Biz101: Getting your ducks in a row

I know its been a while since i posted anything relevant or interesting even, so I’m trying to convince myself to spend half an hour a day writing here. So here goes, my renewed effort to spread my knowledge and opinions on the world.

One of the key things i’ve learned in the last few years of working for myself, is that the single most important thing to have in a business is proper paperwork. Now you might be thinking “but Brian, isn’t the idea key?” You know what, ideas are essential, but if you don’t have paperwork to protect them, you might as well give them away from the start. If you want to give your idea away, send it myway, i’ll let you know if its worth stealing ;-).

By paperwork, what I mean is: contracts between you and your team (developers, marketers, advisors, etc.), contracts between your company and the government (articles of incorporation, patents, trademarks, and other intellectual property docs), and last but certainly not least, contracts between you and your customers.

So do yourself a favor, buy some contract templates, they are all over the web, or find free ones. Nolo.com is a great resource for this, if not, there is always google. The last thing you want to do is enter into an arrangement with a client, partner, investor, employee, or anyone, and give them the ability to ruin your company.