Its often up to you whether you win or lose in most cases. And by this I mean that you often have a lot more control over the regular business transactions and occurrences than you think. Pardon me while I speak frankly on the matter. There are many ways to be taken advantage of and otherwise be injured by the acts or omissions of others. There is risk in every transaction, but over time we have learned to control risk by spreading it. The most common way to spread risk is to purchase insurance. When we purchase insurance we spend a little money up front to protect ourselves from catastrophic failure due emergent issues during the transaction. (Fires, for example) Further protection is usually desirable. When entering into business transactions it is important to understand the exact terms of the agreements that are being made. You should know enough about the transaction to understand the reason for the agreement, the actions that each party is required to take, the benefits each party is to receive, what constitutes the beginning and the end of the transaction, and what will happen when either party fails to do what they are supposed to do. This is an over simplification, but you probably get it. It is your responsibility to understand your rights and obligations under such agreements, and it is your own fault if you somehow miss something that creates a problem. Your decisions should be based on sound due diligence. You also have control over the risk associated with the people you are working with. It goes without saying that you should not do business with people you believe to be dishonest. You should also be aware that the people you deal with can be lazy, disorganized, passive-aggressive or just entitled. Doing business with somebody who is lazy and refuses to make progress on your transaction is surprisingly similar to flushing money down a toilet. The most damaging and hurtful business losses may be caused by people in your own organization. This is because you often hire people in your own family or inner circle of friends. The most trusted employees are often responsible for the theft of huge amounts of money, and otherwise manipulate funds against the interest of your company. Heres what you do: 1. Dont write your own contracts. I know you are genius, but just dont do it. Dont use the contracts you buy online without having them tailored to your needs. If you provide the contract it will be construed strictly against you. 2. Have an attorney draft contracts specifically for your needs. This will often require an extensive examination of not just the words of the contract, but a review of the facts of the agreement. An attorney can help you conduct adequate due diligence so you know what you are getting into and, with the assistance of your financial professionals, help guide you towards entering more successful business engagements. If you are working from form contracts be sure to ask an attorney what your rights and obligations under those contracts are. This is like buying insurance. Spread the risk the best way you know how. 3. Audit your business systems regularly. If it insults your friends or cousins to be held accountable for handling your companys money then they should either get over it or leave the business. They are the ones who are the most likely to feel entitled to your money, and the most likely to steal from you. And you might not catch them until they are dead, if ever. Also audit the progress of individual transactions. Thats the essence of your business. This is the best advice I can give regarding the use of lawyers in controlling risk in your business transactions. It is not to be construed as legal advice, however, and your reading this does not constitute an attorney-client relationship. Hiring an attorney is important and you should not rely solely on advertisements to make that decision. Im Ross Keeling with Keeling Law Office. If you would like to talk to an attorney please call me at: (785) 424-0456 You can also email me at: ross.keeling.law@gmail
Posted on: Sun, 09 Mar 2014 15:30:32 +0000
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