I have been harping on this subject a lot lately, but it has come up every day this week.
In the old days (like 10 years ago) when someone wanted to start a business like a book store they would find a location they liked and then the prospective landlord would hand them a lease. At that point, the new business owner would think, “Ah Ha”, I need a lawyer to review this for me.
Once they visited a lawyer to review the lease all the other important items they needed were addressed. I am talking about creating a business entity with proper documentation, choosing an accountant, getting an EIN number to open a bank account, creating by-laws, holding meetings and writing minutes, registering with government oversight agencies, and oh so much more
Today, a prospective business owner buys a domain name from a site like Go-Daddy and is given a free web site. They use a template to create their site and their business is open to the public in days, if not hours. Unfortunately, the “Ah Ha” moment is skipped.
Even if you create an LLC online, you are not doing enough to implement your LLC. You need an Operating Agreement and Minutes of Your Organizational Meeting where you elect officers and choose professionals and choose a banking organization. Even a single member LLC needs to go through these steps. Furthermore, web sites need proper documentation such as a Privacy Policy, TOS and DMCA notice.
Skipping working with an attorney to properly set up your business is going to cost you far more to fix the problem than the money you will spend to set your business up properly. Finally, while I have been speaking about running a business, even an informational site such as a blog or organization’s web site needs this work also.
When opening a web site you need an attorney’s input. Please don’t skip that “Ah Ha” moment – It will cost you a lot more money to fix the problems you didn’t know you were creating than doing it right from the beginning.