Legal Concerns for Small Businesses

According to the Washington Post, entrepreneurship is quickly becoming the “vast majority of the country’s businesses,” along with startups as the “most reliable job creators.” These jobs are definitely capitalizing on the digital age to jumpstart the economy. These businesses are succeeding and it is an exciting time to market your idea into a business venture. That being said, it’s difficult to get excited about encountering the web of possible legal issues that can be involved with starting a business, but being prepared and asking a lawyer for business law advice can help the viability of your enterprise in the long term.

The New York Times stated that “the two most precious resources for any small business owner is time and money,” so learning early on about the legal considerations that go with starting a business can keep you from wasting unnecessary time and money in the future. Your intellectual property factors into these resources greatly and is a very common issue that small businesses often forget about. Intellectual property are the parts of your business that do not exist physically (like a desk), but instead exist as ideas (like a logo, or a technique). Intellectual property deals with trademarks, trade dress (how a product looks and feels) and even Web addresses. Patents can also be acquired by your business and are more of a guarantee for mitigating these issues, but only apply to certain creations, not to mention can be expensive.

Small businesses can come in a variety of forms: most often, sole proprietorships (owned by one person), partnerships (ownership by more than one person) or a cooperative (a business that has members instead of shareholders that help make decisions). The corporations is also an option; this is different from the other business entities because it is allowed particular liability protections due to being a distinct legal entity apart from the people who run it. Corporations have boards of directors and are usually owned by multiple shareholders. For a small business, once you have an idea to start the business and assume the risk as the owner, you will need to be organized in a certain manner.

There are federal and state laws that need to be followed as you embark upon your entrepreneurship. Mastanduno Law Group has experience with this situation first hand; it was more than a year ago now that we were considering the same questions, and through that process we are intimately familiar with what it takes to get your business running. We want your business dream to become a reality and are proud to provide assistance.

Quoted Articles:

Harrison, J.D.; “Who actually creates jobs: Start-ups, small businesses or big corporations?”; April 25, 2013.

Dahl, Darren; “Intellectual Property”; August 5, 2009.