What do you need to think about when leasing premises? What do you need to know to insure your business? Watch this episode to find out more.
In Show 005 – Leasing and Insurance originally broadcast on Facebook Live on Wednesday 16 September 2017 we explore this interesting topic.
More about this Show
We started Business Legal Lifecycle to create a simple way for you to understand complex legal terms. Most importantly we want to help you to develop a plan to take your business successfully into the future. There’s a startling statistic the underscores the importance of developing a solid plan. The majority of business owners are just seven months away from losing everything. A single aspect of your business that is not set-up correctly can shut down your whole operation very quickly. Legal advice is not cheap and even when you can afford it there is often a divide between lawyers and their clients. We want to close that gap once and for all. We want to put legal knowledge and tools into your hand to prevent the worst from happening to you.
Twice a week we are going to deliver those tools right to your home or office with Business Legal Lifecycle TV. We’ll start the week with Fast Fix Monday, a short 5-10 minute video that will tackle a single issue that businesses have to deal with. Then on Wednesday’s our main show will feature with more fulsome discussions and interviews all delivered in a straightforward and easy to understand format.
How do you implement the Business Legal Lifecycle in your business? In this episode we go through the top 5 ways to implement the Business Legal Lifecycle.
In Show 004 – 5 ways to implement the Business Legal Lifecycle in Your Business originally broadcast on Facebook Live on Monday 14 August 2017 we explore this interesting topic.
More about this Show
We started Business Legal Lifecycle to create a simple way for you to understand complex legal terms. Most importantly we want to help you to develop a plan to take your business successfully into the future. There’s a startling statistic the underscores the importance of developing a solid plan. The majority of business owners are just seven months away from losing everything. A single aspect of your business that is not set-up correctly can shut down your whole operation very quickly. Legal advice is not cheap and even when you can afford it there is often a divide between lawyers and their clients. We want to close that gap once and for all. We want to put legal knowledge and tools into your hand to prevent the worst from happening to you.
Twice a week we are going to deliver those tools right to your home or office with Business Legal Lifecycle TV. We’ll start the week with Fast Fix Monday, a short 5-10 minute video that will tackle a single issue that businesses have to deal with. Then on Wednesday’s our main show will feature with more fulsome discussions and interviews all delivered in a straightforward and easy to understand format.
What structure is right for your startup? This episode of our show goes through the legal considerations for startups.
In Show 003 – Structures for Startup originally broadcast on Facebook Live on Wednesday 9 August 2017 we go through these these considerations.
More about this Show
We started Business Legal Lifecycle to create a simple way for you to understand complex legal terms. Most importantly we want to help you to develop a plan to take your business successfully into the future. There’s a startling statistic the underscores the importance of developing a solid plan. The majority of business owners are just seven months away from losing everything. A single aspect of your business that is not set-up correctly can shut down your whole operation very quickly. Legal advice is not cheap and even when you can afford it there is often a divide between lawyers and their clients. We want to close that gap once and for all. We want to put legal knowledge and tools into your hand to prevent the worst from happening to you.
Twice a week we are going to deliver those tools right to your home or office with Business Legal Lifecycle TV. We’ll start the week with Fast Fix Monday, a short 5-10 minute video that will tackle a single issue that businesses have to deal with. Then on Wednesday’s our main show will feature with more fulsome discussions and interviews all delivered in a straightforward and easy to understand format.
What are the top 3 considerations that you need to think about when starting up your business.
In Show 002 – Top 3 Considerations for Startups originally broadcast as our first Fast Fix Monday on Facebook Live on Monday 7 August 2017 we go through these these considerations.
More about this Show
We started Business Legal Lifecycle to create a simple way for you to understand complex legal terms. Most importantly we want to help you to develop a plan to take your business successfully into the future. There’s a startling statistic the underscores the importance of developing a solid plan. The majority of business owners are just seven months away from losing everything. A single aspect of your business that is not set-up correctly can shut down your whole operation very quickly. Legal advice is not cheap and even when you can afford it there is often a divide between lawyers and their clients. We want to close that gap once and for all. We want to put legal knowledge and tools into your hand to prevent the worst from happening to you.
Twice a week we are going to deliver those tools right to your home or office with Business Legal Lifecycle TV. We’ll start the week with Fast Fix Monday, a short 5-10 minute video that will tackle a single issue that businesses have to deal with. Then on Wednesday’s our main show will feature with more fulsome discussions and interviews all delivered in a straightforward and easy to understand format.
Show Notes
What is the PPSR?
