Starting a Business: What Can Your Law Firm Do for You?

We’ve run a series of posts recently about the steps involved in launching a business.  These have covered issues like deciding what type of business you want to start and what your business model will be; putting together a business plan and identifying sources of capital investment; and naming and registering your business.

This final post will flesh out how forging a beneficial relationship with a law firm that delivers services in a punctual, professional and affordable manner is key to the endgame of getting started with your new venture.

Your firm should have experience in and knowledge about the process of getting a new business off the ground, in terms of not only the technical, legal details but also the broader, strategic picture that’s necessarily involved, as it’s difficult to get the former precisely accurate without delving into the latter.  There is a strategy to starting a new business, and experienced business lawyers can help entreprenuers hone that plan and help you implement the plan.

The details are important to get the startup right—and to address each point thoroughly.  Your firm should provide a “things to do” checklist to make sure you cover all your bases. The attorneys and their staff should make sure your proposed business name remains available, and they should both prepare and file Articles of Incorporation with the Secretary of State, and also record those Articles with the Recorder of Deeds.

The firm additionally should register your business with both the federal Internal Revenue Service and the Illinois Department of Revenue, and your legal team further needs to file for a Sub-Chapter S election with the IRS.  Lastly, your law firm should serve as your company’s Registered Agent which will help insure that your personal assets are protected by the Corporate Veil.

George Bellas has developed and offered this array of services and more for nearly a half-century, and the lawyers of Bellas & Wachowski have helped over 2,000 businesses get their start.  Our pricing is competitive not only with other firms but also those online legal service providers that offer libraries of forms but no actual legal advice, and our array of services is much broader.

Our small business clients ask us to perform work like identifying their corporate name, filinesg articl of incorporation, filing Illinois business registration, organizing their first board meeting and resolutions for the board of directors, drawing up their first shareholder minutes and bylaws, issuing stock certificates, and of course providing for a personal meeting with an experienced business attorney along with a checklist of “things to do” when you start a new business.

Once your business is up and running, you will have unlimited telephone access for the first year to our experienced Chicago Business Lawyers through our Corporate Maintenance Plan. We view ourselves—and serve—as “The In-House Counsel for Small Businesses.”

For more information, please visit our Incorporation Web Page.  Let us help you get off on the right foot in your new business venture.