Have You Seen A Ghost?
Three Facts That Will Scare You into Protecting Your Business Once and For All

As the haunting season approaches, Just A Minute, LLC is asking small businesses, "Have you seen a ghost? Will you find your business haunted by failure to protect it from audits and lawsuits?"

There are three very scary facts that should scare every entrepreneur and small business owner into taking immediate action to protect their business and their personal assets.

"The mere thought of an audit or a lawsuit strikes abject terror in the hearts of most small business owners," says Kari VanNoy, co-owner of Just A Minute, LLC. "Yet small businesses and entrepreneurs frequently leave themselves open to failing audits and losing lawsuits by not taking steps to prepare or plan for them."

The three scary facts VanNoy and Allen point to as possible ghosts that can haunt the future of a business, business owner or entrepreneur are these:

Scary Fact #1: A study released in March of 2007 estimates that U.S. citizens pay about $865 billion every year in expenses related to lawsuits. Now, in 2010, it is much higher than that. "It is true that a significant amount of these lawsuits are brought against doctors and other professionals," says Linda Allen. "But a sizeable amount of this cost is tied to suits brought against small businesses."

Small businesses and entrepreneurs are particularly susceptible to lawsuits because they often just don't get around to doing the paperwork needed to protect their businesses. Many believe that a business license and articles of incorporation, articles of organization or partnership agreements are the only documents they need in order to do business.

Scary Fact #2: If a business is not formed and structured correctly, the owner's or partners' personal assets could be at risk in the event of an audit or a lawsuit. Without proper structure and continued documentation, the business is susceptible to disallowed deductions and personal assets are well within the reach of those who bring lawsuits. Business structures cannot prevent audits or lawsuits. But certain structures do allow business owners to separate business and personal assets and offer liability protection.

Scary Fact #3: Many small businesses and entrepreneurs fail to document decisions, agreements and business activities properly and adequately. Every agreement or decision or major expenditure made by a business must be recorded regularly and included in the documents of the Annual Meeting. Further, every agreement made by a business should meet three important criteria:

1. It should be in writing.
2. It should clearly state how disputes will be resolved.
3. It should be reviewed by a legal professional before it is signed.

In an increasingly litigious society, say Allen and VanNoy, it is of vital importance to both the security of the business and the safety of the financial future of the owner or partners that all of the appropriate documentation for the business be prepared and filed as required by the various states.

Just A Minute, LLC is committed to helping small businesses protect their assets and their viability. Business owners and entrepreneurs who have concerns about being haunted by ghosts should call immediately for a free consultation.

About Just A Minute, LLC

For over ten years, owners Kari VanNoy and Linda Allen, both paralegals, have been building their mission to educate and protect small business owners. They created Just A Minute, LLC to assist busy small business owners and executives with their company minutes and resolutions to keep their company assets safe, secure and protected. To learn more about how they help busy executives stop playing catch-up and start getting ahead with their company paperwork, visit www.justaminutellc.com.