A new year is a gift to the distracted or busy. As the ball drops and the fireworks blast off, we’re gifted a clean slate to wipe off the old and start afresh. That gym contract you never used gets prime property in your wallet, that online course which you’ve wished you could do gets prioritized with a recurring calendar event. Sometimes it takes something as natural as the world spinning on its own axis to remind us of what we want to prioritize.
Each year while we make our new year’s resolutions and goals for ourselves and our families, I think it’s just as important to make a list of those business goals and resolutions as well. These goals can certainly be the lofty aims and ambitions which set the stage for our future, but I want to invite you to also think practically about where you want your business to be by December 2022 and to start putting the building blocks in place to get there.
Just as we may have to lug ourselves to get to that first session at gym, we may need to bring that same energy to some of our legal structures and compliance which are just as important but right now feel just as unsexy.
But fear not – just as you have Google Calendar to remind you to do your do your online course, or your personal training to keep you accountable to keeping fit, Legalese has developed a Legal Roadmap process to ensure that by the end of this year, you’ve ticked your legal goals off the list where they belong.
So how does it work?
Company Registration and Structure
The first area we examine are the basics – are your fundamentals up to date? We look at everything from your CIPC status to your share registry, to ensure that the nitty-gritties are sorted. Any company looking to attract investment, register as a government supplier or be acquired in the future needs to ensure that the basics are in place. You’d be surprised how often these annoying items can fall off the list. 2022 is the year to get them sorted.
Client, contracts, and suppliers
Next, we take a deep dive into your contracts. Maybe you’ve never had proper agreements drafted for your business, or maybe your client or supplier contracts haven’t changed as quickly as your business model has and need to be amplified. Either way, the best time to ensure your contracts are in place and relevant is before something goes wrong.
Your team
A critical but often overlooked aspect of running a business is your team of employees. As business owners and managers, we work tirelessly at ensuring our teams are motivated, secure, and happy. If you’re successful at this job, then it’s all too easy to ignore the basics and let your company culture take care of the rest. But what happens if something goes wrong – what notice period must your staff give before the leave? Who owns the intellectual property they’ve been developing for you and where is it stored? Are you and your team on the same page in terms of their legal rights such as leave employment status and tax? If not, it’s time to get it into line.
Compliance
The journey of an entrepreneur is often to run before we walk. We love big ideas and bold moves, and we want to get our ideas into the public as soon as possible. One of the most common things to fall off the to-do lists is legal compliance. That could be your compliance with SARS, an industry specific regulator, the now infamous Protection of Personal Information Act (POPI) or even the Consumer Protection Act. Let 2022 be the year to get your legal compliance organized.
Conclusion
Our team of lawyers at Legalese have developed a process whereby we take you through a journey of your entire business covering everything in this article and more. The session takes about 40 minutes and by the end we have a list of what’s going right, what’s missing, and what we need to do. From there we set up your Legal Roadmap for 2022 – we can tackle the items individually over time, or all at one go. It just depends on your business New Year’s resolutions and your appetite for business growth and legal safety in 2022.
To all of our clients, partners, friends, and fans – have an amazing 2022. Let this be the year where you achieve your goals, make a difference, and wave the checkered flag at the finish line.
From all of us at Team Legalese, have a great year.
– Eitan Stern
Have any questions? Drop us a message below and we’ll be in touch!