Legal Considerations When My Remote Employee Moves to Another State
As a small business owner, having a remote workforce provides a variety of benefits. It allows you to cast a wider net for job candidates so that you can secure the best possible talent for the unique needs of your business. You can also save a significant amount of money in monthly overhead expenses associated with maintaining an office. By offering your team a highly valued perk, it also gives you a competitive advantage when trying to retain your top employees long term.
If your entire remote team lives in the same state where you do business, employment considerations are relatively straightforward. But if you have a remote employee that relocates to another state, it can create a variety of complex legal, tax and compliance requirements to navigate. While these matters can prove challenging at first, they can easily be managed with the help of an experienced small business attorney.
As you begin planning for the legal matters that will arise when your employee moves out of state, it’s important to understand the critical laws and regulations that you’ll need to comply with. The following guide will help navigate the process.
Which State’s Laws Apply to Out-of-State Remote Employees?
In general, you’ll need to adhere to the laws of the state where your remote employee lives when complying with regulations associated with their employment. In some situations, there may be additional laws associated with the specific city where they reside which must be addressed as well. New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Seattle are examples of cities which have stringent regulations for their employees.
Before your employee moves out of state, you should research the employment laws governing the state where they will be living. This will help you understand the differences in the way matters such as payroll taxes, employment benefits and other items must be handled for this employee moving forward.
Business Registration and Insurance
When an employee relocates to another state, you will generally need to register your business with the new state’s revenue and unemployment agencies. As part of this process, you must determine whether you are considered to be “conducting business” in that state. This distinction varies based on:
The state your employee is living in
Their role in your company
The services they provide
If you’re considered to be “conducting business” in the new state, you’ll need to obtain a Certificate of Authority to Transact Business or the equivalent form in from the Secretary of State where your employee lives.
You’ll also need to register with your employee’s new state unemployment division and make sure the employee’s withholdings comply with their new state’s requirements. In addition, your workers’ compensation coverage for the employee must align with the minimum requirements of their new state. In some instances, this may require you to adjust your workers’ compensation insurance policy.
Tax Implications for Out-of-State Employees
You’ll need to withhold state income taxes based on the state where your employee lives and works. In many instances, income tax laws in the new state may be different than the laws governing the state where your business resides. If necessary, you may also need to register with the state’s tax authority.
Some states have reciprocity agreements. You’ll need to research whether these exist between your state and your employee’s new state of residence to avoid double taxation.
Compliance with Wage and Hour Laws
Wage and hour laws differ from state to state. You’ll need to comply with all minimum wage and overtime provisions associated with the laws in your employee’s new state of residence. You may also need to make adjustments to your payroll if laws governing pay frequency in the new state differ from the laws where your business resides.
Employee Benefits
Each state has different requirements for employee benefits, and you’ll need to review your existing benefits packages to ensure they meet the state requirements in your employee’s new place of residence. For example, some states require paid leave, sick leave and FMLA-type benefits that exceed federal guidelines.
In addition, you’ll need to make sure the health insurance packages you offer will adequately serve your employee in their new state. For example, if there are no (or insufficient) in-network providers on your existing plan in the employee’s new state, you may need to look into a plan that will allow your employee to find healthcare providers near their new home.
Additional Compliance Considerations to Monitor
The following items may have varying regulations from state to state, making it important to review the laws in your employee’s new state to ensure you’re in compliance:
Employee Handbooks – Your employee handbook plays an important role in ensuring your team understands company policies. You may need to update your handbook to reflect the legal requirements and employment policies that are applicable in your employee’s new state.
Recordkeeping and Reporting – Accurate recordkeeping is especially critical when you have employees living in multiple states. Make sure you keep detailed records of all tax filings, payroll and employee benefits. In addition, you’ll need to verify that you’re meeting the reporting requirements in your employee’s new state.
Employee Classification – Each state has slightly different employee classification criteria. It’s important to review the criteria in your employee’s new state to ensure they aren’t being misclassified as an independent contractor. Fines and penalties for employee misclassification can be costly.
Non-Compete and Other Restrictive Agreements – Each state has different laws governing non-compete agreements and other restrictive employment agreements. Make sure your existing agreements comply with the regulations governing these covenants in your employee’s new state and update their agreements if necessary to avoid compliance violations.
