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As each year goes by, more and more budding entrepreneurs start to turn their vision into a fully-fledged business. This is great, but if you don’t have a roadmap to guide you to success then you won’t get very far.

Company Name

Before you start printing out your business cards or even pick a domain name, you need to try and make sure that the name you want isn’t taken. You probably don’t need an attorney to help you with this because most of the time you can do an online search to find any other businesses that are registered with the same name as yours. If you want to take your search to that next level, you can easily do a trademark search as this will tell you if your name is taken or not in any country.

Incorporate your Business

Forming an LLC or even a corporation is an essential stage if you want to protect your personal assets. This includes your personal property or even your child’s college fund.  An LLC is ideal for any business who wants some degree of legal protection, without all of the formalities. An S corporation is ideal for any business that qualifies, and a Corporation is ideal for those who want to go corporate or even for those who are requiring funding.

Employee Laws

You have a legal obligation as an employer to make sure that your employees are safe and treat them with respect. If you want to make the most out of your operation, then it helps to spend time with a professional as they will help you to understand the obligations that you face, and they can also help you with your state payroll too. They can also help you with self-employment taxes, discrimination laws, unemployment insurance, compensation and even your wage per hour requirements. If you want to protect yourself even more, then look into a trade association. There are plenty of cannabis trade associations out there if you work in this industry.

Permits

Depending on the nature of your business, you may be required to have one or more permits from the state. You might even have to get a federal level too. Licenses might include a sales permit, health license or even a professional license. You have to make sure that the one you have is suited to your requirements and you also have to make sure that they are in date too, if yours does happen to have an expiry.

Trademark

You are not required by law to register a trademark, but if you do then this gives you an additional level of protection. You’ve probably spent hours of your time brainstorming for the perfect name and you may have even put some effort into your logo too so it’s a good idea for you to make sure that nobody else can use it. If you want some additional help with getting your name protected, then there are plenty of legal professionals out there who can help.