Law Outside the Box

Deciding to start a business can be a complex problem.  Every week, I meet with people who are thinking about forming their own business.  But as most everyone knows, the chances of success over the long-term are slim.  The business owners that I have found to achieve the most success are the ones who carefully plan each aspect of their business from the ground-up.

When it comes to forming a business, pieceworking it together is not the way to go.  I have had the opportunity to form a number of profitable businesses where I am an owner or officer and my key to success has been to develop a comprehensive strategy that at the very least addresses the following considerations:

1 – Financing

2 – Accounting and Taxes

3 – Human Resources / Personnel

4 – Marketing

5 – Legal

6 – Insurance / Risk Management

You can go out on the internet and find any number of resouces available to the small business owner.  But you should take what you find with a grain of salt.  The best way to begin and run a business is by the book.  The MN Department of Employment and Economic Development has many outstanding free resources available to the small business owner which I strongly encourage you to review. 

Beyond that, you are always in the best position to have professionals in your corner to help with each of the above areas.  This would include a CPA, human resources professional, business attorney, business insurance agent and business coach.  In most cases, it is worth the added expense to involve these professionals because if they are good at what they do, they WILL help you become much more profitable!