Carolyn Jack
Editor and CEO, Geniocity.comA project of The Genius Group LLC
Creative Nerve
The only thing between you and jail
Did that get your attention? Well, I admit I’m being a bit dramatic, because most entrepreneurs and other business people will never do anything even remotely jail-worthy. But the point is, you may not know if you and your enterprise are always on the right side of the law unless you have a lawyer.
I mentioned a few days ago what my most important first steps were in getting my business started. Finding a great lawyer was at the top of the list. Now, you may think you don’t need one, at least at first, because you can probably create a company or corporation by yourself simply by going online to a government site (here’s the Ohio Secretary of State’s site) and filing the proper forms and fees.
But do you understand the differences among all the many types of companies and corporations? Do you know how to set yours up so it works the way you need it to? How to raise money so the government doesn’t decide you’re a scam artist the likes of Max Bialystock in “The Producers” and throw you in the slammer? How to define the relationships among you and your partners, board and/or investors so everyone’s clear on who owns or runs how much?
I’d guess … not. And all those issues are so just the tip of the iceberg. Here’s what I’ve needed my lawyers for just in the two years it’s taken me to get from idea to launch:
- Forming a limited liability company (LLC)
- Drafting an operating agreement
- Trademarking a product name and slogan
- Recommending a great accountant
- Drafting a consignment contract
But that hasn’t been all they’ve provided. They’ve educated me on types of corporations, translated all the language in all the documents for me and patiently answered the questions I posed in unnumbered urgent phone calls.
In other words, they’ve given me peace of mind along with the information I needed. I knew I’d be making mistakes as an entrepreneur, but I wanted them to be chose-the-wrong-color-for-the-brochure mistakes, not oops-I-forgot-to-get-a-license-for-this mistakes. Thanks to them, I can sleep at night confident that I won’t wake up and discover my life has turned into a weird episode of “Law and Order” or some cable-TV Congressional hearing.
Yes, it’s expensive – by my standards, anyway. And yes, yes, yes, it’s worth it.