Elizabeth Lewis Can Help You Navigate these Legal Considerations
The legal considerations to navigate when a remote employee moves to another state can be overwhelming, and it’s often helpful to work with an experienced employment law attorney who can ensure you’re in compliance with all laws and regulations in your employee’s new state. At the Law Office of E.C. Lewis, we can make sure your business avoids the costly fines and penalties associated with noncompliance.
Elizabeth Lewis has been helping small and medium-sized businesses in Colorado navigate a variety of employment law issues since 2010. She understands the ways in which having a remote employee move out of state can impact your business, and she can help you navigate the complex process of making sure your policies comply with all the laws in the state and city where your employee now resides. This expert guidance will give you peace of mind that all necessary adjustments are made to your operations.
Contact us today to schedule a consultation. Elizabeth Lewis serves clients in Denver and throughout Colorado in addition to North Carolina.
Building a successful business is extremely hard work, but it’s also very rewarding. Seeing your fledgling small business blossom from a startup to a successful company makes the long hours you put in well worth the effort. But at some point, there may come a time when you decide running your business is no longer for you, and you may start looking into selling it. Regardless of your reasons for selling your business, it is one of the largest and most important transactions you’ll ever enter into in your life, and it’s important to put in the work to ensure you receive the proper compensation for all the years of hard work you’ve invested in building your company.
Selling a small business is a complex process that requires meticulous planning and a great deal of work to ensure the transaction goes smoothly and maximizes your return. On average, it takes roughly 10-12 months to complete the business sale process, and the preparation work should start way before this timeframe begins. It’s important to work with a small business lawyer who has extensive experience handling the sale of a business and can guide you through the process to ensure every step is handled properly.
Whenever you’re considering selling a business, it’s critical to understand the steps involved. The following guide will help you build a solid plan for preparing your business for sale.
Begin Preparing Well in Advance
The sale of a business can potentially take a long time, but the process starts long before you actually seek out potential buyers. The more time you give yourself to prepare for this important transaction, the more likely you are to achieve your desired outcome for the sale. Preparing well in advance gives you time to get a firm grasp on your business’ finances, identify ways to drive new revenue and optimize your profitability prior to the sale.
You’ll also need to assemble a team to assist with the sale (more on this later). It can take time to build the right team of advisors, and it’s important to start cultivating these relationships well before you intend to sell. Waiting too long to begin preparing your business for sale can complicate the process and make it challenging to attract the right buyer for your goals.
Define Your Goals and Timing
The first step of the planning process should focus on clarifying your goals for the sale and the ideal timing to sell. If you have partners, this process should be done collaboratively with all stakeholders in the business.
First, take some time to identify what you’d like to achieve from the sale of your business. Regardless of your reason for selling (retirement, lifestyle change, family or health reasons, etc.), understanding your goals for the process will ultimately play a critical role making the transaction successful. While every small business owner has a different set of goals and priorities for a sale, some of the most common include:
Maximizing the sale price
Safeguarding your employees
Ensuring a smooth transition
Having a quick and clean transaction
Achieving a favorable deal structure
Preserving the company’s reputation and brand image
When listing your goals, make sure to prioritize them. This can be a difficult task to work through, but it’s critical to identify what you consider most important. It’s often challenging to achieve all of your goals during the sale of a business, as the negotiation process will require give and take so that the buyer is able to achieve their goals as well. By outlining your priorities in advance, you’ll be able to focus on finding a buyer that allows you to achieve the goals that matter most to you.
You’ll also want to identify a timeline for your sale. You’ll have a much better chance of achieving your desired outcome if you sell at a time when your business is healthy, profits are robust and revenue is growing each year. These attributes will help you increase buyer interest and find the right fit to take over your business.
If your business is thriving and financials are all in good shape, you may be able to expedite your timeline if a quicker sale is a priority for you. However, if your business currently lacks strong financials and a vibrant customer base, you should establish a timeline that gives you an opportunity to improve the standing of your business before you sell it.
Assemble Your Team
The sale of a business is an extremely complex process that requires extensive expertise from a variety of professionals. You’ll need to hire a skilled team of advisors to assist as you prepare your business for sale. To ensure the smoothest and most successful transaction possible, you’ll want to assemble your team at the start of the process to ensure every phase is handled properly.
Your team should include:
Small Business Attorney – Your business lawyer will oversee all legal aspects of the deal. This includes drafting the sale agreement, navigating intellectual property issues, handling contract negotiations, and addressing all compliance and regulatory requirements.
