New Years Resolution: Sort Out Your Legals

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When you’re running a startup or small business, sometimes it feels like you never get a moment to breathe!

With the go-go-go of everyday business operations, it’s easy to let some other priorities slide.

Thankfully, the holidays can give us some time to reflect and plan.

If you’ve been putting off your business legals this year, now is the time to get onto it!

‘Legals’ can be an overwhelming area to tackle. That’s why we’ve tried to break it down into smaller, more manageable parts.

Let’s explore how you can get started with your legals in 2019.

What do we mean by ‘legals’?

When we say ‘legals’, we’re referring to any legal services or requirements that your business needs. This can range from company registration, business terms and conditions, big commercial contracts, to a privacy policy on your website!

Generally, legals fall into 2 categories. Either ‘agreements’ or ‘regulations’.

Agreements are the legal contracts and documentation that govern your business relationships – with your customers, online users, suppliers, staff, co-founders, investors and other affiliates.

Regulations are the rules and laws, set by the parliament, government regulators and the courts, that your business has to comply with. This can include things like registering your company, how you manage your employees, consumer protections, trade marks, privacy laws and other industry-specific regulations.

Where to begin?

There are a lot of legal areas to consider, so it can be hard to know where to begin.

Sometimes it’s helpful to break down the different parts of your business and consider how the agreements and regulations fit into it. We’ve made this visual map of the legal landscape to help you think about the areas to consider.

At Sprintlaw, we can help you navigate this legal landscape and decide what the key priorities are for your business.

If you want a bit more information about each of these areas, you can also read more in our Business Legals 101 Guide!

Why should you care about your legal needs?

If you’ve been procrastinating about your legals, you’re probably not convinced that it’s an important part of your business. Which is understandable – sometimes it’s hard to see the benefits straight away. But there are some very good reasons to get serious about your legal needs.

Reason 1: Avoid Disputes

Having clear and binding documentation of your relationships with your customers, business partners and employees can save you huge headaches down the line. When everyone clearly understands their obligations, the chance of a dispute breaking everything apart is much lower.

Reason 2: Be Protected

Thinking about the legal requirements of your business can help you minimise legal risks. You don’t want to be caught out missing an important legal protection! This means thinking about things like having the right business structure, having contracts in place with your customers, protecting valuable assets like intellectual property, and so on.

Reason 3: Get A Good Deal

Getting the right advice can help you secure the best deal for your business. Many businesses end up facing major obstacles just because they didn’t fully understand their legal rights and what they were signing up to. Seeing a lawyer early on can make a big difference in the long run.

What To Take Away…

In this time of rest and reflection, give yourself an opportunity to get on top of your business legals. When everything picks up again in a few weeks, you’ll thank yourself for already having the plans in place!

Feel free to get in touch with us at Sprintlaw for a free, no-obligation chat about your business and how we can help with the legal side of things.

We wish you and your business all the best in 2019!

Minna Boyle

Minna is the Head of People & Culture at Sprintlaw. After completing a law degree and working in a top-tier firm, Minna moved to NewLaw and now manages the people operations across Sprintlaw.

Tomoyuki Hachigo

Tomo is the co-founder of Sprintlaw and a commercial lawyer with a broad range of legal experience. Before starting Sprintlaw, he was an M&A lawyer at a top-tier law firm advising businesses of all sizes from large corporates to startups.