Step 1 in Starting a Small Business: Hire a Lawyer

Artikel aus der New York Times, Sektion Legal Issues – lesenswert für StartUps, die in den US Markt eintreten wollen:

By ELLEN ROSEN

Ythan Lax was not a newcomer in the business world. He had spent years in corporate communications before striking out on his own by opening a Little Gym franchise in upstate New York. But despite his experience, he felt unprepared to cope with the myriad legal issues that arose and sought out a lawyer for help.

“If you think that having an attorney that is qualified is expensive, try not having one,” Mr. Lax said, who paid $7,000 for his. “I can’t count the number of mistakes I would have made — taxes, financing and, perhaps the scariest part — signing a seven-year lease with a personal guarantee,” without the advice of counsel.

When do you really need a lawyer? Despite the proliferation of both self-help books and Internet advice, when starting a business even the most sophisticated of businesspeople find, as Mr. Lax did, that they need an individual lawyer to guide them through the most basic of decisions as well as the more complicated ones, like financing and property issues.

Lawyers often seem expensive and an intangible cost to entrepreneurs. The good news, says Thomas J. Walsh Jr., a partner at Brody, Wilkinson and Ober in Southport, Conn., is that “most lawyers will typically have a consultative meeting when they won’t charge because it’s a time for both lawyer and client to see if they are a good fit for each other. Because there will be a lot of time spent with each other, hopefully over many years, it’s important that the parties have chemistry and see that they see things in a similar fashion.”

But once you’ve retained a lawyer, it makes sense, experts say, to outline concerns and questions before the first official meeting. A little homework can go a long way in helping to keep costs down. Because lawyers charge by the hour, “use your lawyers’ time efficiently,” said Mr. Walsh, who heads an American Bar Association subcommittee on closely held businesses.

Before the first meeting when the fee clock begins ticking, Steven Gersz, a lawyer in Rochester, says he encourages companies both large and small to complete a formal business plan. “It’s your road map,” he said. “It forces you to think about how you will handle things before you get into business. It forces you to look at the product or service you’re offering, how will you price it or target to your customer and how will you handle your competition.”

It’s not the “length or prettiness of the plan that matters,” he added.

“You need to do it to make sure you’ve thought through all the big-bullet issues: marketing, competition and cash-flow needs,” said Mr. Gersz, a partner at Underberg & Kessler who has advised Mr. Lax.

After creating the plan — which will not only aid lawyers but banks or other inv…