A small business lawyer helps you grow your business. They help you identify opportunities. Or they create a solid legal foundation. They make sure that you understand how the law affects your business. And they provide confidential support when things get tricky. This article goes into detail about each of these things so that you can use a small business lawyer to grow your business.
How Does A Small Business Lawyer Grow Your Business?
Your small business needs help to grow: staff, accountants, assistants, social media experts, and lawyers. The last one – the small business lawyer – provides immense value if you know how to use them properly.
Many business owners fail to use lawyers properly. They wait until problems arise and then they call in a lawyer to fix it. This strategy creates expense and stress. Avoid it. Instead, choose a proactive approach to using a lawyer.
What Does A Small Business Lawyer Do For A Business?
There are a few things that a small business lawyer does for a business. This list provides a start:
- Create a solid legal foundation. By considering everything from what type of business entity to form to how to register a trademark, a small business lawyer advises clients on how best to structure everything for maximum growth and minimum risk.
- Identify opportunities. Sometimes business owners reach an impasse. This is normal. A good lawyer should provide clients with options to get around an impasse. Since lawyers have seen many businesses from the inside, they know what works and what may not. They can advise you from formation all the way to sale of your business.
- Educate business owners. Let’s face it: the law confuses many business owners. A good small business lawyer explains the law to his or her clients to make sure that they make solid decisions about their company.
- Provide a confidential sounding-board. Because lawyers have a duty of confidentiality, business owners trust them with intimate and confidential business information. Since the lawyer cannot share this information with others, small business owners can speak freely about tricky concerns.
Every small business should consider having a lawyer on board. A good small business lawyer provides value to the enterprise at grows and changes – this often leads to higher revenues and fewer problems down the line.
How Do You Pick The Best Business Lawyer?
Many business owners face challenges when trying to pick the best business lawyer. Here are a few simple rules that can help make picking the best business lawyer for your business easier:
- Personality: People matter. You want to work with a business lawyer with whom you get along well and have a good rapport. Sometimes it pays to trust your instincts – talk to a few business lawyers until you find one that feels easy to work with.
- Expertise: You want a business lawyer with relevant expertise. While many lawyers proudly tout their “years of experience”, don’t be afraid to dig deeper. While some lawyers may be very experienced in other areas of law, they might not be experienced business lawyers. Ask them what kind of work they have done for businesses similar to yours.
- Value: First of all, understand that value differs from cost. You can find low-cost lawyers all over the place, but they might not be the best business lawyer – and that means they provide little value to you. On the other hand, many expensive lawyers provide a lackluster service. You want to find a lawyer in the middle who can provide good service without draining your funds.
Use these 3 principles to begin the search for the best business lawyer for you. Choosing a lawyer for your business can be a big decision, so take time to think about it and make sure you skip the newbie mistake of mistaking an online legal service for an actual lawyer. The difference is dramatic.