Starting a new business is an exciting adventure and a great way to be your own boss. There are so many benefits to owning a business but getting started does have its difficulties.
There are a multitude of different factors to consider before you can start getting your new business off the ground. You have to make sure your business plan is in order for starters but there are other lots of documentation you need to consider as well. As your business is your responsibility, having the right tax forms for yourself and employees is imperative.
Let’s take a look at all the legal necessities when it comes to starting your own business in a bit more detail.
Legal documentation you need for your new business
Articles of Association
Articles of Association documents that you are legally required to have and these are publicly available. They tell people outside of your organization how it is run and how all the important decisions are made.
As your company grows, you might acquire the need for shareholders or investors. These changes will mean that your articles of association will need to change as well so it’s necessary to keep these articles up to date.
Founders’ agreement
It’s rare for companies to be founded by one person completely alone. So, you’ll need to draw up an agreement between the founders or investors or partners in regards to how the business is going to be run. This could be down to what each person is in charge of as well as what should happen to the business if it does not succeed.
NDAs and confidentiality agreements
When starting up a new business, there are bound to be confidential pieces of information that are shared between people within the business. To ensure nothing is leaked, NDAs (non-disclosure agreements) and confidentiality agreements are a necessity.
You’ll need to decide what information is covered as well as the length of time it needs to remain confidential for.
Contracts with customers and suppliers
When starting a business, even if you’re not selling a product, there are bound to be customers and suppliers of some sort. When entering into an agreement with anyone for your business, it’s important to have contracts written up straight away.
Even if the supplier or customer is someone you know, having a contract can put your mind at ease. It also makes it easier to smooth out any potential disagreements or issues you might come across in the future.
Shareholder and investor agreements
The same thing goes for any shareholders and investors you might acquire along the way. There should be agreements in terms of how much say investors and shareholders will have in the company and its future decisions, for example.
As with other documentation, this can be amended and updated as the situation with your company changes. However, it is important to have it on file and ready to go for when the opportunity arises.
Employment contracts
Even if you don’t currently have any staff, having a basic outline written out for when you do hire people is important to have. This needs to outline factors such as working hours, holiday entitlement and to cover any issues such as being off work when you’re sick.
There are also three main types of employees: full-time, part-time and freelance. Having different contracts for each already laid out is the best way to keep things moving once you do start to hire people.
The best way to avoid any misunderstandings is to have everything in your contracts laid out as clearly as possible. You need to cover issues such as what would be considered gross misconduct, how much notice there should be at each employment level as well as bonuses and pay.
Starting a business is a very exciting adventure and being your own boss comes with huge benefits. However, making sure that you have all the correct documents, such as tax forms, will save you time in the future.
