Small business
Small businesses, from the first lease on
For shops, trades, farm stands and family companies: the papers that keep the business yours and the partners friends.
Starting out
Choosing an LLC or a partnership, and writing down who owns what and who decides.
Leases and contracts
Your storefront lease, supplier terms and the contract you hand customers.
Buying or selling a business
The sale agreement, the equipment list and the promise not to open across the street.
Handing it down
A plan for the next generation, tied to your own will.
How it usually goes
How we work with a business
- 01
Tell us about it
What you make or sell, who’s in it with you and what’s worrying you.
- 02
We draft and explain
Short documents in plain words, with a note on what each part does.
- 03
Call us next time
The same lawyer answers when the next lease or hire comes along.
Small business, asked across the table
Do I need an LLC for a farm stand?
Not always. It depends on what could go wrong and what you own outside the business. We’ll talk it through before you file anything.
My brother and I run the shop on a handshake. Is that a problem?
It works until one of you wants out, or dies. A short partnership agreement now saves a long argument later.
Can you look over a lease before I sign it?
Yes. Send it over and we’ll mark what to ask the landlord to change.