We live in an incredibly litigious society. The number of ways your business can run into legal trouble, if you think about it, would boggle your mind. A lot of business owners wait until they are sued or run head-on into trouble before they try to figure out what steps to take. A better approach is to be proactive and learn about the different types of legal issues you might have to deal with.
Employment Issues
There are a variety of employment issues you will need to face as a business owner. The most common among them is sexual harassment. The good news is that, as employers are learning about what constitutes sexual harassment in the workplace and are putting policies in place to prevent it, the number of charges (or “receipts”) have gone down exponentially. In 2001, for example, more than fifteen thousand receipts were filed. In 2011, though, only a little more than eleven thousand receipts were recorded. (Source: US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission).
It is important that you understand how to handle sexual harassment claims as well as other interpersonal problems in your workplace. The last thing you need is to be sued by a disgruntled employee for handling the situation badly.
Financial Issues
Fraud and other types of white collar crime are major problems in today’s business world. However, the most common type of legal issue you’ll face as a small business owner will likely relate to your company’s taxes.
Small business taxes are incredibly complicated and, if you are not extremely careful, you will wind up owing the IRS a ton of money in back taxes, fees and penalties. This is why, it is important that you hire professionals to help you keep your finances in order unless you are a certified accountant or tax expert. Take a look at this YouTube video by Authority Tax Services on why you shouldn’t try to deal with the IRS without legal support.
Intellectual Property
There are four types of “intellectual property”: copyright, trademark, patents and trade secrets. They are all there to help you protect your ideas and to make sure that others do not profit off of those ideas. But people stealing your ideas isn’t the only way to find yourself tangled up in an intellectual property suit. You might also face charges of intellectual property theft if your ideas are too close to (or are based on) someone else’s protected work.
It is important that, as you develop your ideas and products, you make sure they are copyrighted, trademarked, etc. This way you’ll be protected if, after your business takes off, someone copies you. It is just as important, as you work through your process that you run searches and make sure that you are not accidentally stealing someone else’s ideas for your own financial gain. A few years ago, Darren Dahl put together a really great guide to how the process works and the different types of protection that exist.
These are just three of the major areas in which you might find yourself needing legal help. This is why many small business owners have a general counsel on retainer, just in case something comes up. Sometimes, though, you might need specialized help. For example, the company we mentioned in the financial section, Authority Tax Services, specializes in IRS issues and recommends that you not trust your tax problems to a general counsel.
