If you’re thinking of starting a business anytime soon, you may have considered things like what marketing tools to use, what social media platforms where you’ll be visible, and even how much you’re going to charge for your products and services, but have you thought about the legal side of things?

Thinking about the legal part of your business may be something that feels a bit intimidating, but if you want to avoid problems down the road, then it’s pretty much an essential thing to have covered from the get go.

That being said, you don’t have to get too ahead of yourself and start thinking you need to hire a full legal team, but simply look at getting some basic protection in place because you never know when you might need it.

In terms of what kind of protection measures you should be taking from a legal standpoint, here are a few examples to get you started:

Insurance

Just like you wouldn’t travel abroad without travel insurance or get behind the wheel of a car without car insurance, you definitely shouldn’t be thinking of starting a business without it.

The good thing about business insurance is that you can pick it up for a relatively low cost per month and it’s not something that you’ll really see as a huge expense, but if anything were to happen, such as a client taking you to court for something that’s not your fault, you’re going to be protected and covered so that you’re not out of pocket.

An Attorney

The thought of hiring a business attorney is quite scary for small business owners and entrepreneurs and can seem quite intimidating.

On the other hand, just like you would if you were dealing with a divorce or similar issue where you required legal representation, an attorney can really help you with different things in your business such as drafting contracts, making sure you don’t sign anything that could land you in trouble, and also help with employee and client disputes among other things.

Malware

When you think of the legal side of your business, malware is likely not going to be the first thing that comes to mind, but it’s a pretty important thing to consider when running a company, especially if you’re going to be in charge of handling people’s personal information and things like credit card details.

Having a good malware in place can protect you and your clients from hackers, and again if you have the correct insurance and legal person in your corner, then they can ensure that you’re not out of pocket or held personally accountable for any attacks that do occur.

Clear Policies

With privacy concerns now more common than ever and regulations such as GDPR coming into effect, it’s now crucial that you stay on the right side of the law by having the correct and clear policies regarding how you handle data protection and privacy within your company.

These are easy enough to get in place and are definitely going to save you a lot of time and hassle in the long run.

As with everything, not all tips will apply to your business, but it certainly helps if you have a frame of reference to work from when getting the legal side of your business taken care of.