Our Articles
Three Stages To Selling a Business
Business Owners Should Always Be Ready To Sell Their Business Whether you're considering selling your business in the near future or not, having it ready for sale should be a thought that lingers at the back of your mind throughout its entire lifecycle....
Essential Legal Documents for Allied Health Businesses
Starting and running an allied health business can be an incredibly rewarding endeavour, but it's essential to ensure that you have the necessary legal safeguards in place to protect your practice and your clients. In this article, we'll discuss some of the essential...
Changes in Australia’s Unfair Contract Terms
Unpacking the Changes in Australia's Unfair Contract Terms (UCT) Regime So what exactly are the changes in Australia's Unfair Contract Terms? From 10 November 2023, Australia will see a substantial expansion in the scope of contracts covered by the unfair contract...
Preventing Franchisees from Competing
How to Safeguard Your Franchise: Preventing Franchisees from Competing Are you concerned about the possibility of your franchisees leaving your franchise system to set up their own competing businesses? This is a legitimate concern for many franchisors, and it's...
Key Documents for Franchise Success
The Key Documents for Franchise Success Operating a franchise is a remarkable endeavour that offers entrepreneurs the chance to tap into a proven business model and established brand identity. However, the path to franchise success is lined with important legal...
Structuring Your Franchise Business for Success
Strategically Structuring Your Franchise Business for Roaring Success In this blog we delve into the thrilling world of franchising and unlock the secrets to maximising potential and achieving roaring success. In a recent podcast, we were asked a crucial question that...
Successfully Selling Your Business: Tips and Insights from Business Lawyers
Successfully Selling Your Business: Tips and Insights from Business Lawyers Selling a business is a significant decision that requires careful preparation to ensure a successful and smooth transaction. As a business owner, you play a crucial role in the process, and...
Navigating Commercial Leases: What Every Business Owner Should Know
Navigating Commercial Leases: What Every Business Owner Should Know Renting a commercial space is a significant decision for any business owner. The terms and conditions of a commercial lease can have a profound impact on the success and stability of your business....
Why Trade Based Businesses Should Rely on Lawyers, Not Templates or AI, for Contracts
Why Trade-Based Businesses Need Lawyers, Not AI or Templates, for Contractual Matters In the rapidly evolving business landscape, trade-based businesses are often tempted by the apparent ease and efficiency of template contracts or Artificial Intelligence (AI)...
Buying Shares in a Business
I am buying some shares in a company - why do I need to enter into a share sale agreement and shareholder agreement If you are considering buying shares in a company, you may be wondering what documents you should be entering into. To do this properly, you will need...
Do You Need a Manufacturers Agreement?
Do You Need a Manufacturers Agreement? Protecting Your Business and Ensuring Compliance in Australia As a business owner, partnering with a manufacturer to produce your goods may well be a critical aspect of your operations. However, it's essential to have a...
Starting a New Ecommerce Business: Essential Legal Protections You Need
Starting a New Ecommerce Business: Essential Legal Protections You Need Launching a new ecommerce business can be an exciting and rewarding venture. However, it's essential to ensure you have the proper legal documents and protections in place to protect your...
Non-Disclosure Agreements
Why Businesses Need a Confidential Agreement/Non-Disclosure Agreement In the ever-evolving world of business, protecting your valuable intellectual property and ideas (your ‘IP’) is crucial to maintaining a competitive edge. One essential tool to safeguard...
Why your business needs a trademark
Why Your Business Needs a Trademark: The Benefits, Risks, and Process Explained When starting or growing a business, owners often prioritise developing their products, marketing strategy, and customer base. However, an equally important facet of your business plan...
Ensuring Your Business Gets Paid
Ensuring Your Business Gets Paid: How a Commercial Law Firm Can Help A crucial aspect of running a successful business is ensuring your business gets paid through timely and consistent payment from clients or customers. Cash flow issues can be detrimental,...
Transition from Sole Trader to Company
Transitioning from Sole Trader to Company. How a Commercial Lawyer can assist. Making the transition from a sole trader to a company is a significant decision that can bring numerous benefits, such as reduced personal obligations and the ability to attract...
Will AI replace Commercial Lawyers?
Will AI replace the need for human Commercial Lawyers? The quick short answer is definitely no… at least not in the near future anyway. As the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) continues to grow across various industries, many are questioning whether commercial...
Sales Agreement. The Importance of Warranties
Why business sellers need to be careful about the sellers warranties they include in business sale agreements. It is essential that all parties who enter a business sale agreement abide by the conditions and warranties within it and must fully understand the sale...
How to Overcome an Adverse Report from IP Australia for a Trademark Application?
How to Overcome an Adverse Report from IP Australia for a Trademark Application It's important to keep in mind that registering a trademark with IP Australia may not always be successful on the first attempt. Although the process is usually straightforward, it's...
Franchise Super Penalties – What You Need To Know
Why compliance with the Franchising Code is now more important than ever! In April 2022, there was a dramatic increase to the financial penalties for contravening the Franchising Code (the Code). As a result of these changes and the huge implications of...
Why do I need a commercial lawyer to help me negotiate a lease?
Why Do I Need an Experienced Commercial Lawyer to Help Me Negotiate Heads of Terms for a Commercial Lease Agreement? When it comes to leasing a commercial property, negotiating the heads of terms can be a crucial step in securing a fair and favourable agreement. Heads...
Benefits of a Fixed Fee Law Firm
What are the benefits of hiring a fixed fee commercial law firm If you own a business, you know how important it is to have the right legal representation. However, legal fees can quickly add up, leaving you with an unexpected bill at the end of the month. That’s...
Terms and Conditions
Terms and Conditions (T&Cs) are a critical component of any business and are essential to protect the interests of both the business and its customers. In this blog, we'll explore the importance of T&Cs and why every business should have them in place. What...
