Starting a Business: The Right Way

Starting a Business

Starting a business can be a life-changing decision. You’ll have a million details to figure out, and a million decisions to make. But underpinning it all, you want to have your company built on a solid foundation. The potential pitfalls of going in blind can be avoided with competent legal help, and at The Crone Firm we’re always available.

Jack Turner is an experienced veteran when starting a business, having worked in business formations since 2008. He has assisted scores of businesses in getting off the ground, revamping their operations, and preparing for the future. Adam is familiar with the ins and outs of LLCs, S Corps, and C Corps, and has a special place in his heart for nonprofits. No matter what kind of business you’re opening, we’ll help you create and file all the documents you’ll need to get started, as well as help you understand any ongoing legal requirements once you’re starting a business.

If you’re only looking for help getting off the ground, we’ll be glad to sit down with you, discuss options and your wants, draw up your documents, and help you file. That will get you underway with a minimum of fuss, and you’ll be ready to hit the ground running.

If you’re looking for an ongoing relationship, our “Entrepreneur Level” package may more fully meet your needs. In this option, you’ll pay a flat monthly fee, and in return we’ll provide not only start-up documents, but also a set number of hours of consultation, customized standard contracts, contract review, and other services as needed. And if the need should arise, heaven forbid, you’ll get a discounted rate for future litigation and/or defense.

In America, What You Do Is Who You Are

Finally we have the “Legal Department” package, which offers all of the above plus additional consultation hours, with options to provide even more services:

• Legal education seminars,
• The availability of counsel to meet with your board,
• Advance directives and healthcare power-of-attorney forms; and
• Consultation and help on copyright/trademark/licensing matters.

In short, we want your startup to have the same breadth of legal support that your established competitors have. The peace of mind that comes from knowing your legal bases are covered, and knowing whom to call if a problem arises, will free you up to focus on the business of business.

A business isn’t just one person, though, and our employee services can help you not only run things, but attract and retain top-notch talent to keep the wheels turning. An employee who feels secure and valued in their job is an employee who’ll want to stick around. With that in mind, we also offer an expanded set of legal options for your employees:

• Legal education seminars,
• Tax and/or retirement planning advice;
• Basic wills and estate planning advice; and
• Advance directives and healthcare power-of-attorney forms.

Now more than ever, finding and keeping great employees can be a struggle. For employees, the legal services we offer are the extras that can turn a so-so job into a great career.

We know that no two businesses are alike, though, and if none of the above options is exactly what you’re looking for, give us a call and let’s talk about it; we’ll negotiate and find a solution that meets your needs. Our ongoing relationships are always open to discussion, and you’ll quickly see the benefits of working with lawyers who’ve known you and your business since the beginning.

One benefit that our clients report from these ongoing relationships is the feeling of freedom. When a legal question comes up, there’s no hesitation, no need to try to look up the answer yourself. You just pick up the phone and call us, and we’ll help you make sense of whatever is going on.

Got a question about interstate contracts? Call us and we’ll do the research.

Thinking about bringing in a new member for your LLC? Call us and we’ll draw up an Assignment of Interest for you.

One of your founders looking at retirement options? Call us and we’ll work up a Buy-Sell Agreement, to make sure the transition into new leadership goes as smooth as clockwork.

Our legal team is at your disposal, ready to clear obstacles out of your way so you can focus on your work.

Starting a Business: Startup Special

If you’re only looking for help starting a business, and/or your initial budget doesn’t have room for an ongoing legal services package, our Startup Special may fit the bill. Our specialized attorney will schedule a time to meet (your choice of face-to-face, phone, or Zoom) and discuss your plans, your needs, and your hopes. We’ll help you make informed decisions as to what kind of business entity you want to create, with solid data on the pros and cons of each potential course of action.

Once you’ve chosen a business form when starting a business, we’ll help you draft all the legal documents you need. We’ll provide guidance on incorporating, obtaining licenses, filing for a tax ID number, and so on. You’ll have all your legal documents in a single place, ready to answer any questions that may arise. And you’ll have peace of mind from knowing that if you need more help later on, The Crone Firm knows you and your business and can help you build on what you’ve created already.

You’ll be starting a business with a minimum of fuss, ready to hit the ground running.

The Startup Special plan costs $2,000* and includes:

• Two hours of meetings with our startup attorney;
• Incorporation documents including Articles of Incorporation and Operating Agreement;
• Assistance with any required federal filings; and
• Up to two customized sales contracts for your business to offer clients.

Also included with these customized contracts is a lifetime “tune-up” option. If your standard contracts need to be amended or updated after staring a business, reach out to us anytime and we’ll go over them again, at no additional charge to you.

Our Business Formation and Litigation Practice Area

*Please note: Prices listed are starting points; all arrangements are flexible depending on the needs of the particular client.

Entrepreneur Level

If you’re looking for an ongoing relationship, our “Entrepreneur Level” package may more fully meet your needs. In this option, the client will pay a first-month fee of $2,000*, then a flat monthly subscription fee of $1,000, and in return we will provide:

• All of the items in the Startup Special

You’ll get the same initial meeting, incorporation documents, filing assistance, and custom contracts included in the Startup Special.

• Two hours per month of pre-paid legal consultation with our attorneys

If you’re in a meeting with your managers and a legal question pops up, there’s no need to wait to call us, and no worry about incurring hourly charges with the prepaid option. Give us a call, and if we can’t answer your question right away, we’ll do the research until we can.