The Personal Properties Securities Register was introduced in 2012. It offers an online database for certain kinds of assets. If you’re lending to someone purchasing an asset it also allows you to take security over those assets. It’s basically an online notice board. Prior to this there were something like 40 registers scattered around Australia. Remember, this is security over personal property as opposed to real property. There is already a land titles registration system in Australia. Personal property is something else. It’s basically anything that isn’t land, buildings or fixtures. That can include vehicles, boats, aircraft, crops, cattle or other livestock. You can also list intangible products like patents or trademarks. You can also take security over shares, cash and cheques.
When should I use the PPSR?
You need to know the practical use of the PPSR for you or your clients. The most obvious use is whenever you are negotiating the sale of personal property. You need to ensure that there are no encumbrances over that property. Imagine if you are a business owner and you are buying another business. You will want to make sure that what you are buying isn’t encumbered somewhere else.
As I mentioned before the previous registers were lumped together in the PPSR. That means that the same items could have been listed on multiple registries. This can be really problematic when purchasing assets. You are going to want to do multiple searches on the business licenses, the ABN or ACN’s or individual serial numbers. Anything and everything you have information on should be searched to make sure that there isn’t security on those items elsewhere. Another example is when you’re buying a car. You want to make sure that car is actually owned by the seller.
Another common mistake we see is during the purchase of goods for a business. People can purchase those goods in their name, not the businesses name. This creates a problem when someone tries to sell their business. The assets will listed under a personal name, not the business name and are therefore encumbered. If you are offering credit to someone you want to make sure you are registering your securities on those loans. If you are leasing your goods or equipment to clients you should be registering those items as well.
Migration issues
Anyone who was using the old registry regime knows that there were different charges on property levied by ASIC. There was a fixed charge or a fixed and floating charge. Fixed and floating charges governed all the property owned by a company. Fixed charges were only for a specific item. When they brought all the registries together a lot of the fixed charges became fixed and floating charges. That created a major problem. In PPSR language these are called ‘All present and after – acquired property – no exceptions’. If there was multiple lenders on those items it will create a lot of headaches. Most banks were pretty understanding about this issue but it still remains a problem. If you have clients that have property registered before 2012 it is worthwhile to check to make sure they have been registered correctly. The other migration issue relates means you really need to check to make sure that their registrations are current and up to date.
Priorities
Depending on what’s registered on the PPSR and when it’s registered determines who has security over that item. If you’re lending money to someone who is buying an asset and you want to get super-priority you should resister your interest on that asset before you lend the money. In a practical sense you might sign a loan for an asset. The bank will then register their interest and then will approve the loan.
Retention of title clauses
These have been around for many years. If you sell some goods to a person but aren’t going to be paid for 30 days you will retain title in those goods. Provided you have an agreement that includes retention of title you are going to want to register your interest in that item. If you do it correctly you will be given super-priority over those goods. You should complete the registry after you sign the agreement but before you hand over the goods. One of the benefits of doing this way is that there is a clear set of rules about how you can get those goods back. You do have to take into account the commerciality of the good. If it’s just single widget you aren’t going to bother.
Enforcing your interest
If a customer hasn’t paid if you’ve properly registered those items you will be allowed you to seize the goods. In addition, when you have your register and super-priority in place you will be able to bring those into force during the liquidation process. That property will not be liquidated.
More about this Show
We started Business Legal Lifecycle to create a simple way for you to understand complex legal terms. Most importantly we want to help you to develop a plan to take your business successfully into the future. There’s a startling statistic the underscores the importance of developing a solid plan. The majority of business owners are just seven months away from losing everything. A single aspect of your business that is not set-up correctly can shut down your whole operation very quickly. Legal advice is not cheap and even when you can afford it there is often a divide between lawyers and their clients. We want to close that gap once and for all. We want to put legal knowledge and tools into your hand to prevent the worst from happening to you.
Twice a week we are going to deliver those tools right to your home or office with Business Legal Lifecycle TV. We’ll start the week with Fast Fix Monday, a short 5-10 minute video that will tackle a single issue that businesses have to deal with. Then on Wednesday’s our main show will feature with more fulsome discussions and interviews all delivered in a straightforward and easy to understand format.
Do you want to learn more about what asset protection strategies you need for your business?
In Show 13 – Asset Protection Strategies for Intellectual Property originally broadcast on Facebook Live on Wednesday 13 September 2017 we explore this interesting topic.
Show Notes
Today we want to talk about how to protect the most important part of your business. Intellectual property is completely invisible but it is probably your most valuable asset. In the past IP protection was among the first things businesses would undertake before they start-up. In the Business Legal Lifecycle we understand that’s no longer practical. Instead we have placed it as Phase 5 of any start-up plan. Why do we structure the Business Legal Lifecycle that way? We do this because it’s part of the cost-benefit analysis of a start-up business. It used to take $20,000.00 $50,000.00 to start a business. Nowadays all it takes is a laptop. The traditional legal advice is that you should start up the asset protection and trademark at the beginning. Very few businesses have that kind of capital.