Business Broker – Your business broker will be responsible for managing a variety of aspects associated with the transaction, including the business valuation, sourcing potential buyers, negotiating transaction terms and overseeing the sale process.
Tax Advisor – There are a variety of tax considerations associated with the sale of a business, making a tax advisor a critical component of your team. Your tax advisor will be able to help you structure the transaction in a way that minimizes your tax liability while ensuring the terms are acceptable to the buyer.
Accountant – Your accountant will prepare and review all financial statements, ensure your books are clean and ready for due diligence efforts and provide the financial transparency potential buyers will require.
Financial Advisor – The sale of a business typically generates a large sum of money for the seller. You’ll need a seasoned financial advisor who can assist with your personal financial planning after the sale is complete, ensuring your profits are invested wisely.
Get a Business Valuation
Before you can sell your business, you need to understand what it is worth. Getting a professional business valuation will help you determine the realistic value of your business, as well as its financial standing, market position, and tangible strengths and weaknesses. This information will help you set the proper asking price for your business and attract qualified buyers who can help you maximize your return.
Some of the factors used to determine the value of your business include:
Financial statements
Profit margins and revenue growth
Recent sales comps of similar companies
The value of tangible and intangible assets such as real estate, inventory, equipment, brand equity and intellectual property
Debts and liabilities
Clean Up Your Financials and Operations
Before talking to prospective buyers, you’ll need to make sure your financial information is properly organized and up to date. As a general rule, you should have at least three years’ worth of financial data for buyers to review. The more organized and detailed your financial statements are, the easier it will be for buyers to evaluate the financial health of your business.
You’ll want to make sure all financial records, including income statements, cash flow projections and balance sheets are accurate. Some of the documents you’ll want to prepare for buyers include:
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA)
Growth initiatives
Customer retention analytics
Balance sheets
During this process, your accounting team will help you identify potential questions that buyers may have regarding your company’s financial health and dig deeper into any potential issues that may be a cause for concern during the sales process. By taking the time to clean up your financials, you can create a compelling narrative about the numbers and position your business in the best possible light.
You’ll also need to clean up your operations to ensure they’re as streamlined as possible when buyers start looking into your business. This typically involves:
Identifying and addressing any inefficiencies, non-essential costs and outstanding liabilities
Documenting your core business processes in a clear, concise manner
Updating information about employees and their roles
Fixing or replacing any old or broken equipment
Making automation and scalability enhancements to your processes
Perform Legal and Compliance Reviews
Any potential buyer will want to perform some due diligence prior to purchasing your business. As the seller, it’s important for you to perform all necessary legal and compliance reviews and prepare these diligence documents for review. If any issues arise during the review process, you’ll need to resolve them prior to the sale.
Your small business attorney will help you perform all legal compliance reviews, including:
Reviewing all vendor contracts, customer contracts, license agreements and other contracts that might impact the sale
Ensuring all business permits and licenses are current
Making sure all intellectual property rights, including patents, trademarks and copyrights are documented and filed correctly
Drafting any nondisclosure agreements and noncompete agreements that may be needed as part of the sale
You’ll also need to work with your tax professional to ensure you’ve properly documented your tax status and are in compliance with all tax regulations. If there are any available tax incentives or outstanding tax liabilities associated with your business, you’ll need to provide these to prospective buyers as well.
Develop a Marketing Strategy and Search for Buyers
The final step in the process is to develop a marketing strategy that highlights the value your business brings, including its:
Growth potential
Unique strengths
Competitive position within your market
Create detailed marketing materials such as pitch decks, business prospectus and buyer packages. These materials should create a compelling narrative that makes your business attractive to buyers.
Next, begin reaching out to prospects who may be interested in buying your business. Often, it’s helpful to work with a business broker who can help you source potential buyers and handle the marketing process for you.
Elizabeth Lewis Can Help Sell Your Business
The complexities associated with selling a business make it critical to have the proper legal representation throughout the entire process. At the Law Office of E.C. Lewis, we have you covered.
Elizabeth Lewis is a small business lawyer with over 15 years of experience helping Colorado business owners sell their company. She can handle all legal aspects of the transaction, ensuring these important details are addressed properly. Elizabeth provides highly personalized representation and will make sure your rights and interests are protected throughout the sales process. Her keen eye for detail will ensure a thorough diligence process that identifies and resolves any potential compliance issues before they’re brought to the attention of a buyer.
