Starting a business is no easy feat, but keeping it afloat is even more demanding. That makes protecting your business a crucial aspect of maintaining and growing the venture. Now, one of the best ways to do this is to protect your business by taking the right precautionary financial, legal, and security measures. Let us cover some of the critical ways you can protect your business.
Choose the right business structure
Choosing which business structure is right for you is a crucial initial step into your business success. Well, your business structure informs the legal, financial, and operational implications that you will encounter. For example, if you choose sole proprietorship for your small business startup, you will experience minimal government regulations and tax obligations compared to other types of business structures. Additionally, with a sole proprietorship, you will be taxed personally since you and your business are considered one legal entity. You are also responsible for all the business losses and liabilities personally without any available intervention measures.
To determine the right structure for your business, you need to consider some of the factors like:
- Business taxes
- The type of industry your business will operate in
- Personal liability
Invest in cybersecurity
As a business owner, you are the sole custodian of your customer’s sensitive data such as credit card information, pin, email addresses, and such. You must safeguard all your business data from unauthorized access by hackers, which can ruin your business reputation and lead to losses. It is especially critical to step up security measures where your employees use personal devices to access your company data. For example, if you adopt the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy to enhance their productivity, you should know that it comes with an array of security risks. In this case, you will need to modernize your IT with mobile device management to keep tabs of device data access and usage. For example, you should ensure that there are measures to clear sensitive data in case the employee’s device is lost or stolen. Having secure business systems will also inspire customer trust, and hence, you will grow your business.
Infographic created by Donnelley Financial Solutions, an SEC filing software company
Hire an attorney for your business
As a business owner, you envision that everything will go on smoothly without any challenges. However, mistakes can happen, and legal steps may be taken against you and your business. It is smart to hire an experienced business lawyer to safeguard the reputation of your business and protect it from lawsuits. Hiring an attorney will:
- Protect your business against lawsuits: a lawyer will advise you on legal matters regarding your business. You will avoid making common mistakes that have legal implications, such as firing your employees without following the right procedure.
- Mitigate damages: your business attorney will help you mitigate any damages that may result from a lawsuit. For example, suppose you are sued by one of your employees for personal injury that occurred at your workplace. In that case, a busines lawyer will help in laying grounds for a strong case to mitigate any damages to your business reputation.
- Help in drafting a contract: You must involve a qualified lawyer whenever you need to draft any contracts. This could be when you are hiring or negotiating a contract with a customer. A lawyer will help with any legalities and fact-check the contract so that you do not make mistakes that might haunt your business.
- Filing a patent: this is especially important when you have developed a new product or service. Filing a patent is time-consuming and costly, especially if you initiate the process by yourself. Luckily, hiring an experienced patent attorney will help you save on the time and resources needed to get a patent.
Make your employees’ safety a priority
Your employees are the greatest asset to your company. They actualize your business goals and help you realize the targeted revenues. It would be best if you put measures in place that will protect them from dangers at the workplace. For example, you can train them on fire safety precautions to take in case a fire breaks. Additionally, you can insure them against injuries at the workplace. That way, you will avoid direct lawsuits against your business.
Final Remarks
There are many aspects to business success, besides creating nice products and services. You need to ensure that your business is always running smoothly if you are to increase your revenue and grow your business. So, take the right measures to protect your business from external and internal threats.
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