Legal Considerations for Your Startup
If you’re an entrepreneur looking to start a business, there is more to do than just planning and market research. Even before you start operating, you’ll find that there are various laws you’ll need to approach for operating a business. You’ll want to make sure your business operates well within the laws to ensure smooth running. It will also prevent you from losing money by being involved in any legal issues in the future. Here are some of the most important legal considerations for business owners:
Choose The Right Legal Structure
Different businesses operate under different legal structures. Defining which legal structure affects the type of taxes you’ll file and the legal paperwork you’ll fill out. It can also affect your profits and your personal responsibility.
You can change your legal structure at any point, but it’s best to choose the most suitable one from the beginning. Here are the three main types:
- Sole Trader: You operate your own business as an individual. You can hire others, but you are responsible for filing taxes and business debts.
- Limited Company: An organization is setup to ‘own’ the business. It can be operated by multiple members. The company owns the business profits, and is also responsible for the debts. This keeps your personal finances separate from business finances.
- Business Partnership: Profits, expenses and tax responsibilities are shared between partners.
For more information on legal business structures, or to register, take a look at this link.
Register Your Business Name
Registering your business name as a trademark has multiple legal benefits. As you build up a reputation under a brand name, having a legally registered trademark stops other companies trying to profit from your name. You will have the exclusive rights over your trademark name and what gets associated with it. It can also make it easier to expand your business internationally, or branch out into other fields. Make sure you use a top trademark attorney. This an important step to legally protecting your business.
Health and Safety Laws
Employees or customers getting injured at your business premises can make you liable. Therefore it is important to pay heed to health and safety laws. This is much simpler for small businesses with a low number of employees. Employers who neglect health and safety leave themselves open to damaging and expensive lawsuits.
Laws and Licenses
Different types of businesses need to adhere to different laws and licenses. For example, those selling consumer goods must adhere to the Consumer Rights Act of 2015. Certain businesses also require specific licenses, such as taxi firms and tattoo artists. Most businesses will need a business license and tax registration. Make sure you do your research on the kind of license and registrations you will need for your particular business.
Insurance
Every business will need some level of insurance. At the very least this might mean taking out an employer’s liability insurance policy. There are other types of insurance that different types of businesses require. You can also take out insurance to protect your business expenses such as commercial property insurance. This link can provide you with more information on insurance for businesses.
