From our two days at the Business Start Up Show it became clear from our survey a key point for new businesses was the costs involved in hiring a solicitor to check over or create employment contracts, supplier contracts and terms of business.
It was astonishing that many businesses had already begun trading and making money without having these vital protections is place.
Employment Contracts are an integral part of business no matter how big or small, at Hodders Law, we specialise in working with small and medium business and will always advise our clients to have strong contracts in place from the outset as making these fairly easy documents up at the start of someones employment, is a lot easier and cheaper that sorting out any employment issues that arise in the future if things go wrong, it makes business sense to cover your back when dealing with your companys most vital asset, its staff!
A number of visitors to our stand at the Business Start Up Show were unsure if their business really needed a supplier contract or terms of business for suppliers. Of course you should have supplier contracts or terms of business with your suppliers, often the very essence of your business functioning is dependent on suppliers providing the right items to you at the right time – how can you leave something so important to chance or in many cases a phone call or a handshake, you need to make sure that your business and all of the things that it relies upon to operate are built on solid foundations from the outset, make sure you arrange to have supplier contracts or terms of business drawn up as soon as possible.
Speaking of the costs of solicitors fees being prohibitive, at Hodders Law we always look at your business before we talk costs, we get to know what your requirements are, so if you think a long term relationship is best, i.e. a solicitor constantly available to look at contracts and agreements for numerous members of staff and suppliers or if you are just starting your business and need your company handbook and a shareholders agreement drawn up, we can come up with a price and a pricing structure that truly reflects the individual needs of your business.
We have a range of packages available to start up, small and medium businesses which make it easy for you to select which parts of a standard company handbook you require and when, so you can get 10 documents with the cost spread over a payment plan tailored to suit you. A company handbook is there as a "company bible" it demonstrates all of the rules, regulations and procedures for your company, from your induction process, taking annual leave, your smoking policy all the way to your disciplinary procedure, for any company that employs any staff at all, these documents are there to provide your staff with details of what is expected of them as employees of your company and also gives you real strategies and procedures for when various issues arise.
To start your business in the first place, you might need to have an incorporation of a limited company document drawn up or a shareholders agreement, these documents are vital to strengthen and protect the core aims of your business. At Hodders Law, we have packages available for fixed fees and monthly installment plans to make sure that even if your new business is short on cash, it is still protected and running as efficiently as possible.
We know that starting a business leaves you strapped for cash and that you want to spend what little cash flow you have on equipment, premises or advertising, but the fact is – none of that means anything until you can rest easy that your business is protected by law.
The law is our business, whats yours?
Speak to Sherine today about what you need to do to protect your business sherine.silva@hodders.co.uk 020 8955 6305
Hodders Law
http://www.hodders.co.uk
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