5 legal problems to avoid when starting your business
Priya Wadhwa
Curated
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5 legal problems to avoid when starting your business

Don't start on the wrong foot.

Whenever you’re starting a business, legalities are a big part of weaving a safety net around you and your SME. Unforeseen liabilities, loopholes in contracts, non-compliant business structure and intellectual property rights can dupe your business before it has even lifted off the ground. Here are the 5 legal issues SMEs can avoid as per Nasreen Alissa, a Saudi lawyer, tech-humanitarian, and entrepreneur:

  1. Business structure: A sound business structure will protect you against liabilities and influence your ability to acquire funding. Have legalised paperwork defining ownership, responsibilities, investments, equity and the like, to make sure everyone is on the same page and avoid issues later.

  2. Intellectual property protections: Patent your ideas, products and services, as well as initiate copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets. This will protect you from expensive legal battles should others infringe on your business.

  3. Non-disclosure agreements: Another part of the above is to have strong NDAs in place that protect your intellectual assets and conversations from being shared by others.

  4. Employee contracts: Protect your rights as well as that of your company and your employees by issuing legally binding contracts.

  5. Privacy Policies: These are of immense importance when dealing with sensitive information. Make sure your policies are aligned with government requirements and secure your business from security breaches and its liabilities.

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