Contact us today to schedule a consultation. Elizabeth Lewis serves business owners in Denver and throughout Colorado and also North Carolina.
Not all small businesses need to register in Colorado, but for certain types of businesses, registration is a necessary part of business formation. Even if Colorado business registration is not required, it can provide your business with benefits, and due to its relatively low cost it is well worth it.
However, if you want to set up a business structure that will protect your personal assets from business liabilities, will define the role of partners and investors, or will create a favorable tax position, then you need to register. Depending on the specifics of your business, registration can be complicated, so here are some of the steps you need to take. These can be complicated and confusing, and a small business lawyer can help you navigate them properly.
Decide on a Legal Structure
The legal structure of your business defines whether you need to register or not. Sole proprietorships and general partnerships do not need to register. However, registering a trade name is strongly recommended for a sole proprietor, especially if you are going to operate under any name other than your own, and it costs just $20.00 per year.
You will need to register if you want your business to be a:
Partnership
Limited liability corporation
Profit corporation
Nonprofit corporation
We’ll discuss the different business types and their benefits below.
Partnerships
Partnerships are used when two or more people go into business together. The partnership agreements define how the people will share responsibilities and profits. There are two main types of partnerships that get registered: limited partnerships and limited liability partnerships.
Limited partnerships set up one or more general partners who have unlimited liability for the partnership, and, usually, full control over the business. Other partners have limited control and liability. Limited liability partnerships limit the liability of all partners, but don’t necessarily give some partners more control than others. The two can be blended into a limited liability limited partnership.
Limited Liability Corporation
A limited liability corporation separates business assets from personal assets. This protects you from losing your personal assets if the Colorado business LLC gets sued or goes bankrupt (with some exceptions – so always make sure to speak with an attorney to make sure you are operating correctly). The LLC doesn’t pay corporate taxes, but all LLC members who share profits are considered self-employed and pay taxes accordingly.
Profit Corporation
A profit corporation is a separate entity from its owners. It may pay separate taxes and will have fully separate liability (again, as long as you are operating it correctly). However, these corporations require good recordkeeping and governance documents.
Provided they follow specific rules and regulations, corporations can sell stock to raise funding.
Nonprofit Corporation
Nonprofit corporations perform work for public benefit rather than private profit. These corporations are granted tax-exempt status, but they have more stringent rules around fundraising and revenue.
Decide on a Unique Name
Every business that registers with the state of Colorado needs a unique name. Fortunately, the Secretary of State maintains a Colorado business registry database of all the names so that you can find out whether your name is uniquely distinguishable from other business, which you will find here. However, just because it looks unique or the Secretary of State’s site allows you to register it doesn’t mean it is unique enough to use, so always consult an attorney to make sure your name doesn’t infringe on another company’s name.
A unique name has:
Unique spelling
Unique spacing
Unique punctuation
Unique spelling can include spelling out what is abbreviated in another name. “Boops CO” is different from “Boops Corp,” and both are different from “Boops Corporation.” You can also use articles like “the” or “a” to distinguish your name. Unique spacing means having spaces between your letters. For example, “B o o p s CO” is different from “Boops CO.” Unique punctuation means adding some punctuation marks. For example, “(B)Oops CO” is different from “Boops CO.”
However, some things don’t make names distinguishable, such as:
Periods or commas
Underscores
Apostrophes and inverted apostrophes
Capital letters
This means that “B.O.O.P.S. CO” is the same as “BOOPS CO” and “Boops CO.” Nor are they distinguishable from “B_O_O_P_S CO” or “Boop’s CO.”
If you can’t find a unique business name that you like for your business, you can get a trade name, also known as a “doing business as” or DBA name that doesn’t have to be unique. This can be the name that you use on your storefront and advertising. You just need to make sure all your official paperwork includes your unique name.
It’s also important to know that your official name might have elements that must be included based on the structure. For example, a corporation must include something like “corporation,” “incorporated,” or other terms to show it is a corporation.
File Necessary Documents
Once you’ve decided on your business structure and your name, it’s time to file the official paperwork. The website of the Secretary of State will walk you through the process. However, before you start, you should get the checklist for your specific type of business. For example, here are checklists for a limited liability corporation and a profit corporation.
If you’re not sure about anything in the checklist, it is recommended that you talk to a small business attorney to make sure you are getting it right. Making mistakes on your paperwork could delay your opening or lead to financial or legal penalties.