• Customized standard contracts

In addition to the sales contracts you’ll get with the Startup Special package, we’ll help you create and customize whatever agreements you may need. This may include nondisclosure agreements, venue rental, intellectual property licensing, purchase agreements, or whatever other agreements your specific business requires. We’ll talk it over with you, identify your needs, and get it handled quickly and professionally.

• Legal review of any contracts offered to you

We’ve all had the experience of looking at a long contract, shrugging, and signing it without reading. Whether you’re joining a website or registering the warranty on your new toaster, there’s always a huge block of fine print to scroll through. No one reads it, everyone signs it, and things usually turn out OK.

But when it’s one of your business’s major suppliers, those long, tedious contracts can contain clauses that you definitely want to know about. The “gotcha clause” can range from moderately unfavorable to downright Draconian, and you want to be sure of what you’re signing before you sign it.

Send that contract over to our contract review team, and we’ll create for you an in-depth, three-part analysis.

Part 1:        A general rundown of the major provisions of the agreement

Part 2:        A list of any potentially problematic clauses that you might want to consider negotiating before you sign

Part 3:        A (hopefully short) list of major red flags that you definitely should not agree to

With our common-sense review, written in plain English, you’ll feel confident going in that you understand all the ins and outs of any contract offered to you.

• Other legal services

Maybe you have a frequent legal need that’s not listed here. Maybe you need legal research, or mediation, or insurance services. Whatever it is, let us know! We’re a full-service firm, and we’re happy to negotiate a package that works to meet your needs.

• Litigation discount

Finally: If the need should arise, heaven forbid, you’ll get a discounted rate for future litigation and/or defense. You’ll get the full benefit of our attorneys’ combined experience of over a century of legal practice.

Litigation, however, is time-consuming, and expensive, and almost always avoidable with proper planning. That “proper planning” is the entire purpose of our subscription packages. We’re firm believers in setting things up properly on the front end, so that you don’t end up in court on the back end. As the saying goes: “You can pay a contracts lawyer a little money now, or pay a litigator a lot of money later.”

In the interest of avoiding litigation, we’ll talk to you about potential sticking points. Do you have a vendor who threatens lawsuits a lot? Do you have a client who always seems to be looking for a reason to start trouble? These unfortunate realities can befall starting a business, but with proper planning you can be ready to deal with them, to keep your business as airtight as possible.

With the Entrepreneur Level package, you can feel confident that your small business has its basic legal needs fully covered.

Entrepreneur Client Testimonial

*Please note: Prices listed are starting points; all arrangements are flexible depending on the needs of the particular client.

Executive Level

Our Executive Level plan is for businesses with a larger number of employees and/or higher revenues, as well as those who are focused not only on maintaining their daily operations, but on attracting and retaining top talent.

Subscribers to our Executive Level plan pay $3,000* per month, and receive the following benefits:

• All the benefits of the Startup Special and Entrepreneur Level packages

As needed and/or appropriate, you’ll get the corporate formations, custom contracts, contract updates for life, contract review, discounted litigation, and so on. Everything in the lower-tier plans is included, plus a slew of other features:

• Expanded monthly consultation hours

You will have three hours of prepaid consultation with our attorneys, who are ready to answer any question you may have for them. If they can’t answer you immediately, we guarantee an answer within twenty-four hours, whenever possible.

• Legal/financial seminars for you and your employees

A few times a year, we’ll come visit your business to make a presentation to as much of your workforce as you’d like. Each seminar will be oriented toward one issue pertaining to your industry, and we will work with you to decide on topics. Maybe your business works with HIPAA privacy issues, or with copyright and licensing, or with premises liability, or with something else entirely; we’ll work with you to decide on the topic, and we’ll show up to educate you and your workforce on the legal issues involved.

• Advise/consult with your board

Once per year, one or more of our attorneys will be available to meet with your board of directors, to answer any questions they may have about your business, the world of business, or other legal-adjacent matters that may bear on the company’s operation.

• Estate planning education for you and your employees

While we can’t provide extensive estate planning at these rates, we are happy to provide a seminar on the basics of estate planning, including the ABCs of wills and inheritance and why everyone should have at least a very basic will.

• Advance directives and healthcare power-of-attorney for you and your employees

We’ve all heard nightmarish stories of people stuck on ventilators, kept alive beyond possibility of recovery, because no one has legal authority to make decisions for them. This is possibly the most extreme example of a stitch in time saving nine; completing an advance directive and healthcare power of attorney takes less than five minutes, and can prevent emotional and financial devastation down the line. And yet a 2017 Reuters study found that less than 40% of Americans have completed these documents.

We’ll provide these forms for you and your employees, including advice on how to fill them out and what to do with them afterward. A small amount of peace of mind can go a long way, and your employees will be glad you made a point of it.

• Trademark/copyright/licensing consultation

The Crone Firm has attorneys with extensive experience in various forms of intellectual property, including trademark, copyright, and licensing. If your company has questions or needs regarding these issues, including works for hire, infringement of intellectual property, and so on, we’re here to help.

• Other legal services

Maybe you have a frequent legal need that’s not listed here. Maybe you need legal research, or mediation, or insurance services. Or maybe there’s something you’d like to have as an option, should the need arise. Whatever it is, let us know! We’re a full-service firm, and we’re happy to negotiate a package that works to meet your needs.

*Please note: Prices listed are starting points; all arrangements are flexible depending on the needs of the particular client.

Contact Us About Starting a Business!

If you have are stating a business and want to get on the right track legally, click here to call us! We can help answer all of your questions and get you scheduled for a coaching session with one of our attorneys! Starting a business is not easy, and it takes diligent work that can be stressful. Let our attorneys take that stress off of you while you’re starting a business. Take Action…Let’s Go Get Some Justice!