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Protecting Your Startup

– Contributed content –

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14 Nov. 2018. Starting your own business is a fantastic achievement. It’s exciting, nerve-wracking, daunting and stressful. It’s challenging and exhilarating. It’s your chance to create the company that you’ve always wanted. To do things your way, to make a difference and to work doing something that you love. Many people dream of starting up on their own, and in today’s world, more people than ever before are able to turn that dream into a reality.

Starting your own business takes an awful lot of time and effort. You might find yourself working six or seven day weeks for months. You might be unable to take holidays or even clock off at a sensible hour. Your to-do lists might be pages and pages long for the first few months of your business, and you might feel as though it has completely taken over your life.

Wouldn’t it be terrible if all of that hard work, time and money, was for nothing? If your business fell at the first hurdle because you failed to take the appropriate steps to protect it from the offset? Because you failed to do your research, to spend time reading advice from LegalZoom or seeking help elsewhere?

Unfortunately, many new businesses make exactly these mistakes. They get caught up in the excitement of starting up, and they neglect to offer themselves and their business the protection that it needs to grow and flourish. Here are some of the steps that you should take to ensure that you are not one of them.

Insurance

Getting the right insurance is an absolute must for all business. No matter how big or small. What you need, however, will vary. If you run a small business from home, you might simply need to add the value of the equipment that you use to your home insurance policy. If you have any contact with the public at all, liability insurance can be a good idea, and small business insurance is often a wise investment. Learn more about the different types of coverage available to a small business in your field, and take out any premiums that you need.

Online security

You’ve probably taken care of offline security with actions like installing quality locks and CCTV cameras. But, what about online security? Even if your business is brick and mortar based, you probably still use social media, have a website and bank online. This means that you need to be worried about cybercrime and hacking. Install the relevant security plugins on your site, update all of your software and be vigilant with passwords.

Trademarks

If you are unfamiliar with trademarks, copyrights, and patents, it can all be very confusing, and it’s often hard to know what you need. But, all of these documents exist to protect your business, your products, and even your ideas. Research the law to find out which documents you should be applying for and make sure you do it as soon as possible to offer your business, and it’s future key protection.

Discretion

Starting a business is terribly exciting, and you might want to shout it to the world. But, be careful about what you say and who you say it to. Certainly, before you’ve got other legal protections in place. Discretion and common sense can go a long way to protecting a new business.

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