Posted on June 6, 2010.
Top Ten legal mistakes small business owners and how to avoid them TOP TEN legal mistakes small business owners and how to avoid them
Our experience and those of our customers has left us vulnerable to many legal mistakes small business owners do. We offer this in an effort to help you avoid them.
Pre-Training
1. Starting a business while employed by a potential competitor, or hiring employees without first verifying their agreement with the current employer and their knowledge of trade secrets.
The law is clear that if someone currently working for a company, especially if he or she is a key employee, they can not operate a competing business. Even just constitution may trigger a lawsuit from the current employer. Prospective entrepreneurs should first go to their current employer and either resign or tell them what they \ 's action and ask them if they \' d be interested in investing. Surprisingly, it is often a good way to end this relationship. Under no circumstances should they misrepresent the nature of the new company.
Even after leaving the current employer, you can not use or disclose the \ 's company trade secrets. Under the so-called inevitable disclosure doctrine, if someone has been exposed to trade secrets to their job and leaves to work for someone else, and if their responsibilities in their new job are sufficiently similar, Some courts have concluded that it is inevitable that they will use the information they had earlier position. They could face an injunction prohibiting him from working for the new employer until a number of months and spend everything they have trade secrets are outdated.
It also helps to know whether potential recruits are subject to terms-of-no-compete. States vary in how they are enforceable, but t \ 't have to think they are not. It should also verify that the assignment of inventions could be signed. Personnel files should be reviewed and their recruits should check to make sure that the covenant-not-to-compete or an assignment of inventions was not t \ to insert in an agreement signed non-disclosure.
2. Errors when the space rental offices
Besides payroll, facilities and related expenses are generally the second largest company. Some of the most common mistakes that companies make when leasing space are:
- Not using an experienced broker of commercial property company.
- Waiting too long to start the process.
- Leasing wrong amount of space.
- Choosing the wrong place.
- Do not think about the future.
- No measurement of space.
- Signature too long or too short a lease.
- No verification of building systems and infrastructure.
- Not having your insurance company to review the wording of the lease.
Training
3. Choosing the Wrong Ownership Structure: Choosing an ownership structure is one of the most important decisions that you 'll \ do for your new business. You should consider your specific needs. The following factors can help make your decision:
- What are the potential risks and liabilities of your business? (For example, building houses, making food, fixing cars and selling alcohol, have inherent risks.)
- How are you willing to spend the money required to establish and maintain records of a separate corporate structure (such as an LLC or a corporation)?
- What are your expected profits or losses in the first two years? unincorporated business structures you can deduct business losses from your other income, but the companies do.