Business Attorney | Law Office of Maritza S. Nelson, LLC

  • Home
    • COVID-19
  • Who We Serve
  • Practice Areas and Fees
    • General Counsel Service
    • Business Law >
      • Business Formation and Governance
      • Contract Drafting and Review
      • Business Purchases and Sales
    • Intellectual Property >
      • Copyright Law
      • Trademark Law
    • Employment Law
    • Nonprofit Law >
      • Non-Profit Formation and Governance
      • Tax Exempt Status
      • Non-Profit General Counsel Service
  • Attorneys
    • Maritza S. Nelson
    • Sarah Pollyea
  • Adding Value
    • Legal Audit Checklist
    • Legal Dictionary
    • 7 Common Legal Mistakes
    • Business Contracts: Review Checklist
    • Webinars >
      • HR 101: Managing the Growing Pains That Come With Growing Your Business
      • Hiring Independent Contractors
      • Legal Audit and Risk Assessment
      • Structuring a Social Enterprise
  • Blog
  • Scheduling
    • Prospective Client Scheduling
    • Existing and Former Client Scheduling
    • Networking Scheduling
  • Contact
  • Home
    • COVID-19
  • Who We Serve
  • Practice Areas and Fees
    • General Counsel Service
    • Business Law >
      • Business Formation and Governance
      • Contract Drafting and Review
      • Business Purchases and Sales
    • Intellectual Property >
      • Copyright Law
      • Trademark Law
    • Employment Law
    • Nonprofit Law >
      • Non-Profit Formation and Governance
      • Tax Exempt Status
      • Non-Profit General Counsel Service
  • Attorneys
    • Maritza S. Nelson
    • Sarah Pollyea
  • Adding Value
    • Legal Audit Checklist
    • Legal Dictionary
    • 7 Common Legal Mistakes
    • Business Contracts: Review Checklist
    • Webinars >
      • HR 101: Managing the Growing Pains That Come With Growing Your Business
      • Hiring Independent Contractors
      • Legal Audit and Risk Assessment
      • Structuring a Social Enterprise
  • Blog
  • Scheduling
    • Prospective Client Scheduling
    • Existing and Former Client Scheduling
    • Networking Scheduling
  • Contact
Don't miss out on new blog posts, webinar announcements, and other valuable content for serious entrepreneurs! Join now and get our Legal Audit Checklist.
Join the List

5 Easy Steps to Make Sure Your Business (or Non-Profit) is Structured Properly

7/30/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
Is your business or non-profit structured properly? Is it built on a solid foundation?

These seem like simple enough questions. You set up your business or non-profit, and as far as you know, things are going smoothly (or at least as smoothly as they can be in the world of entrepreneurship). But what problems might be lurking just beneath the surface?

There are certain things we look for when talking to a new client to make sure the business or non-profit at least has a basic foundation in place. Without this foundation, none of the other legal work we do will matter.

The Checklist:

  1. Do you have a written business or strategic plan?
  2. Have Articles of Organization or Incorporation been filed with the Ohio Secretary of State?
  3. Do you know what licensing requirements and other regulations apply to your business? Are you keeping up with changes to those regulations?
  4. Are you planning to share your business or strategic plan with others?
  5. Do you have an operating agreement or bylaws in place?

Do you have a written business or strategic plan?

I always tell people that I work harder running this law firm than I ever did while employed for someone else. There’s a ton of stuff to keep track of (on top of doing the actual work): clarifying your target market, studying how you compare to your competition, identifying the big picture, defining your strengths and weaknesses, updating your marketing and sales plans, focusing on your best products and services, cleaning up operational or administrative issues, improving the organization’s finances, developing your staff and leadership team, and on and on and on. There’s simply no way to keep it all in your head.

Have Articles of Organization or Incorporation been filed with the Ohio Secretary of State?

Seriously, if you don’t know, go check right now. If you’re not sure what to file or what should have been filed, schedule a consultation right now. If you’re thinking about forming a subsidiary or social enterprise or just a new venture all together, get established with the Secretary of State before you do anything else.

Do you know what licensing requirements and other regulations apply to your business? Are you keeping up with changes to those regulations?

A great source for checking out some of the basic requirements that might apply to your business or non-profit is Ohio’s 1st Stop Business Connection.

Are you planning to share the business or strategic plan with others?

Perhaps you’ll be seeking new investors this year or entering into a strategic partnership. Anytime you plan to share confidential business information with someone, you should have a non-disclosure agreement in place before any confidential information is shared.

Do you have an operating agreement or bylaws in place?

Perhaps more importantly, is the document up-to-date? Does it truly reflect how you operate? When was the last time you had it reviewed by an attorney? Laws change, and banks are becoming increasingly demanding when it comes to what they expect to see in your governing documents.

If you have business partners, these documents are even more critical. So many of the disputes that we see between business partners can be summed up pretty easily: either there wasn’t an agreement in the first place or no one was actually following the agreement.

Bonus Questions for Non-Profits

  • Have you filed for tax-exempt status with the IRS?
  • Have you filed the appropriate annual Form 990?
  • Have you registered with the Ohio Attorney General (and locally if you solicit contributions from the general public)?

There is a lot of information in this post. Put it on your calendar or to-do list and really work through this checklist. And if this checklist raises any questions or concerns for you, then schedule your consultation right away.
Schedule Now
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    December 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    February 2015
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014

    Categories

    All
    Benefit Corp (B Corp)
    Business Formation
    Business Law
    Confidentiality Agreements
    Contracts
    Copyright
    Corporation
    COVID 19
    COVID-19
    Employment Law
    Firm Announcements
    General Legal Advice
    Hiring An Attorney
    HR Policies
    Independent Contractors
    Intellectual Property
    Investors
    Limited Liability Company (LLC)
    Low Profit Limited Liability Company (L3C)
    Motivation
    Non Profit
    Partnership
    Privacy Policy
    S Corp
    Securities Laws
    Small Business
    Social Enterprise
    Sole Proprietorship
    Trademarks
    Trade Secrets

    RSS Feed

Services

General Counsel Service
Business Law
Intellectual Property
Employment Law

Non-Profit Law

About

Who We Serve
Bio​
Adding Value
Webinars
Blog
Contact
​
Scheduling

Legal

The information contained on this website is not legal advice or legal opinion and should not be relied upon. Furthermore, nothing contained in this website is intended to create or establish, and does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. 

Document Retention Policy 
Privacy Policy
​Client Communications Policy

Subscribe to the mailing list to receive useful tips for entrepreneurs and business owners.
Join Mailing List
Copyright © 2021. | 4200 Regent Street, Suite 200, Columbus, OH 43219 | 614.944.5171 | info@msnlawoffice.com
Photos courtesy of Unsplash. Icons courtesy of Canva.
Photo used under Creative Commons from jseliger2