Why are you in business? Because you like it? For the money? It is what you know? It is what you do? You cannot imagine your life otherwise? All of the above and more?
Let us get, then, straight to the bottom line. For whatever reason seems right to you, you have decided to be in business. Now that you are here, how do you do what you do? Two words – planning and implementation. And two (actually three) more – collaboration and risk management.
The first word is planning. You find an idea (or it finds you) for a good, a service or a hybrid of both. You research the need in the marketplace and decide there is space for your idea “out there.” You research further on materials, methods, technologies, knowledge/skills/abilities, competition, intellectual property rights, finances, distribution channels and regulations. You decide “it” is doable. And you set pen to paper. Do not forget to keep your idea as a trade secret for the time being.
Who, by the way, is “you”? It can be just you individually, but more likely it is you in collaboration with a team of internal and external operations professionals, consultants, lawyers, accountants, bankers, insurers, and other relevant advisors (1).
The third word (yes, it is out of sequence) is collaboration. With your team you identify a series of internal (to your business) and external (to the marketplace) goals, strategies, responsible parties, time-frames and measurable outcomes. All need to be related to your mission, vision and values. Be sure to “bake in” flexibility, so as you monitor the roll out of your idea, you are able to make adjustments as needed and in real time.
The second word is implementation. All the thinking, research, collaboration, testing (e.g., proof of concept), and planning do not amount to a whole lot more than a cost center if you do not take your idea and put it into action in the market (2). To draw inspiration from the comedian Jim Gaffigan, and please read the following with the high voice he uses with some lines, “Wow…You sure like to quote yourself.” If you do not implement your business, then you may have the “stuff” of an excellent work of fiction. If you implement your business, yes you might fail, but you might also succeed. And success can build upon success. (Please refer back to the first paragraph of this article as to why you are in business in the first place.)
Getting back on course to the fourth and fifth words, which, naturally, are the particular concern from a lawyer’s perspective: risk management. More specifically, with reference to a business planning outcome, proactive risk management. That is, identifying the risks continuously and constantly confronting a business, whether from internal or external sources and learning from them, preparing for them, and addressing them in a second-nature, “always on” way. Why? Because it is, typically, less expensive in terms of time, talent, treasure and frustration to attend to risk in advance rather than to do so after a loss has occurred. Examples include insurance, claims management and dispute resolution. Businesses should always be open-eyed to “best practices” for proactive risk management from their industry, from related players (such as vendors) and even from totally unrelated fields. All the while, respect those sources’ intellectual property rights in their means and methods.
Circling back to the pen-to-paper reference in the planning paragraph above, all of your planning-to-implementation activities should be documented. A fixed map will be helpful if the implementers forget or diverge on the road to achievement. In the future, the steps taken may also be relevant to claims of ownership, applications for patents, and even (hopefully not) resolutions of disputes about your innovations. In that regard, please consider using confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements along the way (3).
Onward to achieving the best in and for your business.
For more information, call Philip N. Kabler, Esq. of the Gainesville, Florida, office of Bogin, Munns & Munns, P.A. at 352-332-7688, boginmunns.com/gainesvillelawoffice, where he practices in the areas of business, real estate, banking and equine law.
NOTICE: The article above is not intended to serve as legal advice, and readers should not rely on it as such. It is offered only as general information. Readers should consult with an attorney regarding their legal matters, as every situation is unique.
1. See my prior article entitled “Using Non-Disclosure and Confidentiality Agreements Supports Innovators and Their Innovations” in the July 2015 issue. 2. See my prior article entitled “Leadership in Business from a Legal Perspective” in the December 2015 issue. 3. See my prior article entitled “It Takes a Village…of Professionals to Support a Business’ Financial Activities” in the September 2015 issue.
PHILIP N. KABLER is an Incubator Resource for the Santa Fe Center for Innovation and Economic Development (CIED), will be teaching a fall 2016 semester course in the UF Warrington College of Business Administration’s Master of Science in Real Estate program, has taught various courses at the UF Levin College of Law and the UF Warrington College of Business Administration (undergraduate and graduate), and was a member of the Gainesville Area Innovation Network’s board of trustees. He is also the current president of the North Florida Association of Real Estate Attorneys.