As I sit in my nice warm house and watch the snow storm continue to rage on, I am thankful that we had plenty of advance notice that this storm was coming. We made sure that we stocked up on all of the "necessities" and watched the weather closely. When we got up this morning, we checked the weather closely once again before making the decision to play it safe and stay home from church. Because we had advance warning, we took the appropriate measures to be as prepared as possible.
The security that I am feeling during the storm has me pondering a question: What happens when we don't have "advance notice" of a pending storm... are we still prepared? Over the years I have come into contact with many business owners who faced substantial hardship within their business because they were not prepared for the storms that hit them. In many cases, the hardships brought significant financial loss and in almost every case the problems could have been avoided had the business owner simply been prepared.
The Corporate or LLC structure is meant to provide security and protection from the threat of storms, much like my house has provided protection for me from the elements of this storm. However, there are a number of things that I must do on a regular basis to maintain my home so that it remains sturdy and all of its protective features remain intact. I think it is fair to assume that most homeowners understand this concept and take the appropriate actions, but how many business owners view their business in the same light?
I wrote an article that was recently published by New Business Minnesota and I went to great lengths within the article to demonstrate that the LLC or Corporate Veil can be well maintained and sturdy, or it can be rendered flimsy and worthless due to neglect. You see most business owners rarely invest the time and effort to address ongoing Corporate and LLC Formalities within their business and are ultimately facing serious exposure whenever the storm does come their way (and it most likely will come at some point).
I will be presenting at a New Business Minnesota workshop later this week and will talk about this in greater detail. If you would like a copy of the article, please contact Safe Shield and we will provide you with an electronic copy. In the meantime, please give this matter some additional thought and make the commitment to be prepared for future storms. I am confident that you will be glad you did.
