If you own a small business you are in constant stress at the thought of being sued and you can be sued for almost anything these days. Some one can slip on your property and sue you as they walk out the door, no matter that they have never bought anything before and you suspect them of shoplifting? You can be sued by an employee who breaks a fingernail and the finger later gets infected later, no matter their finger nails are an inch long and they spent the weekend digging out their septic tank, as it must be your fault for sticky cash register keys? You can be sued by a customer, competitor or the government; you just never know who is going to try to sue you and just because someone sues you does not mean they will win the suit, but rest assured that it will cost you in legal fees to defend the case. The best way to prevent lawsuits is to make sure everyone thinks you are broke, especially your employees. Complain about the bills and high costs constantly. You also need to shield your company from liability using corporation strategies and your attorney can assist you with this. Having placards in place, which state; watch your step or careful open door slowly and such will help too. Try not to upset customers or disrespect them; those disrespected often seek revenge and they may have a spouse or close friend who is a bad-apple type lawyer. When dealing with government inspectors, take notes, ask lots of questions and act like you care about all the ridiculous rules. Let them know you will fix any things wrong ASAP. Be a community player too, because if you are participating in the community and helping you will find lawsuits less common. Tell your employees, friends, vendors that your brother is a lawyer. Do a monthly inspection of your shop and look around for possible issues and fix them. Consider all this in 2006. |
