entrepreneurs 21


Thames Valley entrepreneurs kickstart the economy


Angela Shields, partner at Pitmans LLP, considers legal issues in the context of entrepreneurship and 'Kickstart'


Businesses in the Thames Valley have an outstanding record of developing innovative products, processes or services.


In this article, I intend to focus


on what to consider when starting a new business: entrepreneurs in the Thames Valley have firm plans to expand their businesses in the forthcoming year and Pitmans offers a complete package of tangible support to get your venture off the ground or expand it, known as Kickstart.


Being an entrepreneur implies an element of risk-taking coupled with a deliberate allocation of resources to exploit opportunities in order to maximize a financial return. Therefore, reducing risk and careful consideration of where money is to be spent is key to a successful venture. An important deliberation for any new business is when and how to take legal advice: the following are legal topics where allocating a resource early on can save time, energy, costs, loss of value and resources both immediately and in the future.


Structure of your new venture


Most entrepreneurs initially consider how to organise their new venture: limited company, limited liability partnership, partnership or sole trader. The majority of new ventures choose incorporation by way of a limited company.


It is cost


effective and gives a degree of certainty and definition.


Brand protection


The next step in developing your innovative product, process or service is to consider brand protection. A trademark is your recognisable sign, design or expression which identifies your products or services from those of others. It can be owned by an individual, business organisation, or any legal entity but the key is to register it early so you will be able to take legal action against anyone who uses your brand without your permission, including counterfeiters. You can put the


brand – to show that it’s yours and warn others against using it and you


® symbol next to your THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – SEPTEMBER 2015


can sell and license your brand. Your trademark must be unique. It can include words, sounds, logos, colours and a combination of any of these.


Commercial contracts


It is an exciting time when you gain your first customer. There is so much to think of. Having a written contract in place from the start can be invaluable. It is okay to progress quickly but before you know it you may have two to three contracts all running along with various uncertain terms in place. Getting a pro-forma document in place that you are satisfied with and that can be reused with suppliers, or customers, is advisable. Having a written contract and carefully considering what you can deliver on will avoid any later breach of contract claims. Always try to avoid giving indemnities in your contracts as far as possible and if they cannot be avoided, limit their scope to specific key risks.


The benefits of standard terms of business means that you will not waste time and expense negotiating new terms on each contract: you will have a good opportunity to add your favourable terms, drawing them to the attention of your customer as soon as possible and allowing both parties certainty of trading terms.


If you are selling directly to the public, be aware of the vast amount of legislation in place to protect consumers and in particular, cancellation rights.


Employment


When taking on an employee, consider what you need to have: a written contract of employment containing the necessary legal requirements but also consider expressly protecting your confidential information and your legitimate business connections from the outset. You do not want your employee walking away and taking your business once they have learnt all about your innovative business proposition.


You will need compulsory employee liability insurance and have considered


www.businessmag.co.uk


the health and safety aspects of employing someone. Once you have five employees (including any directors or part-timers) you will need to have a written health and safety policy in place.


Investment


The categories of finance investment largely revolve around the type and size of investment alongside the purpose for which the business needs finance. Crowdfunding and competitions for funding are all relatively new investment strategies but investigating the objectives of the potential funder, any tax advantages and what the entrepreneur needs to give up are all vital considerations.


Kickstart is Pitmans’ package of tangible support for startups. Comprising of three levels, the Kickstart programme develops with your venture by providing levels of support in a fixed price package: your client relationship partner and your Kickstart team will advise from registration of your company and provide a directors' toolkit service, telephone advice, contract/policy templates (with drafting advice) and legal health assessments alongside mentoring, networking and sharing know-how.


Details: Angela Shields 0118-9570450 ashields@pitmans.com www.pitmans.com


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68