Get Legal Help to Establish Your Business Properly
If you are looking for help getting your business started in the right way, a small business lawyer can help. Elizabeth Lewis is a lawyer focused on the needs of small businesses, including those that are just starting out. Since 2010, she has been helping small businesses overcome the challenges of formation. This includes more than just getting your business registered. It also can mean reviewing contracts for employees, suppliers, customers, and more. Elizabeth is also very familiar with intellectual property law and can help you protect your valuable ideas from competitors, partners, and others. She can help you find and negotiate good deals on commercial real estate, too.
Elizabeth takes a results-oriented approach to working with her clients. She wants to do what is necessary to help your business thrive, and she’s had great success in the past. When you work with Elizabeth, you can count on receiving the highly personalized service your business needs to navigate the complex legal challenges that may arise over time.
To learn how Elizabeth can help you get your business registered in Colorado, please contact the Law Office of E. C. Lewis today. We serve clients in Denver and throughout Colorado.
7 Reasons Your Medical Practice Needs a Business Lawyer
Starting a medical practice or med spa is an expensive prospect. Even if you begin with a generous supply of capital, including your personal money, loans, and investors, you can find yourself burning through it quickly. This might make you look for places where you can potentially cut expenses at the beginning.
However, a small business lawyer is not an expense you should cut. Here are seven reasons why your investment in a business lawyer is smart for your medical practice.
Protect Personal Assets
You are ready to sacrifice a lot to make your medical practice a success, but why should you sacrifice more than you have to? A medical practice comes with numerous potential business and legal risks. These risks can become serious financial risks to you personally if you don’t take adequate steps to separate your business and personal assets.
A small business lawyer can help you with business formation documents so that the business risks don’t end up draining all your personal assets. Consulting with a lawyer can help you understand the practices that you need to use regularly to maintain separation.
Complex Laws for Medical Practices
If you are a doctor, you understand that there are many complex laws that govern the way you practice medicine. In addition to these medical practice-specific laws, there is an entirely different set of laws governing medical practices as businesses. Some of these laws are directly related to the way doctors are regulated, but others are going to look completely foreign to you as a doctor.
If you are not a doctor, there is an entirely separate set of laws governing businesses that are associated with the medical world, such as med-spas, weight loss clinics, and other businesses that provide services that require medical oversite and/or provide services that include medications that are covered under prescriptions such as weight loss injections, Botox and other cosmetic fillers, and other cosmetic procedures. Who can own the businesses associated with these services, the relationship between the owner of these businesses and the medical providers associated with them, and who among these individuals can do what are complex and regulated by multiple entities in Colorado. Failure to understand and comply with these laws can expose your business to legal risks that can stop your business before it even really has a chance to open.
Risk of Heavy Fines
The complex regulations surrounding medical practices are deemed necessary because people are putting their life – or at least their health – in the hands of your business. Because of the risks to life and limb, medical practices can be subject to heavy fines for improper business practices.
These fines are not necessarily linked directly to medical practice, either. Advertising, accounting practices, inventory, and recordkeeping errors can all be cause for major fines on your business. A business lawyer can help you understand how these laws apply to your medical practice.
Managing Intellectual Property
Although your medical practice has significant value in its location, and its medical equipment, likely the most valuable thing you work with is intellectual property. This includes your patient list, patient files, specific medical practices that you employ to help your patients, as well as the branding and marketing that goes along with them.
When you set up your medical practice, you need to establish clearly who owns any intellectual property associated with the practice. Is it yours? Does it belong to the business? Do investors have a stake and if so, are they legally allowed to? What about employees who might develop new intellectual property while they are in your employ? It’s important to answer these questions at the beginning or else you may find yourself embroiled in complicated and expensive legal battles later.
Minimize Risks from Contracts
Another potential source of future legal battles is your business contracts. If you secure investment to help start your medical practice, it’s important to have a lawyer review the paperwork to make sure the terms are reasonable and fair and that the investment does not create issues regarding who has control in a business that provides medical services. Purchasing or leasing expensive medical equipment, from cosmetic lasers to surgical robots, often comes with complex contracts. These contracts lay out everything from payment plans to advertising to liability related to medical errors while using the machine. Even a service contract for maintaining the machines is unlikely to be simple, and it’s important to understand what potential liabilities these contracts create.
