Today’s topic is for fellow entrepreneurs on how to get your corporate formality “ducks in a row” — or what I call becoming too legit to quit! While in quarantine, with extra time available, it’s a great opportunity to assess and improve areas of your operations.
- Get started by first conducting a corporate formalities check-up:
Operating agreement: Do you have an operating agreement? Is it up-to-date? Recently, I had a conversation with a fellow business owner here in town. This particular person was not aware that he even needed an operating agreement for his limited liability company.
Remember meetings: Have you been in compliance? If not, how can you get in compliance? Most corporate structures have a requirement for shareholder meetings, bylaws, etc.
2. Protecting your intellectual property: Is your IP protected? This includes filing for a registered trademark, word mark or even a design mark to protect your logo. It could also mean things like having a nondisclosure agreement or a confidentiality agreement with employees or other vendors — or perhaps even sending cease-and-desist letters to those people who are violating your copyright.
(Full disclosure: I’m an author and every once in a while I find my book on unauthorized websites and I have to send cease-and-desist letters.)
3. Update or create your employment handbook: Do you have an employee handbook (or packet)? If you don’t already have a handbook, now is a great time to start articulating one.
4. Organize or update contracts: Do existing contracts need to be updated to reflect a new reality (post Covid-19)? How much time is left on your commercial lease? This is not the time to let any deal rest on a hand shake. Rather, it’s an opportunity to think about the contracts that you already have.
Hopefully you can take quarantine lemons and turn them into business-formality lemonade! For more information, please locate me at rinckerlaw.com or contact us today.