Building a business is so much more than just creating a new product and selling it on the market. There are many things to consider before you open your doors - physical or digital - to customers. Protecting your business, employees and customers needs to be a priority for new business owners.

The excitement of becoming a business owner goes hand in hand with endless hours of dedication and hard work to get it started. To cover all of your basis, you need to consider the things that will help you keep your enterprise open and booming.

Setting up a place to work, investing in your advertising and marketing and deciding whether to hire a competent attorney to guide you through the legal aspects of a business should all be on your to-do list. There are many legal aspects that every entrepreneur should consider before getting started.

Licensing & Permits

Your exact needs for licenses and permits will depend on the type of business you are opening, as well as your location. Each municipality and state may have different requirements. A business licence is a must in any state. You should make sure that your business and business name are legally registered well before you get ready to launch. For businesses such as restaurants and bars, you will need to have extra licensing such as a liquor license.

Intellectual Property

Every business starts with and idea for a product or service. Protect your ideas or inventions by applying for patents early. The patent process an take several years to complete so you need to get it on file as soon as possible. You don’t want a competitor to be able to replicate your product before you can even get it to market.

Patents can also help you protect your trade secrets and trademarks by applying copyrights to individual materials. Avoid problems in the future by discussing your intellectual property protection with a legal specialist.

Workman’s Compensation & Liability Insurance

It’s the law in every state except Texas that you need to have proper workman’s compensation insurance to protect your business and employees. This insurance can help provide injured workers with medical coverage and legal costs without causing financial ruin for your business.

Liability Insurance coverage is also a must for any business, as it protects you against lawsuits. Protect yourself and your business from lawsuits from customers or former employees.

Service Contracts

If you are opening a service business you will need to have a formal service contract drawn up. The contract should lay out the terms of your business agreement and outline the expectations of the client as well as warranty and refund information. This can protect both you and your customers.

Non-Disclosure/Privacy Agreements

There is competition in every kind of business. You will want to have a non-disclosure agreement drawn up for all of your employees to sign. This will prevent them from openly sharing confidential proprietary information with any of your competitors.

You will also want to create a company privacy policy. You should outline your companies policies on sharing personal and confidential information and the means that personal data will be collected and used.

Founder Agreement

If your company has more than one founding member then you should have a Founder Agreement drawn up to protect all parties. The full responsibilities and rights of each member of the directors board should be clearly outlined in the agreement. If you intend to form a corporation you will need to draw up an Article of Incorporation. In the case of an LLC, you will need to create an Article of Organization.