Owning a business comes with many stresses. Being able to deal with financial and operating aspects is something that can generate positivity, but on the other hand, comes business disputes that are not so enjoyable to deal with and are inevitable. It’s always worth preparing yourself for business disputes for when they do arise to save them getting out of hand. Here’s a few worth noting down and understanding what you can do to avoid them.
Issues from Consumers
As a business, you provide customers with a product or service to help fulfill their need. The majority of the time it’s a successful transaction and the customer leaves your company knowing it was worth the time and effort. On other occasions though, there are customers who can find faults with what you offer making them extremely difficult to deal with. However, they are what drives your business so you want to make sure you deal with them fairly and in the right way. Understand what laws there are as a business owner and seek professional help if any claims go further than you expected.
Contract Disputes
Contracts are there to make sure anyone involved in the business operations fulfills their duty accordingly, and there’s a mutual agreement from both parties that the expectations will be met by the individual or organization. Failing to do so can have major consequences. To make sure breaches of contracts aren’t broken, make sure that the contract agreement is in writing as proof of agreements, and when drafted it is thoroughly reviewed and is understood by both parties.
General Employee Disputes
There are several disputes that can be categorized under this category and can range from allegations of discrimination at work to terminations at work. The majority of these can be avoided through contracts that would have been agreed at the start of the employment, but you can always gain good advice professionally from solicitors who understand employment law.
Shareholder Issues
Disputes from shareholders arise when major stakeholders within the business clash over decisions that can majorly affect the company. This tends to occur more frequently when incorrect planning has gone into strategy or agreements from previous decisions haven’t been communicated correctly. To avoid anything like this occurring, there are a few steps you can take:
- You can outline a shareholders agreement that would be distributed to all relevant parties which cover how voting rights will be conducted and general decision making will be processed for the benefit of the company.
- A Deed of Adherence is available for any new shareholders that would come aboard if any shares were to be sold. In signing the agreement the shareholder is then bound in with the original shareholder agreement.
Any business owner should make the most of taking time to understand business disputes and how to avoid them. If you’re still unsure there’s professional help available through solicitors who specialize in commercial law Manchester.