A small business lawyer can look over your contracts and help you understand the terms so you know what you’re really getting into when you bring on these machines.
Disclosure and Consent Forms
Along with their potential benefits, medical procedures often come with risks. It’s important for you to disclose these risks to your patients and obtain informed consent from them prior to treatment. Failure to make adequate disclosure and obtain proper consent can expose your business (and sometimes you) to heavy legal penalties. This can include fines as well as personal injury and malpractice lawsuits.
Your disclosure and consent forms offer important protections against fines and lawsuits. A small business lawyer can help you make forms that provide the protection you and your business need.
Employee Relations and Risks
Like every business, your medical practice will hire employees and must be prepared for employment law challenges. You need to understand the potential legal pitfalls of hiring employees and managing relationships with them.
In addition, medical employees come with an entirely separate set of legal concerns. You need to make sure your employees understand and comply with HIPAA and other information regulations. You must determine how to handle intellectual property and trade secrets. It’s also important to manage liability related to medical procedures performed by employees, including how to manage malpractice insurance at the business.
A business lawyer can help you manage these and many other complexities of employment law for medical practices in Colorado.
Legal Help for Your Medical Practice
Since 2010, Elizabeth Lewis has been helping small businesses of all types in Denver, including medical practices, to navigate the complex legal environment. She is focused on the needs of small businesses, including the challenges of start-ups. She has helped many medical practices and med spas navigate early challenges from hiring their first employee to protecting their intellectual property against piracy, including piracy by large, powerful corporations.
Elizabeth believes in forging deep, strong ties with her clients. She knows that you need a business lawyer you can trust, and she does everything possible to earn and maintain your trust. These deep ties also help her make customized legal recommendations that are specifically tailored to each client’s needs.
These specific recommendations are part of Elizabeth’s practical, results-oriented approach. She has helped many clients grow from tiny startups to large businesses. Once she understands your goals, she will help you do what you need to achieve those goals.
To learn how the Law Office of E. C. Lewis can help your medical practice navigate the complexities of business law, please contact us today.
Common Legal Issues Impacting Accountants, Insurance Agents and Financial Advisors
It’s easy for specialists to get lost in their area of focus. Your specialty can look like the entire world, especially once you have your own business and let yourself focus on the things that you really love.
However, this is a peril, because everyone, no matter their specialty, exists in a complex, legal environment. This legal environment can have profound impacts on your business or your life, especially if you neglect it. Accountants, insurance agents, and financial advisors are no exception to this risk. Here are some of the legal issues that you can more easily navigate with the help of a small business lawyer.
Accountants
Accountants are trusted with their clients’ money. There is nothing more dear to many Americans’ hearts than their money, and this means that these interactions can be fraught with tension and suspicion. Accountants have to take steps from the beginning to ensure that everything they do will hold up under legal scrutiny or else they can find themselves in serious legal trouble.
Accusations of Fraud or Negligence
One of the biggest potential legal dangers for an accountant is an accusation of fraud or negligence. These accusations can be expensive to defend against and can lead to serious penalties and even jail time if you’re not prepared for them.
Prepare yourself for these potential accusations by making sure you understand what actions could potentially be considered fraud or negligence. Set up standard operating procedures that help you avoid any misdeed or even the appearance of misdeeds.
In addition, it’s important to make sure that you have sufficient safeguards in place to protect your private property from professional liabilities. Strong business formation documents are a great start. They can ensure your personal property is safe from professional errors or missteps.
Contracts
Contracts are another important safeguard. These can put legal barriers in place that can defend you from frivolous and unfounded accusations. Laying out a grievance procedure in your contract can help you avoid the uncertainty of the courts. It can also limit damages and give you more time to properly respond to these allegations.
Insurance Agents
Insurance agents work as complicated intermediaries between massive corporations focused on profit and individuals who entrust their dreams to these corporations for protection. The situation often works out to the satisfaction of all, but sometimes things go expensively awry. When that happens, insurance agents can be attacked from one or both sides.
Because of this exposure to liability from both sides, it’s important that insurance agents take steps to protect themselves and their assets from professional problems. This includes structuring the company properly to avoid exposing personal assets to professional liabilities.
Misrepresenting Coverage to Insured
Insurance policies are complicated, and it’s often necessary to simplify terms in order to explain them to potential purchasers. However, sometimes that simplification causes people to feel that they were deceived in the sales process.
