Being an entrepreneur can open up a lot of freedom and opportunities to make money. An entrepreneur also has many opportunities to get into legal trouble as well. Some of these legal issues can be anything from hiring the wrong legal counsel, not having their business structure properly in place, and issues with intellectual property. Some of these issues are easy to avoid while others are a bit more complex. With the right plan in place, a lot of these issues can be avoided. Let’s take a closer look at some of these issues.
1. Intellectual property
Intellectual property rights can get a person in a lot of trouble. These cases often can run-up massive legal bills. An example of IP rights is copyright, trade secrets, and trademark.
A lot of these issues come from new entrepreneurs trying to get their brand in place. They might make a brand or symbol and it might look similar to another brand or symbol. This could be a potential IP legal issue. A lot of these issues don’t come from someone doing something bad. A lot of the time it’s just a simple mistake.
Some ways that a young entrepreneur can prevent this is by hiring a good IP lawyer and seeing if their brand or anything else conflicts with someone else’s IP rights. No one wants to have their work copied, even by mistake, by someone else. A good IP lawyer can also protect young entrepreneurs from their IP issues in the future.
2. The right business structure
Having the right structure can affect a lot of things. The wrong structure can limit an entrepreneur’s options. If they want to be publicly traded int he future or remain private this is something to consider. An example would be partnerships. A partnership comes in two types. A limited partnership means one partner would have unlimited liability and other partners would have limited. A limited liability partnership offers limited liability to everyone.
Knowing these differences can prevent a lot of issues that may come up in the future. Liability is a big deal in the business world. The goal is to keep what the business is liable for as low as possible. Having a lot of liability is not a good thing. A business would not want to have unlimited liability if they can avoid it.
The business structure also effects how a business is taxed. A young entrepreneur who plans wrong and doesn’t set aside enough for taxes will run into a big problem. Problems with the IRS can range from being set up on a payment plan to even being held liable for certain legal issues. It’s always best to keep taxes as accurately as possible to avoid these problems.
3. Legal counsel
This can be a big problem for people in general. Not every lawyer is a good lawyer and even good ones may not be a specialist in the issue you are facing. It’s best to look at a number of legal professionals and vet them as closely as possible. Look up things like reviews of their work, their bar license, and what cases they recently took on. It’s important to check if the lawyer you want is well trained and educated.
An example would be hiring an IP lawyer that has good reviews, a prominent law office, and has cases that relate to IP issues that are recent. There are multiple ways to do checks on a lawyer. One of the best is to do a sit down at their office and get a feel for them.
An example of a good lawyer would be Douglas Healy. It is best to look for legal counsel like Douglas because vetting can be pretty hard sometimes.
4. Conclusion
Legal issues can quickly ruin an entrepreneur’s business. Some of these issues relate to IP rights, appropriate legal counsel, and business structure. These issues are common ones for new entrepreneurs to face. IP issues are often innocent in nature but can still turn into big, expensive issues if left unchecked. Business structure has an effect on everything from taxes to liability. Good lawyers like, Douglas Healy, should be used as an example when looking for legal counsel. As long as an entrepreneur has a proper plan in place, then a lot of these issues can be avoided