Starting a New Michigan Business – From Napkin to Reality

The idea for a new small to mid-sized business is often initially written down on a napkin. It is then fleshed out and slowly becomes a reality. However, the excitement surrounding what is wanted out of the adventure often takes precedence over what is needed to ensure that a new company is properly created, addresses legal issues and protects everyone involved.

Although many new Michigan businesses understandably want to open their doors (either literally or virtually) as soon as possible, taking the time to speak with an experienced business law attorney first can save you a great deal of headache in the future. Keep the napkin for posterity sake; just make sure to build upon your initial ideas with sound legal advice.

Understanding New Business Basics

Before new business owners open their doors, it’s important to understand the basics, the legal basics, that most start-ups require – including business agreements, partnership agreements, terms of use agreements, employment contracts, non-compete contracts and more.

Having an experienced business law attorney who will listen to your business plan, understand your customer base, vendor relationships, status of employees and sales representatives is key to protect the business and its owners – now and in the future. In addition to filing tax-payer ID numbers with the IRS and completing state-required forms, a business law attorney can make sure you’re covered when it comes to:

• Development of forms such as bids / quotes, purchase orders, invoices, liens and security interests
• Contracts and transactional documents which will clearly state the intent of all parties to avoid misinterpretations
• Sales representative, distributorship and licensing agreements which protect your interests without imposing disincentives to performance
• Asset purchase and merger agreements which address tax authorities, creditors, accountants, employees and others
• Web-based business contracts, terms of use and privacy policies that will make your deals binding while protecting you against claims
• Dissolutions, break-ups, withdrawals and intra-company disputes which can often lead to courtroom battles if not adequately addressed up-front
• Non-compete, non-solicitation and non-disclosure agreements which may be useful in employee relationships vendor relationships, joint ventures, sales and distribution relationships, research and development stages and more

The lawyers at Troy, Michigan-based Hickey, Cianciolo, Finn & Atkins, PC know that you want to get up and running ASAP and have more on your mind than making sure you are in compliance and have the legal basics of your firm covered. That’s where we come in.

We’ve Got You Covered

HCFA lawyers can provide business law advice and support to small and mid-sized businesses of any kind. With over 30 years of business law experience, we also understand that small and mid-sized businesses are concerned with costs. We can help keep those costs down and still provide you with responsive, thorough and accessible legal representation.

Let the seasoned Michigan attorneys at HCFA give you the peace of mind that we’ve got you covered. We proudly represent clients in Troy, Oakland County, metropolitan Detroit and throughout Michigan. We welcome you to contact the Law Office of Hickey, Cianciolo, Finn & Atkins, PC by calling 248-247-3300 or by using our online form.