It’s safe to say that every entrepreneur knows how important it is to protect their business. Starting a business is a huge investment, and requires a lot of time, money, and hard work so you’ll want to see some growth and success from it since it requires this much effort.
Unfortunately, there are a number of things that could go wrong for your business— ultimately costing you a lot of money to rectify the situation. Because there are so many different things that can negatively affect your business, you need to be aware of all of the ways to protect your business.
#1: Apply for Copyrights, Patents, and Trademarks
Copyrights, patents, and trademarks provide legal protection over your brand and other things you create for your business. Copyrights clarify who has ownership over a website, photos, or any other work that is created for your business. If you invent something new, you’ll need a patent as a grant of protection of your rights to the invention. Finally, trademarks protect your company’s brand: your business name, logo, and slogan.
Applying for one or more of these three legal protections safeguards your ideas and your entire brand. Make sure to document your ownership before you obtain this legal protection to ensure that it can be done properly.
#2: Incorporate Your Business
Incorporating your business establishes it as a separate legal entity from your personal assets, such as your car, home, and even your personal savings account. When you incorporate your business you’re moving away from being a sole proprietorship to having your business formally recognized. Many entrepreneurs choose to remain a sole proprietorship because it’s the easiest business entity to form, but incorporating your business can give you more credibility.
Most entrepreneurs choose to register their business as an LLC (limited liability company). Incorporating your business as an LLC protects your personal assets, as well as protects your business from legal issues and debt. Forming a corporation will further protect your personal assets and lessen your personal liability even more. Corporations are separate and distinct entities.
#3: Purchase Business Insurance
Business insurance is an everyday essential that all businesses need to protect them financially from a number of different scenarios. One of the most common types of insurance that all businesses need is general liability insurance (GLI). GLI protects businesses from claims that may have caused bodily injury, personal injury, and/or property damage.
Another type of business insurance that all businesses can benefit from is business income insurance or business interruption insurance. In the event that your business has to close (such as during a pandemic or for building repairs), this type of insurance helps replace your lost income. Just be sure that your policy covers specific instances. Other types of insurance to look into include:
- Commercial auto insurance, if you use a vehicle for business purposes
- Commercial property insurance, if you operate from a physical location
- Product liability insurance (if you sell products)
- Professional liability insurance (if you provide services)
- Workers’ compensation insurance (if you have employees)
#4: Secure Sensitive Information
Finally, you need to protect all of the sensitive information about your business. This includes simple things like passwords, but also bigger things like important files and records. One of the most common ways business owners protect their business is through encryption, which involves altering dating so that only those authorized can understand it.
Another way business owners can protect themselves and their company is through security information and event management (SIEM) software. Cyber Sainik SIEM can help protect your business from cyber threats and attacks. All businesses should seek to invest in some type of software to protect their business. Just like you’d invest in a security system for your physical business, you should also invest in a security system for the part of your business that exists online.
Final Thoughts
All of these are good investments when it comes to protecting your business because without them, you could end up losing much more money and the reputation of your business could be at stake. This may not be the most exciting part about starting your business, but it’s definitely worth your time, money, and effort to ensure that any future problems that may arise will be taken care of. Because you’re going to put in a lot of work to build your business and make it successful, you’re also going to want to protect it at all costs.
