Take a look through all the various contracts you’ve signed to help run your business. Do you know exactly what you’ve signed up for?
“Ensure you understand commitments you make, like the disclosures required of mobile phone contracts,” says Omond.
“Make sure you understand the long-term commitments under leases, hire-purchase contracts and so on, especially where you are giving personal guarantees.”
Don’t feel that registering your business name is enough protection for you in the marketplace. The business world is rife with examples of rivals who will copy and steal IP to undermine each other.
Avoid infringing others and get your own processes, systems and brands properly protected.
“You need to ensure that you are not infringing someone else’s registered trade mark and preferably register your own name too,” says Omond.
Similarly, you need to make sure that you have the flexibility to make changes to your business and its arrangements without stepping on anyone’s toes.
“If you are paying someone else for a website make sure you will own the IP in the website once it is developed,” says Omond.
“You need to be able to use someone else to manage/update/change it if necessary and not be tied to the developer.
“Likewise for anything else you pay for get written assignment of copyright in labels and images that you commission.”
If you are running a small-scale start-up it’s tempting to see it as just an extension of your personal life.
That often leads to entrepreneurs mixing the finances of their business up with their own bank accounts.
Make sure that you keep clear delineation between your business and personal lives and you will keep the taxman happy and avoid people holding you personally responsible for company debts.
If you are hiring for the first time are you up to speed with pay awards?
Are you aware what the law says around working conditions and administration of schemes like Paid Parental Leave?
Do you have codes of practice in place to deal with instances of harassment, discrimination and bullying behaviour? If not it’s time you started drawing them up now, before you end up with a legal letter on your desk.
