The very act of opening a brick and mortar business or establishing an e-business forms some type of legal entity and failure to account for this is the recipe for disaster. A part of any start-up business should be consulting with an Indiana business lawyer and setting some budget for legal services from the outset.

The Indiana business attorneys at Ciyou & Dixon, P.C., see many business trip or fail not because they lacked a good product or service.  Instead, the entrepreneurs running the business lost sight of the fact that there are some legal issues that cannot be redressed after the fact.

The failure to obtain a trademark, enter into a confidentiality agreement, or other simple and inexpensive legal matters that are neglected, can lead to intractable legal problems later. In fact, a good Indiana business lawyer will help a business owner identify the legal risk field and probabilities of encountering a given risk, and make an informed choice whether and how to address it.

For more mature businesses, the focus on making money and growing the business may take precedence over other management matters, such as an employee or vendor dispute. This may fester and a simple resolution or settlement, which is a cost of doing business, may turn into a nasty sexual harassment or discrimination suit that could have been mitigated with an effective labor law attorney. The vendor may simply stop providing products or services without notice and choke the life out of the business.

These general Indiana business landscape noted, the point of departure for any business starting up operations or merging or otherwise changing is way of conducting itself is considering the legal entity structure it will operate under:

• Sole proprietorship.
• Partnership.
• Limited liability company.
• Corporation or professional corporation.

These each have different liability and tax consequences. However, once determined and the business is up and operational, the business must always be cognizant routine needs:

• Contract review and negotiation.
• Labor law matters.
• Confidentiality agreements, covenants not to compete, trade secret agreements.
• Threat and management of litigation.
• Insuring against foreseeable risks.
• Payment of tax.
• Complying with safety and security standards.

The Indiana business lawyers at Ciyou & Dixon, P.C. address these and related issues for a number of  small to medium sized business needs on a regular basis.  We are always mindful of the cost versus the benefit and partner with business clients to strike the right balance based on their risk aversion. If this approach comports with your expectations for you business counsel, perhaps you should consider the business attorneys at Ciyou & Dixon, P.C.