Tuesday, January 15, 2008

The importance of spending money on a shareholder agreement when you are starting a new business

I have to say that when entrepreneurs start their businesses, they are, most of the time spending the majority of their monies into sales & marketing, however they are often neglecting the legal aspect of their businesses.
Obviously, I understand it's not the real focus of entrepreneurs who are calculating their ROI (Return of Investment), but let me ask you this question:
Would you rather have an agreement in place when the relationship is good or would you prefer to TRY to have one when the parties are in disagreement and bitter at each other?
The answer is quite obvious, just do it when you are starting your business, in addition, most of the time, people will be much more reasonnable in their demands, knowing that a signed agreement is in place. Therefore; I strongly advice to spend the money upfront instead of spending MUCH more money in litigation with no formal agreement in place, that could take months/years and during the process, you are not focusing on your business. At the end of the day, you should try to protect your business and one of the best way is to stay far from Court litigation because it's really expensive.

No comments: