As an attorney advising and representing businesses, it’s no secret that when my business clients get involved in a problem, that I work more hours for them to resolve the problem. It’s also no secret that these problems cost my business clients more money since they pay for the additional hours it takes me to fix the problems.
I consider my business clients to be an extension of me. Their success is my success. I care about their success and I work hard to keep them out of trouble. That’s why I always stress to them being proactive to prevent problems.
Problems will always arise in the business world. That’s just the nature of the beast, but limiting the potential for problems should always be the goal. That’s why I’m constantly stressing the proactive approach to operating a business. It’s all but guaranteed to make day-to-day operations run more smoothly and it will save businesses a significant amount of time and money in the long run.
I’m inclined to ask clients if they use a written contract for certain transactions with their customers. Occasionally, the response I receive is “no.” As I cringe, I respond “have you thought about using a written contract?” To which I then hear “no, we’ve always done it this way.” I’ve even heard “we use something that we found on the internet.”
I’m telling you, the writing is on the wall. The chance for a dispute is great. You may likely will end up in a dispute that will cost you a lot of time and money. You may even end up getting sued and possibly even sued in another state. The consequences could be severe. The cost great. If this happens, you likely will lose a lot of sleep and you’ll be stressed out. Ask any business owners who has been in business a long time.
The saying is true that only the attorneys win in litigation. I’ve told many people and many clients this one saying many times over the years. One of the worst things for me as a business attorney is when these people later tell me that I was right. Being right never felt so bad.
As a manager or business owner, the best approach to operating a business is the proactive approach. It will save you time, money, and the accompanying stress time and time again. If you find yourself saying “that’s tomorrow’s problem” then you’re likely right, today’s issue will be tomorrow’s problem – and tomorrow’s problem will be much more time intensive and expensive to fix.
Accept the challenge today to be proactive and not reactive - to review your company policies, contracts, and procedures so as to prevent today’s issue from becoming tomorrow’s problem.
At Northwest Corporate Counsel, we always work with our business clients to keep their costs down, to establish a budget, and to give them the best service without the billable hour quotas of larger law firms. If we can help your business, just let us know. Give us a call at 509-710-1914 or email us at David@NWCorporateCounsel.com and let us know how we can help.
Disclaimer: The content of this website is intended to convey general information. It should not be relied upon as legal advice. It is not an offer to represent you, nor is it intended to create an attorney-client relationship. We do invite you to contact us; however, please do not send any confidential information until we have confirmed an attorney-client privilege has been established.