Startup Documents: The Business of Business
Congratulations! You've officially launched your company and have all of your basic business documents in order. That's great! What about the next phase? Protecting yourself and your company should be at the top of your priority list. How do you protect your company and your website users?
You can easily get caught in a tricky situation with: partners, contractors, employees and users without these three key items.
1. Website Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
These documents let users know what data you collect and how you use it. Most people don't read them, but they are still important to have on your website. As the name suggests, a terms of services policy, also referred to as a terms of use policy, is literally a set of terms by which a visitor can use your company's website or mobile application. Similarly, a privacy policy tells a user how you will use the data and information that is collected from them. There are three fundamental reasons why you need to have a terms of service and privacy policy in place:
Online Payments
If you do not have a terms of service or privacy policy, you may not be able to get a payment gateway for your website or mobile application. As a result, you will not be able to accept payments online.
Trust
Most customers will not want their information shared with others under any circumstances whatsoever, and they will not be able to trust you with their information and business if you don't have these policies in place. A privacy policy is essential if you want users to feel comfortable using your website.
Security
You as a business will not be able to take action against a user who misbehaves on your website, for example by hacking or posting offensive, pornographic or abusive content on your site.
2. Partnership Agreement
Partnerships, like any other business, have areas that must be effectively managed in order to succeed. These areas must be divided and managed according to the skills and abilities of each partner, and these roles should be decided upon and mapped out up front during the organizational formulation of the partnership. Remember that you can circumvent future misunderstandings by using a documented partnership agreement.
3. Confidentially agreement and NDAs
These documents protect both your company and those that you contract to fill specific roles.
If the contractor has access to sensitive information, it is vital for the company to have them sign a nondisclosure agreement as a condition of their contract. It is important for a company to protect itself from any type of accidental or intentional exposure of privileged information. A nondisclosure agreement helps to ensure that this information does not fall into the hands of a rival company. They protect you and your ideas from intellectual theft. About the Author
Corey Bray is the CEO and Founder of LegalNature. A serial entrepreneur, Corey has successfully exited several startups and is currently focused on revolutionizing the business document industry.