Because insurance agents are also acting as salespeople, there might be accusations that the misrepresentation was deliberate and made for profit.
Failure in Duty to the Insurer
Insurance agents also have a responsibility to the insurer that they represent. Failure to live up to those responsibilities can expose an insurance agent to significant liabilities. Sometimes, failure is simply making a mistake. Other times, it might be a failure to properly follow company instructions or even exceeding the express or implied authority granted by the insurance company.
In these cases, the insurance company stands to lose significant money, and they will seek to recoup it from your small business as an insurance agent.
Financial Advisors
Financial advisors are in a uniquely precarious position. Not only are people or businesses trusting them with their money, but financial advisors are also giving recommendations in the highly uncertain world of finance. Trying to maximize returns and/or protect wealth can sometimes equate to educated gambling. In a turbulent market, even the best bets can crap out. When that happens, people can turn their bitterness on their financial advisor with various accusations of misconduct and attempts to recoup their losses.
For this reason, it’s important for financial advisors to take key steps to protect themselves from their clients and the law. Proper structuring of your financial advisor business can insulate your personal assets from business liability. In addition, strong contracts can clearly define expectations and responsibilities, providing an additional layer of protection for your business and personal assets.
Disclosing Secrets
Financial advisors are in a position of trust. Whether you’re advising an individual or a company, you will have access to secret information that you are supposed to keep confidential. Confidentiality agreements are common, and you should have your own lawyer look these over before you sign them.
In addition, you should make sure your own contracts have the best protections for you and your business against accusations of disclosing secrets. Plus, as always, protect your personal property from business liabilities.
Personal Profiteering
Being in a position of trust and recommending people make certain financial moves can give you the opportunity to make a profit of your own based on other people’s actions. This could be encouraging people to make financial moves (or making these moves for them) in ways that profit you. Or it could be combining your money with clients’ funds in ways that reduce your costs and improve your profits. Perhaps you might even be accused of embezzlement.
You need to be prepared for these accusations even if your operations are completely above board. Strong contracts, defensive company structure, and, of course, clear knowledge of the law will all minimize your risks.
Breach of Fiduciary Duty
As a financial advisor, your duty is to always act in your clients’ best interests. Even when you do this, you might be accused of not living up to this responsibility, especially when the market takes an unexpected turn.
Make sure you understand your duty and know how to avoid even the appearance of impropriety. Spell out expectations and responsibilities in your contract to make it clear what you will and won’t do and always protect your personal property.
Help for Small Businesses in Denver
One of the benefits of being a professional like an accountant, insurance agent, or financial advisor is that you can strike out on your own to increase both your freedom and income. However, when you are on your own, you also bear all the potential risk from legal hazards associated with your profession. Even if you think you understand these hazards, getting advice from a legal professional is smart.
Since 2010, Elizabeth Lewis has been helping small businesses in Denver and along the Front Range with a wide range of legal matters. She is focused on building strong relationships with her clients so that she can understand their needs and make specific recommendations for their profitability and growth. She has always been dedicated to providing expert legal counsel to small businesses. That experience has allowed her to understand what legal strategies work best for small businesses facing legal challenges. Her results-oriented approach means that she always offers practical advice for your business based on your specific industry and stage of growth.
To learn how Elizabeth can provide legal help to you as an accountant, insurance agent, or financial advisor, please contact the Law Office of E. C. Lewis for a consultation.
As we approach the end of the first quarter of 2025, we can see many major trends shaping up that will significantly impact small businesses in the coming year and beyond. Here are some of the biggest trends that will affect small businesses in 2025.
E-Commerce
By now, every business should know about the importance of e-commerce in the modern marketplace. However, it’s still worth mentioning that this aspect is critical for any small retail business that wants to succeed in 2025. E-commerce currently accounts for 20% of all retail sales and is likely to grow significantly in the coming years, representing a full quarter of all retail sales by 2030.
Every small business selling merchandise should have an e-commerce component to their business. This doesn’t have to be a big investment. For many businesses, something as simple as an eBay or Amazon shop is enough of an e-commerce presence. However, there are many e-commerce platforms available that make it not much harder to open your own digital storefront, which can be more profitable. Sellers’ fees on the big platforms can range from as little as 8% to 45% or more. In contrast, the popular e-commerce platform Shopify charges $29 per month, plus credit card and third-party payment provider fees for its basic plan. Take the time to calculate the relative costs and benefits of having your own website versus having a seller page on one or more of the big marketplaces.
