How To Bake-In Legal Protections To Your Firm
As a business owner, it’s easy to think that the full wack of general business laws should apply to you. It’s not that crazy an assumption to make. After all,, if you enter into a contract with another party and they refuse to hold up their end of the bargain, you may be able to open a lawsuit and reclaim your lost funds and opportunity potentially with damages involved.
But that doesn’t mean all elements of legal cover are going to apply to you automatically. For example, suppose you start a new project and invent a new product, without an appropriate trade patent or asserting your eligibility to copyright law. In that case, it’s unlikely you’re going to have much leeway even if someone does outright steal your idea.
If you’re not a legal scholar and don’t worry most people aren’t, it’s always worth keeping a law firm on speed dial so you can consult and understand your options whenever making big decisions. However, even they would recommend baking in some legal protections into your firm before you get started, so the need to call them day and night is minimised, and you’re further protected around the clock. With that in mind, please consider:
Make Your Policies & Terms Agreements Clear
If you run a service-based business or deal with clients regularly, you’ll want to ensure all agreements are easy to understand and cover almost anything that could go wrong, within reason.
That’s because clear policies leave less room for disagreements, especially if you can cover most angles. If you’re vague at all, with imprecise language, it can lead to misunderstandings that may result in conflict or even legal action. Being upfront with your terms also ensures trust because people can see the exact user or privacy policy they’re signing up to.
When people know what to expect from you – and what you expect from them, don’t forget that – it’s hard for spurious claims to be made against you to damage your standing.
Invest In Liabilities Insurance
Liability insurance covers you in case something goes wrong, like accidents or mistakes. This is often a legal necessity to invest in, but for firms in which it isn’t, it’s still a fantastic value proposition. For example, if a client gets hurt on your premises, or your product damages someone’s property, liability insurance could be the safety net that helps you pay out immediately without harming your overall cash flow..
General liability insurance is a good place to start, but depending on the nature of your business you might also need product liability insurance or professional liability insurance. Each of these can cover specific scenarios and help make sure that one incident or accident doesn’t derail your progress, such as someone becoming injured or damaging a client’s property. If they know you’re covered, it can also help your reputation to a degree.
Invest In Industry-Specific Insurance
Depending on the field you’re in, other more specific insurance may be necessary to use. For example, if you work in construction, you’ll need coverage for your equipment, workers’ compensation, and maybe even project-specific insurance to cover you if something goes wrong during the build so that large smashed pane glass can be substituted without harming the entire project. Corporate indemnity and medical malpractice coverage can also be a lifesaver for medical staff, for instance..
Another example could be that if you’re a software company, cyber insurance could help protect you in case of data breaches or loss of sensitive client information, which unfortunately even the most impressive and international corporations have fallen victim to. That doesn’t make the experience any more comfortable of course, but it’s nice to know you have some safety net to fall into while you put out all the other fires.
Keep A Clear Document & Communications Record
If you’ve ever found yourself wishing you could prove an agreement, remember what someone said exactly, or have more proof to deal with an issue, you’ll already understand the necessity of having a solid record-keeping system.
This can span from contracts to emails, but regardless, clear records of all your communications can help resolve disputes as quickly as possible, and back up any claims you make if a conflict ever escalates to a legal battle. If a client emails you about delivery by a certain date and they fail to match it, well, you’ll be thankful for the paper record.
Email communications are especially important. A follow-up email after a phone call or in-person meeting, summarising what was discussed and agreed upon, as well as being stored or archived in the right folders, can be a fantastic record that helps avoid miscommunication or disagreements if they become nasty. That’s not to say you need to go all 1984 and monitor all communications, but it does mean messages sent on your systems should ultimately be part of your firm’s protection approach if needed.
With this advice, we believe you’ll be more able to bake-in legal protections within your business.
