Are you a startup or small company that has only been operating for a short time?
If so, you have probably had a lot on your plate – what with all the product development, marketing, and making sales you have to do.
But, are you making sure you are protecting your business at the same time? There’s the health and safety issues, of course, which are of vital importance. But, what about everything else?
It’s often overlooked by many startups. And, with so much other stuff going on, it’s no surprise. But, don’t underestimate how important the right protection is.
Regardless of how long your company has been around, your interests and assets are at risk. Here are five ways to protect your business interests right from the start.
Find a lawyer
First of all, find yourself a reputable business lawyer. They will help you with important things such as intellectual property and copyright disputes. And, they’ll also help with more straightforward stuff like contracts.
Not only that but having a lawyer that knows your business inside out will work out cheaper than calling one when you’re in trouble.
Trademark everything
As soon as you can, you should protect your business with a trademark, patent, copyright, and anything else you need. The business world is a cruel place, and there could be trouble around every corner.
Unless you have legal protection in place, you run the risk of having your idea stolen and used by someone else. That’s not going to be a pleasant experience – especially if they make a lot of money from what was your idea.
Business research
Researching other businesses can protect yours in a few ways. Let’s say for example you outsource to a company in another country. You want to make sure that they are legitimate, stable and aren’t going to disappear once you pay them.
According to private eye firm Global Investigations, it’s very common for this to happen, particularly in new companies looking to cut costs.
It can also be good for researching the competition. Great competitive analysis can give you new clues as what your rivals are doing.
It means that you can change your launch date if you need to, move in quicker on a potential market, and know exactly what’s going on at any given time.
Software protection
As your company gets bigger, you will begin to build up a lot of information about your customers, and store it in a database or something similar.
These are all assets that you can draw upon, but they are also valuable to nefarious types. So, there’s a potential for a hacker to break into your system and steal all that data.
It’s important to then make sure that your online assets have as much protection as everything else.
Insurance
Insurance is one of life’s major pains, but it’s not something you can avoid. Anything can go wrong, and if you don’t have insurance, it invariably will.
Theft, breakdowns, accidents, and customer incidents. The list is almost endless with regards to the things that go wrong when you’re in business.
Make sure your insurance gives you the cover you need to protect your commercial interests.
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