In Show 100 – Not a Legal Clip Show originally broadcast on Facebook Live on Wednesday 13 Wednesday 2018 we explore this interesting topic.
Show Notes
We’re incredibly excited to have reached our 100th episode! We wanted to celebrate by offering an all-in-one recap of much of the information we’ve covered over the last ten months. We’ve had some incredible interviews with leaders in a variety of fields. We’re going to offer some clips from those interviews. And we’re going to play some clips from our favorite episode.
We start this episode with a clip from Episode 27 which dealt with business coaches. He or she should be part of your initial team in the first phase of your business. Doubtless, you are great at your chosen profession. But you don’t know what you don’t know. The biggest problem we see with our clients is that they think they know what’s going on when they don’t. Business is a lonely place and you need someone else to bounce your ideas off of. Mindset and clarity are a critical part of your future success a business coach can help provide that. The most important advice we can give is to make sure that both you and the business coach are on the same page. Take the advice you are given.
Next up we played a clip from an interview with Peter Docker. Peter is a speaker, teacher and author of the book Find Your Why: A practical guide for discovering purpose for you and your team. Peter says he exists to help people find the real purpose in their working lives so they can do extraordinary things. Peter says your why is not created, it’s discovered. That’s what makes it authentic and real. Discovering your own why is an act of leadership, Peter says. You have to be vulnerable and dig deep inside to help you discover your purpose. Once a leader establishes their why they need to turn to a group why. What is it that makes your organization different or unique? What’s the higher purpose? Being able to put that purpose into a single sentence makes it actionable. It will affect every part of the business. It will help you to hire people who believe what you believe and to actually stand for something.
Our next clip is from Episode 003. We were just getting on our feet and we talked about the fundamentals of creating a startup. Running a company as a sole trader can be very dangerous. We recommend that everyone structure their business as limited liability company. You may never encounter a problem but you want to ensure that if something does happen you want to protect yourself.
Back in Episode 043 we talked about the importance of debt recovery. Debt recovery can be one of the most frustrating aspects of running a business. It’s really important to get this right at the beginning of your business. When you start you want to collect any outstanding debts quickly and efficiently. Cash is king in business. If you can’t pay your own debts you are going to quickly find yourself out of business. Get your invoicing and credit policies figured out early so you will have a consistent flow of cash. Train your clients so they know when they are expected to pay. Invoicing consistently is a big part of that. It’s a good idea to use a third party to collect your debts. It frees up a lot of time for you. It also protects you from any uncomfortable interactions with your clients.
In Episode 089 we invited Natasha Hawker, the owner and director of Employee Matters to join us on the podcast. She is a senior HR practitioner, speaker, author and trainer. She is an expert in employee management, recruitment and mediation. She’s been published in the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Australian Financial Review. She’s also the author of From Hire to Fire & Everything in Between. Natasha believes that small business is the backbone of the country and she’s driven to help them grow. We’ve worked with Natasha for several years and we’re excited to have her on the show.
In Episode 073 we interviewed Warwick Peters to join us. Warwick is an accredited business broker with Ray White Commercial. We’ve known Warwick for many years and are happy to have him back on the show. We previously had him on which focused on Phase 5: Protecting your intellectual property. Warwick helps businesses to discover where their profitability lies and how best to structure themselves prior to a sale. He helps to break down and analyze what problems exist in any given company and helps to fix them.
In Episode 051 we talked about shareholder agreements. Today on Fast Fix Monday we wanted to touch on shareholder agreements. These agreements often come into play during Phase 6: Maximizing your business and bringing on investors. Why do you need a shareholders agreement? They can provide legal security for your company and it helps to regulate future disputes. There are several “what if” scenarios this agreement will cover. Among them are:
What happens if the business owners leaves, dies or becomes chronically ill?
The owner of the business is usually the life-blood of the operation. If they become sick or incapacitated in some way that can cause major problems. There needs to be a transition plan in place which can include a buy-sell -option agreement. That is essentially an insurance policy that is put in place if the owner becomes sick or dies.
What happens if the founder starts another project similar to your business?
This is important because it protects the company from unfair competition from one of the people in the ownership group who may want to leave the company and enter a similar sector.
What happens if you need another partner?
If the business continues to expand you may need additional investment from another partner. Before that happens the details of how that will happen needs to be worked out with the current ownership group.
What if a partner isn’t putting in the time?
It’s possible that someone in the ownership group will become distracted by another job or interest and is no longer putting in the time and effort into the company. The responsibilities of everyone involved in the company need to be clearly spelled-out.
What happens if there are disagreements among shareholders?
Just like a marriage everyone gets along great at the start of a new business. That isn’t always where it ends up. A dispute management system needs to have been agreed upon by all parties long before the operation gets under way.
What happens if there is a deadlock after a vote?
This is especially important if there is a 50/50 ownership split. It’s possible that a major decision will end in a deadlock. You don’t want to wait until that happens before you decide on how to resolve that kind of dispute.
In Episode 063 we talked with Jason Cook. Jason works as a financial advisor with WB Financial in Queensland. He is also the author of the book Bulletproof Business. Jason feels strongly that people should invest with an end goal in mind. Investing in property or shares is not the end goal. It’s what those things will ultimately be able to provide in the future. That might be the ability to take a lengthy vacation every year or to provide financial stability for retirement. Not many people actually make that plan. It’s all about what the investment can do for you. Not what the thing actually is.
In Episode 084 we invited Hank de Jonge to join us. Hank is the co-founder of de Jonge Read a business consultancy focused on guiding business through insolvency. Hank has an extensive background both operating and buying businesses. He founded de Jonge Read in 2006 and has strived to help companies to navigate the complicated world of bankruptcy.
More about this Show
We started Business Legal Lifecycle to create a simple way for you to understand complex legal terms. Most importantly we want to help you to develop a plan to take your business successfully into the future. There’s a startling statistic the underscores the importance of developing a solid plan. The majority of business owners are just seven months away from losing everything. A single aspect of your business that is not set-up correctly can shut down your whole operation very quickly. Legal advice is not cheap and even when you can afford it there is often a divide between lawyers and their clients. We want to close that gap once and for all. We want to put legal knowledge and tools into your hand to prevent the worst from happening to you.
Twice a week we are going to deliver those tools right to your home or office with Business Legal Lifecycle TV. We’ll start the week with Fast Fix Monday, a short 5-10 minute video that will tackle a single issue that businesses have to deal with. Then on Wednesday’s our main show will feature with more fulsome discussions and interviews all delivered in a straightforward and easy to understand format.
