As a small business owner, you may be wondering why you need to hire a lawyer to help you run your company. This is especially true today when you can access just about every conceivable legal document online for cheap from the countless online do-it-yourself document services like LegalZoom and Rocket Lawyer.
But here’s the thing: Without the guidance and support of trusted legal counsel, you are likely not aware of all the ways your business is leaking money, putting yourself and your family at risk, and possibly limiting the positive impact you have on the lives of your clients.
Beyond those potential issues, if you are handling all of your company’s legal, insurance, financial, and tax decisions yourself, you’ll likely get overwhelmed by all the necessary pieces required to run a business on a daily basis—crunching numbers, negotiating contracts, dealing with insurance, and preparing your taxes—and something will suffer.
Either you won’t be able to focus on the parts of your business that you truly love—the products, client services, or the sales and marketing—or you will overlook the key legal, insurance, financial, and tax matters affecting your company and this will negatively impact your operation.
Do Any Of These Scenarios Sound Familiar?
To give you a more concrete idea of what you are missing by not having a Family Business Lawyer™ on your team, consider whether or not you have experienced any of the following issues with your business:
- Incredible business opportunities slip through the cracks because you can’t make decisions fast enough.
- It takes too long to get paid, and your outstanding receivables are driving you crazy and impacting your ability to generate consistent revenue.
- You want to take your business to the next level, but you keep getting stuck in situations that you aren’t sure how to handle.
- Your boundaries have been violated one too many times by clients because you didn’t clarify exactly what the terms of the deal were.
- You are ready to scale your company, but you aren’t sure if your business has the resources you need to achieve sustainable growth.
- Trying to personally manage all of your business's legal, insurance, financial, and tax (LIFT) aspects drains your energy and creativity, which impedes your ability to keep the money flowing and your clients happy.
Have Your Very Own In-House Legal Counsel
Most small business owners don’t think they need to hire a lawyer, and perhaps this is why roughly half of all businesses fail within the first five years of operation. Yet, the most successful companies wouldn’t dream of not having a lawyer on their team.
These companies typically employ one or more in-house lawyers, who proactively identify missed opportunities for the company, spot potential risks, create plans to mitigate risks, and build on opportunities. Case in point: Warren Buffett doesn’t make a single business move without consulting with his personal lawyer, Charlie Munger.
Why? Because Charlie’s wisdom combined with his legal acumen, experience, and ethics are invaluable in helping Warren achieve his professional goals with ease.
Even if you don’t run a big company, your company still deserves—and frankly requires—this kind of relationship in order to reach its full potential and for you to make wise decisions that lead to early thriving. And by working with us, your Family Business Lawyer™, you will have your very own trusted in-house legal counsel in your corner.
Not All Lawyers Are Created Equal
Another reason why you may be hesitant to hire a Family Business Lawyer™ is that you may have worked with other lawyers in the past who failed to provide the level of service we offer. Most lawyers have been taught that the legal profession is all about forms, documents, and templates, most of which are readily available online for those looking to take the do-it-yourself route.
Yet, lawyers who simply provide standard documents and forms on a one-off basis without truly getting to know you, your life, and your business are simply inexperienced. The services they offer are not what we offer. Your Family Business Lawyer™ focuses on counseling, consulting, and “consigliere-ing” over creating documents—document creation simply becomes a useful byproduct of our professional relationship.
10 Reasons Why Your Business Needs a Family Business Lawyer™
To give you a better idea of what a relationship with a Family Business Lawyer™ entails, here are 10 things you can expect when you hire us to support your company:
- Your Family Business Lawyer™ is a perfect combination of trusted advisor, problem solver, keeper of secrets, and deep listener.
- Your Family Business Lawyer™ will offer you trusted advice to help you make the tough decisions that are required daily in your role as your company’s leader.
- Your Family Business Lawyer™ will ensure you keep the money you make and are prepared to earn even more revenue, freeing you up to stay focused on the money-making aspects of your job that you truly enjoy.
- Your Family Business Lawyer™ will help you avoid common risks and pitfalls, handle sticky situations, and effectively tend to the parts of your business that are especially challenging, particularly those involving the legal, insurance, financial, and tax (LIFT) components of your business.
- Your Family Business Lawyer™ will help you create, maintain, and honor your professional and personal boundaries.
- Your Family Business Lawyer™ will help you set clear expectations and collect on promises made to you, including money that’s owed to your business.
- Your Family Business Lawyer™ will support you in incorporating the systems, processes, and technology to ensure that your business is positioned properly for rapid, sustainable growth.
- Your Family Business Lawyer™ will help you build an unshakable legal, insurance, financial, and tax (LIFT) foundation for your business, so you’ll never have to live in fear, worry, or doubt about your company’s survival again.
- Your Family Business Lawyer™ will provide you with confidence about your business’s long-term success, so you can devote all of your energy and passion to growing your business into something truly meaningful for yourself, your clients, and your family.
- Your Family Business Lawyer™ will help you put in place an effective estate plan, so you can rest assured that your business will survive and thrive even if you become incapacitated or after you die.
Take Your Business To The Next Level
If you are ready to take your business to the next level and reach goals you previously thought were unattainable, meet with your Family Business Lawyer™. Our services go far beyond simply creating legal agreements and other documents for your business and then never seeing you again.
In fact, as your Family Business Lawyer™, we will develop a relationship with you that lasts not only for your lifetime but for the lifetime of your business and your successor, if that’s your wish. With our trusted guidance and support, your business will continue to grow and thrive for generations to come. Contact us today at (650) 761-0992 to learn more.
Like what you're learning?
Sign up for our free newsletter
Notes from the Chief Counsel's Desk
and get more legal insights sent directly to your inbox.
Our Business Review Program is designed to help us understand where your business is now, where you want it to be in the future, and what are the gaps that may keep you from getting there.
We’ll create a plan to help you fill in the gaps so your time, energy and money stop leaking out.
This article is a service of Sky Unlimited Legal Advisory PC, Personal Family Lawyer® . We're not your traditional law firm, we stand apart from the rest by helping you make informed and empowered decisions on how to deal with your business throughout life and in the event of an emergency. We offer a complete spectrum of legal services, including a New Business Planning Session or an Existing Business Review Session, which includes a review of all the legal, insurance, financial, and tax systems you need for your business. You can begin by calling our office at (650) 761-0992 today or book online to schedule a Business Planning Session and mention this article to find out how to get this $950 session at no charge.
Having a will simply is not enough. It doesn't guarantee the care of your children if the unthinkable happens! See how we do it differently...
The strategies that are appropriate for protecting your assets are different for every family. Check out our proven process that gives you peace of mind...
Our unique legacy process gives your loved ones a precious gift - a lasting expression of your love. Find out what we offer with every plan...
Write a comment