Business Bliss Or Legal Bleck?

Anybody who knows the true trial and tribulations of running their own business clearly understands the ups and and downs of business ownership.  Many times people naively think that self-employment is a guaranteed fast track to riches and fortune.  ROOFL!!!  (Rolling on office floor laughing!)

There is no such thing as an easy ride, (unless of course you steal somebody else's successfully established idea, customers, business model and run off with it!).  This kind of behaviour is very obviously frowned upon and to be honest, who wants to win by cheating?

Sadly, this type of activity happens all the time.  As a business owner you need to take all of these possibilities into account when writing up your contracts with potential business partners, producers, suppliers, franchisees etc.  You may be thinking that the business law and contracts don't apply to your business, but you should let a professional/business lawyer make that decision WITH you before you make any potentially expensive mistakes when a vulture does rear it's ugly head.

Here are some areas to consider:

• Confidentiality Agreements - protect your business assets whether it is a physical product or design or even product development ideas.  People can be very greedy and if they feel you have a great idea that is severely under protected; the dishonest ones may take a full run at it. 

• Staff Retention-Make sure you are protected from a current manager, staff or franchisee branching off on their own pilfering your already trained and knowledgeable staff.

• Non-Compete Agreement- This is very important in the retail/commercial/restaurant arena as I have personally found that as new key managers/partners/franchisees come on board, there seems to be a 3 year rule that once they hit this milestone; some will think they are bigger, better, smarter and try and duplicate some or ALL of your business model.  Be able to back up your non-compete with the reasoning behind the stated territory protection expectations and a clear, reasonable term as well.  Non-competes are more difficult than you might think to enforce in court and the more prepared you are the better!  (And the less you will spend having to take your contracts to court for a full, lengthy and expensive trial if you are wronged!)

• Clarify all partnership responsibilities in writing; who will carry what tasks, what and how will monies be paid out, what is the partnership term, what is the share structure and most importantly, what is the contingency plan to separate should things not work out?

• Product Patent Protection- Make sure any products you are developing are protected as best as you can.  This also means signing key staff, managers and franchisees to agree to not disclose manufacturing or supply sources for your proprietary items.  These secrets are vital to your business and should NOT be shared.

There are many areas you will need to consider but taking the time to protect yourself now can prevent you from legal nightmares in the future!

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