Nibletz Staff
No one wants to get on the wrong side of the law, especially business owners. It will result in very high legal fees, and you could waste a lot of time if you need to appear in court. In the very worst-case scenario, you might even end up facing a hefty fine or substantial jail time!
So, there is no wonder why most businesses spend a considerable amount of time making sure that every part of their company is completely above board. It certainly pays off in the long run!
Not too sure what kind of legal stuff you need to sort out for your startup? Here are some tips straight from lawyers.
Legal Marketing Is Good Marketing
There are a few different ‘black marketing’ techniques that some entrepreneurs use in their company. It’s true that these often bring very good results, but you will find it much more advantageous to stay well away from them as most of them are barely legal. Take some tips from a lawyer SEO company who would normally work with law firms. They will know exactly which marketing methods might look bad in the eyes of the law and can help you keep your marketing strategies on the straight and narrow.
Budget Well For Potential Legal Costs
You never know when you need to pay for legal costs. Don’t worry; you shouldn’t expect to get on the wrong side of the law, but you do need to budget for things such as getting a signatory or for those times a lawyer needs to double check the wording on a contract. So you should always have a sum of cash left to one side for these potential costs. It’s a good idea to budget a lot more than you might need. Hat’s because it can be easy to underestimate legal costs, and you don’t want to be caught out by a huge bill!
Get To Know A Few Different Attorneys
It’s a wise move to have a few different lawyers in your book of contacts. That’s because all attorneys and lawyers specialize, so you will need to seek out someone who specializes in the area of law that you need help with whenever you do need a lawyer. If you only know a family attorney, they won’t be able to help you with some financial law problems. Next time you are networking, try to meet as many lawyers as possible so you will have a wide set of names in your phonebook that you can turn to whatever the situation.
Look After Your Intellectual Property
Many companies now have blogs and are posting articles and other intellectual property online. If you are too, you need to ensure that this is correctly protected. After all, anyone could simply copy and paste paragraphs from your articles and then try to pass them off as their own. This is also the case with photos, which can easily be downloaded from your website. Without any intellectual property protection, you won’t be able to take the offending person or company to court to claim compensation. Ideally, you should speak to a lawyer about they type of protection that you need. There are different kinds suitable for intellectual property, such as copyright, patents, and trademarks.
Always Use Legal Disclaimers
Whenever you sell products or services, you need to make sure that they each have their very own legal disclaimer attached. This protects you against any major complaints. Not only that, though, but it also ensures that you, your products, and your services aren’t responsible for whatever outcomes they cause for the people who purchase them. At the end of the day, the legal disclaimer ensures that each party is aware of their own responsibilities once money has changed hands. It is also important that your legal disclaimers are easy for customers to find. Make sure they are on your website, even if you have to add them in the form of small print. Not making them visible enough could land you in court!
As you can see, it isn’t too hard to ensure that your company is running all above board. If you are ever unsure, you should always contact a lawyer who can review your operation methods for you. It might even be worth for you to hire an in-house law team to continually review your practices and contracts. Many companies find that this is necessary once they have been established a couple of years. So, if it’s too early for you to think about that for your startup, it’s something you can look forward to!