By the time you reach Phase 5 your business will have already completed your start-up. Intellectual property protection should come after that because it helps you to scale the business. By the time you have a business asset that’s worth protecting you could lose everything if you don’t have your IP defended.
The best way to do that is to create a separate legal entity to house all your IP. A separate legal entity will protect your IP if you are ever sued or go bankrupt or are involved in a lawsuit. IP is the intangible part of your business. You can’t see or touch it like a piece of equipment. But it is potentially far more valuable. In fact it might be the most important asset you have. You always need to be ready to sell the business and IP protection is a big part of that. Trademarks, patents, and other ideas all make up your invisible assets that represent the real value of what you’ve built in your business.
We have helped a number of clients to protect their IP. One good example was a company that provides professional services for employers. They had built up a large portfolio of intellectual assets. We structured their business so that the IP was protected in a separate legal entity that would be protected in case of a lawsuit or bankruptcy. By doing that it allowed the firm to license that IP to other companies.
Avoiding the taxman is another good reason to protect your IP early. Normally your IP isn’t worth a lot at the start of the business. When you do make the transfer to a separate entity the IP will be taxed just like any other capital gain. That’s why you should make that transfer as early as possible so you don’t have to pay as much tax.
There isn’t really any other way to protect your IP going forward. You have to ask yourself what you are you really protecting. Then you need to figure out who really owns that IP. Then you need to sit down with your accountant to really understand what it is you’re creating.
More about this Show
We started Business Legal Lifecycle to create a simple way for you to understand complex legal terms. Most importantly we want to help you to develop a plan to take your business successfully into the future. There’s a startling statistic the underscores the importance of developing a solid plan. The majority of business owners are just seven months away from losing everything. A single aspect of your business that is not set-up correctly can shut down your whole operation very quickly. Legal advice is not cheap and even when you can afford it there is often a divide between lawyers and their clients. We want to close that gap once and for all. We want to put legal knowledge and tools into your hand to prevent the worst from happening to you.
Twice a week we are going to deliver those tools right to your home or office with Business Legal Lifecycle TV. We’ll start the week with Fast Fix Monday, a short 5-10 minute video that will tackle a single issue that businesses have to deal with. Then on Wednesday’s our main show will feature with more fulsome discussions and interviews all delivered in a straightforward and easy to understand format.
In Show 112- Fast Fix Monday – What to look out for if you write your own will originally broadcast on Facebook Live on Monday 23 July 2018.
Show Notes
If you are a regular reader of the business pages you’re probably well familiar with the scourge of patent trolls. Their technique is deviously simple and incredibly profitable. The troll buys the patents of companies that have recently been liquidated and snaps them up at rock bottom prices. The troll then goes after anyone using those patents usually by filing lawsuits or demanding exorbitantly high licensing fees.
This problem is especially pronounced in the United States. Luckily our patent regime is a lot better. That said, there are still some laws that need to be changed in Australia. The most important would be changing the law to ensure that people that own a patent are actually using the patent. If they aren’t using it then they shouldn’t be able to charge others to use it. That simple change would prevent people from buying the patents en masse to extort money from other businesses.
In the United States, it’s very easy to get a patent. In Australia, that process is much more difficult. Recently a UK company bought the IP of an Asian technology company and then tried to enforce that patent with Telecom companies like Telstra. Luckily, because of our more stringent laws, they haven’t been successful in enforcing that patent.
If you are approached by a patent troll requesting money your first move should be to get some legal advice. Usually, your first contact with the troll will be in the form of a letter. The letter will say something like “we are the owners of this patent and you are using our IP without our consent.” You definitely should not pay them any money straight away. It’s like any other form of extortion. Once you pay them some money they will soon be back for more. Make sure you get the right advice from somebody that knows what they’re talking about. We are going to go much deeper into your protecting intellectual property rights on Wednesday’s show. Join us then!
More about this Show
We started Business Legal Lifecycle to create a simple way for you to understand complex legal terms. Most importantly we want to help you to develop a plan to take your business successfully into the future. There’s a startling statistic the underscores the importance of developing a solid plan. The majority of business owners are just seven months away from losing everything. A single aspect of your business that is not set-up correctly can shut down your whole operation very quickly. Legal advice is not cheap and even when you can afford it there is often a divide between lawyers and their clients. We want to close that gap once and for all. We want to put legal knowledge and tools into your hand to prevent the worst from happening to you.
Twice a week we are going to deliver those tools right to your home or office with Business Legal Lifecycle TV. We’ll start the week with Fast Fix Monday, a short 5-10 minute video that will tackle a single issue that businesses have to deal with. Then on Wednesday’s our main show will feature with more fulsome discussions and interviews all delivered in a straightforward and easy to understand format.
