We want to remind you that the information provided does not constitute legal advice.
Owning and operating a business is not easy. At times it feels like there is a new crisis every day, many of which you feel ill-equipped to handle. Since about 90% of all businesses are currently dealing with a legal issue, it’s not surprising that you are too. The business lawyers, consultants, and mediators in the Private Corporate Counsel™ program can help you tackle these business crises – help you make progress and achieve your business goals.
Private Corporate Counsel™ business lawyers, consultants and mediators help entrepreneurs and executives every day with issues similar to the ones you face daily. They have spent their career acquiring the business knowledge, skills and experience necessary to help entrepreneurs and executives like you tackle difficult issues that cause crisis and help you make the progress you want and need to help your business succeed. Here are some common issues your Private Corporate Counsel™ can help you tackle right now:
1. Defending Lawsuits
There are very few challenges businesses face that raise to the crisis level of the financial, emotional, time, resource and opportunity costs of defending a lawsuit, whether filed by an employee, a partner, an investor, a creditor, a vendor or a customer. In some circumstances, the lawsuit can also create a personal risk to the business owners. If the business owner does not retain the “right corporate counsel,” the lawsuit can cause catastrophic damages including killing the business, and cause the owner to lose assets which took years to acquire.
2. Employee Conflicts
Whether you are dealing with a crisis caused by a current or former employee, employee conflicts are an unavoidable reality for every business. These conflicts can be costly and have a detrimental impact to your business’ culture, workflow, cash flow, and progress. Conflicts can include disputes between employees, benefits discrepancies, excessive tardiness, and day-to-day disruptive behavior. While these conflicts may seem minor, they can create an immediate crisis, including disruption to productivity, shirking, and threatening morale, which, if not addressed immediately, can grow into larger issues. Larger disputes, including allegations of violations of protected rights related to anti-discriminatory practices, compensation, accommodation, and mandatory leave, have the potential of dramatically disrupting your company’s culture and overall operations and productivity, forcing you to make companywide policy changes, increasing your costs, reducing your profit margin, and negatively affecting your cash flow.
The ”right corporate counsel” can ensure that you have the agreements, policies and procedures in place to prevent foreseeable conflicts, train you and your team in effective conflict resolution skills, and defend you when claims are made in court or a government agency.
3. Conflict with Partners
Partnership conflicts can take many forms, from disputes regarding amount and type of investment into the business to operational strategies and philosophies. These conflicts can occur at different phases of the business developmental life cycle. At the beginning of the cycle, businesses may experience partnership conflicts that focus on choosing the right employees and vendors, investments to be made by each partner, and responsibility for the overall vision and direction of the business. More mature businesses may experience partnership conflicts relating to leadership roles in the company, the operations and strategic direction of the company, payments to the partners, and inter-personal conflicts which derail the partnership relationships, causing disruption to the business, necessitating an exit strategy for one or more partners, or all of them through the strategic sale of the business.
The “right corporate counsel” can help you proactively address predictable partnership conflicts through business counseling or coaching to help realign partners with the business and each other, and help them improve their conflict resolution skills.
4. Financial Strain
There is rarely anything more discouraging to a business owner than negative cash flow. When the money coming in is less than being spent, before long, if drastic changes are not made, or additional funding is not secured, the business will die and end up in bankruptcy, often times pulling the entrepreneur down with it. When your business is facing tough financial times, before you make any major and drastic decisions, you need to know the steps you can take to minimize the financial strain, and how to reorganize the business to stop the bleeding and start the healing process.
The “right corporate counsel” can help you proactively address predictable cash flow issues, teach you how to negotiate with your vendors, workers, and customers to ensure that your costs are manageable, and help you work on strategies to increase your revenue.
5. Threatening External Forces
Typically, entrepreneurs and executives seek legal representation for problems that are threatening their business from predictable sources, whether they are internal sources (such as employee issues, investor issues, partnership issues, or technology or system issues), or external sources (such as customers, lenders, vendors, and government overreach). However, some problems come straight out of left field, creating issues that are unpredictable and leave the business and its leaders helpless….or so it seems. Some external unpredictable factors that can threaten your business include:
• Pandemics
• National and International Economic Shifts
• Wars
• Natural disasters
• Elections/politics
• Supply chain issues
• Unexpected Innovations
• Unexpected Competitors
• Unexpected Regulations
Often businesses are not prepared to face these predicaments. When dealing with forces beyond your control, it is important to stay ahead of the game with a comprehensive plan you developed with the help of skilled experts. The Private Corporate Counsel™ program was designed to ensure that you and your business have the “right corporate counsel” to help you proactively plan for the unexpected. When the unexpected happens, to react without fear, anxiety, and frustration, but with a clear mind and sharp focus.
To learn more about the Private Corporate Counsel™ program, book Your consultation today by calling us at 407-647-7887, or emailing us at info@pcc.law. With the help of the Private Corporate Counsel™ business lawyers, consultants, and mediators, you can tackle your crisis and make progress in conquering your business’ challenges.