When you launch a new business, the only thing on your mind is likely rolling out a product or service that hopefully makes a lot of money. While that should be your primary focus, there are other things that need to be tended to. Premises liability is just one of many legal aspects you need to remember when getting into any business.
Be Prepared to Handle Premises Liability
Premises liability is basically the legal arena covering accidents and injuries that might happen to people while they are on your property. While workers are often covered by worker’s compensation, contractors, customers, and visitors are not. If they get hurt while visiting your location, they might decide to try and hold you liable.
Follow Worker’s Compensation Rules
If your business employs anyone, then you have safety rules that have to be followed. You also have to be prepared to deal with worker’s compensation claims and possibly pay them out.
Find the Right Law Firm
Having a law firm on retainer to handle a business legal matter for you is always a good idea. Unfortunately, we live in a world where it is something that is needed. For instance, if you are an employee dealing with a worker’s compensation situation, then you would probably want a law office handling personal injury cases. On the other hand, if you are a business leader or owner needing to defend yourself against such a claim, then you might want a corporate lawyer. Nevertheless, it is something to keep in mind
Establish Your Corporation or LLC Status
Different kinds of corporate status have their own perks. You’ll likely decide which is right for you based on how ownership is shared and what kind of leadership structure you would like. Having a legal corporate status of any kind will usually shield you personally from liability that your business would endure. There can also be tax benefits in terms of profits you personally enjoy.
Get Business Insurance
Business insurance protects your organization and possibly even certain people within it from damages resulting from lawsuits. In most states, you have to have it to even be registered to legally do business in the first place.
Always Protect Your Business
Getting into any industry with a new business will mean eventually handling things you’ve never had to handle before. Still, you can have some idea of what legal aspects you should know about in advance. You can also find a legal team to handle the rest for you and your new business.
Keep in mind that at some point, a business has to grow. Whether you’re a home office workers who need a lot more space to store inventory or handle clients, or a small business that needs additional offices or departments, you need to take house hunting skills to business scale. Here are a few office spaces, team workspace, and general business layout features to look for as you grow from a small office.
Check The Electrical Layout First
Although there are many features that are specific to your industry, personal interests, and specific business techniques, a bad wiring situation can ruin everything. If you’re not expecting a remodeling project before purchase, your business can take major and unexpected productivity hit.
In addition to hiring an electrician to inspect your building options, get a business attorney to check out the building. Although there are some general building code and quality concerns that can be written into any lease or purchase agreement, your attorney can emphasize the seller’s responsibilities if a problem exists.
For example, if there’s a known electrical problem, your attorney may want to do more than write a contract about good working conditions. Specifically not only the expectations for electrical quality but the performance of specific outlets and the expected lifespan of the electrical layout.
There will always be ways around such statements, such as blaming your business for future electrical failure. It could even be true, but paying extra attention to specific concerns like electrical performance can save a lot of time, money, and argument energy in the future.
Equipment Supports And Sturdy Infrastructure
If your business needs to install machinery or heavy electronics, you need to worry about crumbling walls and leaking pipes. It’s not always an issue of a building being old, and there are a few things that you can do to ensure that the near-perfect building meets your standards before moving in.
A general contractor team including a plumber, an HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) technician, and pest control should perform a quick sweep of the building. Just like the electrician, this will be a search for surface problems and a few issues behind the walls without breaching the walls directly.
They’re searching for any obvious failure points such as heavy pest infestation, gaps in the building that could affect air quality, humidity, and health, and water system leaks. Each issue can be addressed separately, and you can work towards getting either a price reduction or a promise that the problems are fixed before you move in.
Don’t let these promises be verbal-only. Get a business attorney on your side to draft an agreement that keeps the deal fair for everyone involved.