You probably don’t think too much about the law as a new business owner, but you should. You might find that it’s easier to fall over onto the wrong side of the law than you previously realized. After all, there are a few mistakes that business owners can make. They can find themselves in trouble with customers, employees, and even other business owners. You might be interested to learn that businesses lost billions last year because they had to pay damages in court cases. Now that we’ve grabbed your attention let’s look at the ways you can avoid your business becoming the next company up in court.
Problems With Customers
There are a few reasons why customers might decide to pursue a legal claim against your business. Usually, it will be based on a product or a service that you have supplied. They will take legal action if, for instance, the product did not match the high levels of quality that they expected. Or, if they feel that the product or service was misrepresented. To avoid this possibility, you need to make sure that you are always honest about what you’re selling or offering customers. It is important to be as transparent as possible. There are a lot of shops online that use photoshopping and image altering to make a product look better than it is. By doing this, they are engaging in false marketing. They are hoping that either, customers don’t know they have legal rights here or that they accept the product as it is. Neither are a guarantee. Companies that engage in this practice are essentially playing Russian roulette.
It’s also important to realize that you can often avoid legal issues with customers simply by solving their issue. If they are unhappy with the product, make sure you offer a full refund. Or, if you’re providing a service offer to make changes until they are happy with the final result. You won’t just avoid legal drama. You could also escape getting a terrible review of your company posted online. There’s an easy lesson to learn here. The customer is always right, even when they’re not. If you take this message on board, you’ll never have to deal with legal claims from customers or consumers.
Errors With Employees
You might be surprised to learn that it’s just as easy to avoid legal drama with employees. The first step you should take is making sure you know what your legal responsibilities are. You need to provide a healthy, happy environment for your staff. You will also be expected to make sure that all accidents are avoided if possible. Obviously, there is a concern here with human error. Human error is difficult to avoid, but you must remember that there’s no such thing as accident. Instead, you must think in only terms of incident and how that incident can be prevented.
To understand your legal responsibilities in full, it is recommended that you use employment law training services. With services like this you can learn everything that you need to know. It will cover all the important issues from discrimination to sexual harassment. Once you know all the ways things can go wrong, you will find it far easier to prevent problems.
Of course, training won’t solve the issue completely. You’ll also need to make sure that your office is set up in a way so that you can avoid incidents and accidents. To handle emotional problems with employees and open door policy is crucial. Employees need to know that they have someone they can talk to when they have a problem. This will avoid them walking down the avenue of legal assistance. If they get what they need from your business, there will be no need to take this route. Don’t forget that employees only look to legal help as a last resort. Most are aware that sueing could leave a black mark on their employment record. No employee wants that kind of reputation, particularly on a difficult job market.
It’s also worth pointing out that keeping your office safe doesn’t have to be your responsibility. You can shift that job to other people. For instance, you can hire health and safety officers. They will make sure that any hazards in your business are picked up on and corrected.
You can also make sure that your office or place of work is checked for any machinery issues on a regular basis. A tagging system can be organised so that any faulty equipment can be marked. It’s likely that if there is an accident it will be caused by faulty equipment.
Finally, you may want to invest in the services of a pro HR department. They will provide support to keep your staff happy and healthy. It will be there job to talk to any workers who are having issues and make sure it doesn’t become a legal problem. It should be noted that by putting measures in place like this you limit the chances of a claim against you being successful.
Bad Business
The last legal issue you’ll run into will be with another business owner. This is quite common for B2B businesses. But it could also occur where you have bought a product or service from another company. The issues here are derived from contractual disputes and they can get quite messy. For instance, you might suggest that as a business owner you were promised a supply of a certain item. This company failed to deliver that supply and did not give notice for their lack of stock. If that happens, you could end up in court claiming their failure damaged your business.
In another situation you might have been providing a service for a company. Unfortunately that company was left unsatisfied with service provided. Due to this, you have end up in court arguing that you gave a fantastic job. You could always offer to give a refund. But if you genuinely feel you lived up to the promise of the contract? This is why you always need lawyers on hand when creating deals with business owners. They will ensure that nothing goes wrong and if it does you are not to blame.