Online Marketing
If you are trying to make sales online, you will also need to be marketing online. Businesses that aren’t marketing online risk losing more than just online sales, though: failure to market your business online can mean that your business won’t show up when people try to use their phones to find nearby shops. The minimum digital marketing each small business must do is to claim and maintain their listings on the major search engines.
However, if your business wants to profit from e-commerce, it’s important to pursue a multifaceted online marketing approach. This marketing approach should include:
Search engine optimization (SEO)
Pay-per-click (PPC)
Social media marketing
Content marketing
Your online marketing should also be what is described as a full-funnel approach, targeting potential and actual customers at each stage of the decision process from basic awareness through decision-making and to repeat business.
Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity is essential for all businesses.
For e-commerce operations, cybersecurity should be incorporated from the very beginning. Whether you have a shopfront in a big marketplace or set up your own storefront with a major e-commerce platform, you should have enough cybersecurity built in to protect your small business from related lawsuits. However, if you are building your own e-commerce platform, you must take care to build adequate safeguards.
But cybersecurity is important for more than just e-commerce businesses. Any small business that collects credit card payments and retains any amount of customer information is a desirable target for hackers. Even if you don’t have a lot of information to steal, you might still be a victim of a ransomware attack that can hold your business hostage.
Remember: cybersecurity is about more than just technical security features. It’s important to train yourself and all your employees to identify and avoid common socially engineered cyber-attacks.
Tariffs
If your business imports merchandise or materials, tariffs are likely to have a big impact on your profit margins. With proposed tariffs of up to 50% on some items from our largest trading partners, you are likely to see increased costs. Even if you don’t import items directly, you might see increased costs because your domestic trading partners are seeing their costs go up.
You will have to decide how much of this cost to pass on to your customers and how much you can afford to absorb.
On the other hand, some businesses may benefit from tariffs, making it easier to recoup the costs of running a small operation.
Business Uncertainty
However, if you’ve been paying attention to the news about tariffs, you’ve noticed that the administration has given mixed messaging about the timing, focus, and size of tariffs. Tariffs were supposed to start immediately, then were postponed, then were on again, then off again. Right now, it’s unclear when and how the tariffs will affect the market.
This uncertainty can make it hard for your business to make its plans for the upcoming year. Should you contract with a foreign supplier and hope for the best? Would it be better to work with a more expensive domestic supplier? Would other disruptions in the US economy make that domestic supplier an unreliable partner?
This uncertainty won’t just be affecting you, but it will impact the entire business environment around you. There is already evidence that consumer confidence is falling, which could significantly impact your revenue, but how is this a temporary situation or likely to become a more permanent condition?
Fewer Grants and Loans
Another difficult situation for many small businesses is that they may find it harder to get grants and loans from the Small Business Association (SBA) under the new administration. Funding cuts have been announced which may impact all small businesses. In addition, these funding cuts may impact small businesses owned by women and minorities more as there have historically been more funds available to these businesses than other businesses.
However, the SBA is touting an expansion of the 504 loan program to make it easier to access capital loans for manufacturing.
In Denver and several other cities, access to SBA support is further complicated by the removal of local offices.
Changing Regulatory Environment
Some small businesses may see relief in reduced regulations this year, which could diminish their costs and make it easier for businesses to enter industries where regulations had previously led to uncertainty or liability exposure.
To promote the removal of regulations, the SBA has announced a Red Tape Hotline, where businesses can call to report regulations that represent an undue burden.
Get Legal Help for Changing Times
When it comes to navigating the challenges of the modern marketplace, a small business lawyer can be a tremendous help. With years of experience and experience with many clients across the board, a small business attorney is in a great position to identify both challenges and opportunities for your business to help you make the most of each.
Since 2010, the Law Office of E. C. Lewis has been helping small businesses to prosper no matter the conditions. Elizabeth Lewis strives to develop long-term relationships with her clients. This means that she will be there whenever you need her help in dealing with the newest trends affecting your small business. She has worked for years with many small businesses, and she knows the challenges you’re facing and how other businesses have successfully navigated them. She believes in doing what it takes to help your business prosper and will customize her legal services to ensure you are getting what your business needs to navigate changing conditions.
To learn how Elizabeth can help your small business in 2025, please contact the Law Office of E. C. Lewis today.
