While entity formation is important, it is the baby’s first step into a brand-new world of business.  Your corporate counsel understands there is a difference between tax structure and legal structure.

It’s important to think about organizational governance as building blocks for organizational maturity.  As the business matures and grows the need for internal and intentional communication is needed in order for the business to succeed.  The pyramid below demonstrates how each layer builds upon the underlying foundation.

As a sole proprietor, I may only need to create a doing business name and register with a city or state licensing board.  As I grow and bring on partners, I may need to formally clarify roles and responsibilities as outlined in my bylaws, partnership or operating agreement.  As we hire employees, we may need to put down on paper our vision for the company and our mission together with our core values in order to make sure our employees interface with our customers based upon our expectations.  As we develop more and more services, we may need to set forth certain policies to keep people safe make sure we execute according to plan. In order to carry thorough with a given policy we establish a checklist and call it a program.  The program is comprised of tasks, procedures, and processes to comply within the program.  This compliance creates organizational discipline which in turn creates consistency.  Consistency is creating brand integrity and brand integrity is really another way for demonstrating our brand is the whole apple pie, not just the crust or the filling.  If the pie comes out of the oven and it doesn’t taste right, it’s burnt, or under-cooked, we may need to implement a code of conduct for our employees to ensure we recognize the prioritization of what’s important to the brand of our product and our organization.

If your organization is struggling, or if you want to ensure that your organization will perform as you envision it, I offer a 5 step process for you and your core team to help focus your planned organizational growth aligns with your business objectives. For a small company this exercise will generally take about 10 hours.  For a larger company, the exercise may be more complex and require more effort.  A summary of the process.

1. Assist you in defining and evaluating your company’ vision, mission, core values, and execution strategies.
2. Review and explore the organization brand.
3. Review the execution strategies.
4. Perform a gap analysis on the execution strategies.
5. Outline an implementation plan to align your brand, execution strategies vision, mission, and core values.

In business, we usually enter into agreements when all the parties are getting along. Your contracts inevitably insert risk into your organization, and you are the only person who fully understands your business risk appetite. As your legal advisor, I am here to help you navigate away from risks outside your comfort level while allowing you to still achieve your business objectives.

Business Activities
If you have a recurring failure or mistake inside your operations, I can help you identify the root cause of the problem.

When you think about organizational governance, it’s important to think about the governance documents as successes ion planning.  Your certificate of formation, your designated tax status, by-laws or operating agreements, and code of conduct are some examples of an organization’s governance. These documents are the foundational documents that allow you, your team and ultimately the next management team to maximize the value of the business.  Documenting the governance is important because it allows the organization to define the Why, What, How, Who, When, and Where.

Every closely held business needs an exit strategy for key personnel and owners.  As a business grows, it will ultimately be involved some form of a merger, acquisition, or divestiture of key assets or business functions.  With those transactions in mind, I can help you structure your organization to maximize your flexibility while simplifying the steps you need to work through.