Starting a company can be a daunting challenge and many people have a fear around 'I don't know what I don't know'.  In this episode of the mini-series of HSTU we cover the legalities of starting a company with Helen Gerrard who left her career as a city lawyer for the French Alps where she now continues her legal work as a partner for Ignition, a law firm that specialises in supporting startups and their growth, and also co-founded SnowDrone with her husband. 

Helen shares advice on how and when new founders should approach the legalities of starting a company and that with the right support it isn’t daunting. I was really keen to speak to Helen as she is not only a lawyer supporting startups but an entrepreneur herself.  In addition, she has mastered the work-life balance, a good example of which is using time on ski lifts for her conference calls. 

Helen's advice: 

• Obtain legal advice asap when setting up a company, as it can be expensive & time-consuming to rectify mistakes
• When you are a director of a company, remember you have fiduciary duties towards the company
• Information at Companies House needs to be correct from both the accounting and legal perspectives 
• You may well need help managing legal aspects like the Confirmation Statement 
• Rather than simply use the Model Articles allocated by Companies House, it may be better to have a lawyer create bespoke Articles of Association for your company
• A lawyer can help streamline the complicated preemption process when issuing shares through equity
• Employees can be incentivised with a series of milestones and targets culminating perhaps in share options
• Manage your share capital by starting with a small nominal amount per share
• As soon as you can, put a shareholders’ agreement in place 
• You may need professional help drafting documents, for example board minutes
• Look for a law firm regulated by SRA which has insurance and professional indemnity cover.  Also seek out lawyers who have an understanding of your business
• Your budget will obviously vary according to your needs: you may need a template of a non-disclosure agreement / articles of association / shareholders’ agreement / corporate authorisations / a template of an employment agreement which includes an IP assignment
• Plan to devote some time every month to look ahead at your legal needs

Head over to Speakpipe to leave your voice note for future guests too.
Links:

• LastPass the password-keeping site. 
• Google Workspace is brilliant for small businesses
• Buzzsprout podcast 'how to' & hosting directory
• Canva for creating all the social media assets

Thank you for listening.  I would also be delighted if you could rate, review and share this podcast with anyone else who may be starting a company as it helps other people find it. Hosted by Juliet Fallowfield, founder of PR for startups advisory Fallow, Field & Mason, How To Start Up hopes to bring you confidence, encouragement & reassurance that you’re on the right track. Edited by Emma Dewhurst. Recorded, edited & published by Juliet Fallowfie

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