Growing your Business: Is growth on your agenda?
Expanding your organisation can take time and business leaders that have a growth plan tend to be more optimistic about achieving their goals.
There are several reasons that growth may be on the agenda. You could be:
• experiencing organic growth and need to expand and develop your staff
• expanding your horizons by selling your product or service to a foreign market, or acquiring your parts or products from overseas
• targeting and winning larger contracts
• restructuring, either to protect assets, enable part of the business to be de-regulated, or to sell off parts of the business that are no longer aligned with your future vision
• wanting to enter into joint ventures with other businesses to share intellectual property, tools or customers for synergistic growth
• acquiring other businesses like yours, or which have a similar customer base or talent aligned to your offering
• incentivising your team to drive your business forward
So, how can legal advice aid your growth?
Whatever your plan is to achieve growth, you will always come across issues, structures or possibilities where you would benefit from legal advice.
This legal advice can help in so many ways and ensure that:
• a target business is worth the price paid
• intellectual property is protected and belongs to you
• incentive schemes or share rights are properly implemented
• you don’t enter into long term contracts without fully understanding the implications, whether related to property leases, new shareholder or director arrangements, or long-term service agreements
• your business or company is in good legal shape to be considered for joint ventures, bank lending, partial sale and ultimately sale or succession
• you fully understand the benefits and risks of the various types of contracts under consideration; whether a franchise, distributorship, agency or direct contract
• you understand the implications of bringing others into your business and protecting your interests
• any mistakes are avoided, both in terms of money and time
What should you look for in your legal adviser?
Trust: Get a feel for how a lawyer works from their client testimonials
Expertise: Is there knowledge of your field of work
Responsiveness: Are they timely in both their communication and work
Solutions: Do they help or hinder. Do they assist you in evaluating risks
Assistance: Will they help with the difficult decisions, whilst still enabling you to reach your own conclusion
Teamwork: Are there others who can step in and take over efficiently and effectively, so absence doesn’t delay you
Collaboration: Are they happy to work with your other professional advisers
Balance: Can they match legal advice to risk level and your requirements, giving you options
At Birkett Long, we can tailor the process to the matter size, ensuring value for money. We pride ourselves on our solution-finding approach. We act as facilitators and are committed to helping you in the best way possible.
Whether you need a one-off consultation on a specific issue or are looking to appoint solicitors to provide legal services on an ongoing basis, we are here to help your business grow. For more information contact Tracey Dickens on E: tracey.dickens@birkettlong.co.uk T: 01206 217326 or visit: birkettlong.co.uk Twitter @birkettlong
