Insights

Building a Strong Business Foundation – Partner with Lawyers, Accountants & HR Professionals 

You’ve developed an amazing product or service, and you are finally ready to launch your company. You obsessed over finding raw materials to make your product or looking for space for your new fitness studio. The last thing you’re probably thinking about is talking to a lawyer, accountant, or human resource professional. While I understand that reaction, legal, accounting, and human resources support are the foundation of every business that empower you to scale successfully. As Director of Business Operations and General Counsel for trepwise, I work with our Managing Director to ensure the company operates smoothly. It is my role to make certain that our advisors and associates have everything they need to support the extraordinary individuals and organizations we work with every day. While you might think you’re not able to hire a full-time operations professional, leveraging outside legal, accounting, and human resources support is a cost-effective way to navigate the important decisions you will face as an entrepreneur.

Working with an attorney during the early days of a business can save time and money down the line. You may know the ins and outs of the food truck business, but do you know the difference between a limited liability corporation and a limited liability partnership? Probably not and you shouldn’t have to! But your business’s legal structure can impact you for years to come, affecting your ability to raise capital, relationships with your business partners, and protecting your personal assets from litigation. An attorney will help you understand the implications of your options, draft and file the necessary documentation, and help you adhere to ongoing compliance obligations. Legal counsel can also help you navigate licensing and regulatory challenges and draft template contracts and agreements critical to any business.

While establishing strong legal footing is essential for your company, working with a bookkeeper, and eventually an accountant, can help you adopt sound practices and procedures, giving you power over your expenses and profitability. Putting the right accounting system in place can also help you maximize various tax benefits, which will make a difference for an early stage company.

Finally, there’s nothing more exciting than deciding that it’s time to hire employees. But hiring requires thinking through everything from complying with federal and state wage and anti-discrimination laws to establishing clear employee policies. Working with a human resources professional is vital to preparing for the next stage of operating a business. Bringing additional people into your business mix is also a great time to consider your company’s mission, vision, values, and conduct a retreat with your new team to shape your future together.

While there are so many free useful online resources, nothing beats working hand in hand with a knowledgeable and capable attorney, accountant, and human resources professional to set a strong foundation for your business. It’s an upfront investment that will prove worthwhile for decades to come! And, as always, trepwise is here for you. Get in touch to flesh out exactly who you need on your side to ensure success.

The information in this blog post (“post” or “Insight”) is provided for general informational purposes only and may not reflect the current law in your jurisdiction. No information contained in this post should be construed as legal advice from trepwise, llc, or the individual author, nor is it intended to be a substitute for legal counsel on any subject matter. No reader of this post should act or refrain from acting based on any information included in, or accessible through, this post without seeking the appropriate legal or other professional advice on the facts and circumstances at issue from a lawyer licensed in the recipient’s state, country or other appropriate licensing jurisdiction. trepwise is not a law firm and does not provide legal services. Trepwise is not an accounting firm and does not provide accounting services. The author is only licensed in Louisiana to represent trepwise, llc.