Prevention is better than cure. When do you need a legal adviser?
Legal advice: only needed once there is a problem?
Many entrepreneurs only seek legal assistance once a problem has already arisen. By then, it is often more difficult to change course. Obtaining advice in advance can help you prevent problems and unnecessary costs.
But at which points is legal advice actually important to you as an entrepreneur?
5 situations in which legal advice can be valuable
1. When starting your business
When starting your business, you immediately need to make various legal choices. Consider the legal form, arrangements with a business partner, and the documents you need.
A sound legal basis can prevent many problems later.
Examples include:
- choosing a suitable legal form;
- recording arrangements with business partners;
- general terms and conditions;
- a privacy notice;
- agreements with clients and suppliers.
2. When you hire an employee for the first time
Employing someone for the first time is an important step for every entrepreneur. From that point onwards, you face various obligations as an employer.
Hiring your first employee also marks the start of your responsibilities as an employer. You will face a broad range of employment-law obligations. It is therefore important to make clear arrangements about employment conditions in advance and to record them properly in an employment contract. During the employment relationship, you must also comply with statutory rules on matters including pay, holiday, illness, and working conditions.
What can you do? Obtain advice in advance and have an employment contract drafted that fits your business and the role. This gives you clarity as a new employer and avoids discovering your obligations only when a problem arises.
3. In a conflict with a client, supplier, or employee
A conflict can quickly cost a great deal of time, money, and energy. Do not wait too long before seeking legal advice.
A legal adviser can assess your position, consider a solution with you, and assist with correspondence or negotiations.
4. During growth, expansion, or an important business step
Growth often brings new legal questions. Consider entering into a collaboration, leasing business premises, hiring staff, or acquiring or selling a business. Growth may also be a reason to reassess whether your legal form and existing contracts and conditions still suit your business.
With important business decisions in particular, it is sensible to know in advance which obligations and risks you are assuming.
5. When entering into an agreement
As an entrepreneur, you regularly enter into agreements. Sometimes this concerns an extensive collaboration, but even an apparently straightforward arrangement can have legal consequences.
Every agreement records what the parties may expect from each other and what binds you. General terms and conditions, liability, payment arrangements, duration, and termination may, for example, be decisive if a collaboration does not proceed as expected.
Legal advice is therefore not only valuable for large or complicated agreements. A legal review of contracts that you use regularly can also help identify risks in good time and better protect your interests.
Prevention is better than cure
A legal review in advance can provide a great deal of clarity. You know where you stand, which risks you are taking, and whether the arrangements serve your interests.
A small amendment before you sign can prevent larger problems or costs later.
My advice is not to wait until a problem arises, but to seek advice when you need to make an important legal decision.
Legal Comfort helps entrepreneurs in Zeeland and Brabant with practical, understandable legal advice. This ranges from drafting contracts and general terms and conditions to employment law and resolving disputes.
Do you have a legal question, or are you facing an important business decision? Please get in touch for a no-obligation discussion. I will be happy to consider it with you.