partnerships, B Corps, C Corps, and more. Each of these business forms comes with its own unique tax considerations, bureaucracy, regulations, and other complex matters. You will save countless hours, and even more money, by planning that structure proactively. An experienced business attorney will review your specific circumstances and advise you on the best structure that fits the goals of your business while also creating the best tax and leadership structure available to you.
Changing your business’s entity type can be expensive and complicated in the future. Getting it right the first time ensures you can operate long-term without worrying yourself with unnecessary legal hoops to jump through. It can even help ensure that, if your business does evolve beyond its initial setup, you’re able to easily and cost-effectively pivot in your business’s next stage of growth.
Avoiding Common Legal Pitfalls of Startups
Once you’ve decided on the proper entity type for your business, it’s time to get proactive about the opportunities and challenges coming your way. Roughly 10% of startups fail in the first year, and over 90% of startups never make it at all. Many of these are due to a lack of vision and failing to pay attention to the details.
Working with a business attorney at formation gives you a partner who is familiar with the legal landscape, has seen the ways in which growth companies fail, and will work directly with your team to apply personalized solutions for what’s to come.
Contract drafting is one of the most important tasks early on for your business attorney. These set the stage for the entire future of your business, and you can’t afford to rely on outdated boilerplate language. Early contract work includes but is not limited to:
- Operating agreements
- Employment contracts
- Vendor agreements
- Real estate contracts
- Shareholder agreements (if applicable)
- Investment contracts
- Construction contracts
These details are the keys that will test your vision’s viability so you can grow and improve it, set the stage for investments and buy-in, and show the world you are a business rather than yet another one of the thousands of hobbyists just out for a bit more money.
Start Off With The Right Business Attorney
At Skepsis Legal Solutions, we work closely with businesses at all stages of their growth, from formation all the way through exit strategies. Having an attorney who understands the various stages of business formation and development gives you a partner who can work with you for the life of your business, especially if you’re able to easily fit legal right into your monthly budget.
Whether you’re in the formation stages or looking for legal counsel through the growth stages of your business, book a consultation with Skepsis Legal today to get started.
