4 Steps You Can Take Right Now to Protect Your Business

We get lots of questions on some simple steps to help protect a client’s business. Taking a few simple steps to shore up your protections can go a long way in reducing your business risks. Here are the most common steps I’ve recommended recently for any business that can be taken today.

Internal Documentation Upkeep

The first step you can take to help protect your business is to review and update your internal entity documentation. Many small businesses operate as an LLC. LLCs offer some great advantages in management and flexibility over a corporation, but there is still internal documentation required. After formation you may need to authorize signatories for contracts or bank accounts. You may also may need to run your distribution plans by your CPA to ensure that your plans will be the most effective to reducing your tax burden. Don’t forget to actually sign your operating agreement too! It is only effective if it is executed, it does not good in your books set unsigned and gathering dust.

Of course, don’t forget to file your annual information and franchise tax reports to the State of Texas. After a couple delinquent filings, your entity status will be terminated and can result in serious repercussions. These filings are easily submitted online, knock it out sooner than later. With every LLC Reidel Law Firm helps form, we provide a digital books set with some basic instructions to help file your internal documentation and stay current. We also provide a primer on our next step to protect your business.

Sign Contracts Correctly

Perhaps one of the easiest ways for a business owner to lose the protections of their entity is to inadvertently introduce personal liability on a contract by signing incorrectly. How you sign your contract can have serious legal consequences. Most business owners don’t give signing a contract a second thought as they sign their own name. When your personal name is on the contract and not correctly noted as signing on behalf of the entity, other parties, banks, and courts will take the signature at face value, that it was signed in your personal capacity. Not as an authorized individual of the entity. Remember this step and save yourself major headaches in the future. For further examples check out our previous article: How to Sign a Contract as an LLC.

Tighten Cyber Security

Every year sets new records for lapses in business and government cyber security. Don’t let your business hit the newswire this year for poor cyber security practices. Taking some basic precautions that you can implement today can make it much harder for any malicious cyber attacks on your business. Secure your smartphone, this is one of the fastest growing avenues for hackers to take advantage. Just this past month, we had a client whose phone was completely taken over by a remote hacker. Imagine looking at your phone and someone remotely opening apps, browsing the internet, and sending messages. Scary indeed. Keep your smart phone updated with the latest software, use biometric and passwords, and do not open text messages from unknown numbers (much less click any unknown links).

Your passwords should be stronger, admit it. Everyone needs stronger passwords. Using a password storage and management app can help you keep your password segregated and strong. Another way to help protect your business from cyber risks is to encrypt your computer hard drive. Encrypting your computer hard drive can make it very difficult for unauthorized users from accessing the valuable data inside. Check out your cyber security risks today and take these steps to help reduce your risk of a malicious attack.

Network, Network, Network

In the game of life, and certainly the game of business, it is very important to have the right friends. Get out of your comfortable bubble today and meet more people. Meet consumers, meet business contacts, meet strangers. Building a network of friends and contacts can be invaluable to your business and future. You never know when that contact you chatted up at a trade show can step in with unique expertise to help your business. Reidel Law Firm has had the opportunity to meet fantastic folks around the world through business events and even personal initiative. Having a contact in an industry or a country has helped both our Firm and our clients. From connecting international clients with logistics experts to connecting veteran business owners with veteran business programs here in Texas; we take our relationships very seriously at Reidel Law Firm. Get out of your comfort zone and meet somebody new today.

Protecting your business is our business, call Reidel Law Firm today to find out how we can help secure you and your wealth. You can reach us at +1(832)510-3292 or use the email button below.