Common Legal Issues New Businesses Face
The entrepreneurship content that you watch when you are too broke to go out and too demoralized to respond to text messages from friends and family will lead you to believe that all you need to start a successful business is an original idea and oodles of charisma. They are mostly saying this to get clicks, but even if you have those things and you put them into action to establish a business, the chances that your business will still be in operation five years from now are half, by the most optimistic estimate. Part of this is reasons outside your control. No matter how astute you are, you cannot predict the future, so you cannot predict all the factors that will influence the buying decisions of consumers or of other businesses to which you market your products or services. Some mistakes that tank new businesses are preventable. Knowing the relevant laws and following them can increase your new enterprise’s chances of success. For help brainstorming about the legal matters that pertain to your incipient business project, contact a Washington, D.C. small business lawyer.
Choice of Business Structure
Making your choice of business structure official is the first step you take when formally bringing your business into existence, and it is as simple as filing a one-page form, but it should not be a split-second decision. Indicating your choice of business structure is a prerequisite for getting an employer identification number (EIN), which is itself a prerequisite for opening a business bank account and conducting commercial activities. The most popular business structures for small businesses are sole proprietorship, S corporation, and limited liability company (LLC). Each business structure comes with its own rules about taxation and about record keeping. The brief descriptions of them on the IRS website don’t do the various business structures justice. It is best to talk things out with a business law attorney.
Intellectual Property Rights
Before you make your ideas public, you should ensure that you have certified your legal right to prevent others from benefiting from them financially without your consent. If your business involves a patented invention, the time to file the patent application is before you found the business; you can advertise your invention as “patent pending” until the patent is finalized. If your original idea is a brand name or logo, you can register the trademark, which is a simple process.
Business Contracts and Contract Disputes
Contracts with employees, business partners, and vendors can prevent and manage conflicts, thereby saving you money, by clearly communicating expectations. Before you sign a contract or offer it to the other party to sign it, you should ask a lawyer to review it.
Contact Tobin O’Connor Ewing
A Washington, D.C. business law attorney can help you navigate the legal issues you must understand when establishing or operating a small business, such as contracts, business structures, and intellectual property rights. Contact Tobin, O’Connor, and Ewing in Washington, D.C. or call 202-362-5900.
Source:
msn.com/en-us/money/smallbusiness/essential-strategies-for-young-entrepreneurs-avoiding-legal-pitfalls/ar-AA1th2ph?ocid=msedgntp&pc=ACTS&cvid=8ea913e38f5f4e9ca48c6c4ade042d89&ei=49