Avoid the 5 biggest mistakes franchisors make
TOP TIPS TO AVOID THE 5 BIGGEST MISTAKES FRANCHISORS MAKE As Franchise and Business Lawyers, we see the same mistakes made by Franchisors time and time again, and most (if not all) of them are easily avoidable had they been proactive about their business legals. Here...
How to pick your business name
How to pick your business name Picking a business name is a really important and exciting part of starting a new business. But, before investing your time and resources into a business name, you need to ensure it is feasible to use. This can be done by making sure the...
Avoid the 5 biggest mistakes people make when buying a franchise
Avoid the 5 biggest mistakes people make when buying a franchise It’s a big deal buying any business, especially a franchise. The documents can be overwhelming, with hidden costs and traps, so it's crucial that you understand everything you are being required to sign...
Buying a Business
How to Successfully Buy a Business - Demystifying the 5 Main Stages of Buying a Business Buying a business is not a task you should take lightly. You should take your time and surround yourself with experienced advisors. We get too many people contacting us...
Equipment Hire Agreements
One strategic decision you may decide to make this year is to buy equipment rather than keep on hiring it. Then, rather than have expensive pieces of equipment sat dormant between jobs and costing you money you may decide to get them to work making money for you. How?...
What To Consider When Buying A Business
Purchasing a business is no small step. And before making the final move and becoming fully committed, you want to ensure you are fully aware of what you are taking on. This process is referred to as due diligence and is essential for the buyer to know exactly what...
The Importance of Privacy Policies and Website Terms of Use
How to make sure your clients know their Personal Information is Protected! In light of the recent Optus data breach, now more than ever, clients want to know that their personal information is secure. Likewise, as a business owner, you want to make sure that users of...
How Can Your Lawyer Help When Merging Businesses?
Deciding to merge your business with another can be an effective strategy in the current economic climate but it can also be daunting as it will affect your business structure, management within your business and require company valuation. This is why it is essential...
Why You Need To Hire A Business Lawyer
Whether you are just starting up your own business or are an experienced business owner, having a trusted business lawyer is very important to ensure that your business practices are legal, risk free and run smoothly. What Is The Role Of A Business Lawyer? First...
5 Mistakes Tradie Businesses make and how to avoid them
Too many tradie businesses leave themselves exposed to legal and financial pain. Helen Kay talks to us about a proactive approach to protecting your business against these 5 mistakes that businesses make, and how to avoid this being YOU! Here's the lowdown on this...
How to cope with Trade Material Supply Shortages
How to cope with Trade Material Supply Shortages, Pass on Price Increases and Protect Against Completion Delays It is hard to ignore the current global supply chain disruptions, caused predominantly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, demand for...
Franchising Code Changes to Disclosure Documents
What are the Changes to the Franchising Code Changes to Disclosure Documents? The recent amendments to the Franchising Code of Conduct set out that a number of changes will be required to Disclosure Documents that are given to franchisees or prospective franchisees on...
10 Key Things to Think About Before Buying a Business
You may be thinking that it is a crazy time to buy a business right now – with lots of uncertainty about many things around the country. However, depending on the business, it might be the best time for you to get a great deal on a business you’ve been thinking about...
Changes to the Franchising Code of Conduct
What are the Changes to the Franchising Code of Conduct? If you are a Franchisor, an existing Franchisee or thinking of becoming a Franchisee or Franchisor, it is important you know what the recent changes to the Franchising legislation mean for you. In this article,...
Top 5 mistakes business owners make
The 5 mistakes business owners make that can derail their business – and what to do to prevent it. Top Tips from a Commercial lawyer As commercial lawyers, we see the same mistakes made by business owners time and time again, and most (if not all) of them are easily...
Lessons 1 year on from launch
Looking back on the 12 months since she launched her boutique practice right as the pandemic hit, Helen Kay says there is much that lawyers can learn if their businesses are to succeed. Speaking to Lawyers Weekly one year on from the firm’s launch, Ms Kay said that...
How to Buy a Franchise
Buying a Franchise is a great way to reap the rewards that come with owning a well-established brand name, minus the years of hard work and the financial investment required to grow the business. But, before diving in headfirst, you need to find out more about the...
Why Every Business Must Have WHS Policies in the Workplace
Shockingly, an Australian worker is seriously injured every 2-3 minutes. Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) Policies and Procedures are extremely important to implement in your business and should never be overlooked. As a business owner, you do not want to see any of...
Growing your business through Licensing or Franchising
Now is a really great time to think about branching out through franchising or licensing your already successful business model. Many of the people who are unfortunately made redundant when the Government stimulus finishes will be looking to buy ‘a job’ and low...
How to Survive the Credit Crunch – Credit Risk e-Guide
A big question businesses are wondering is what will happen in 2021 when the Government’s temporary protections and stimulus packages come to an end. A vast number of companies will have been trading whilst insolvent during COVID-19 and so we are entering a new and...
Subcontractor Agreements: Don’t Make Your Subbies Your Liability
If you are a trade business owner who engages subcontractors, you need a well-drafted subcontractors agreement in place because everything is fine… until it’s not. One of the biggest risks I see with my trade business owner clients is having people working with them...
5 Things you need to know before starting a new business.
It may seem like a crazy time to start a business, but maybe you’ve had a brilliant idea during isolation boredom or redundancy has caused you to rethink working for someone else. You want to make sure you start your new business off on the right foot and this means...
Should I start as a company or a sole trader?
Why you should have a Company Structure, not Sole Trader... When first setting up a business, it is common to use a sole trader structure, as it is relatively easy and cheap. E.g. you are a man or woman with a van providing a service. ..Simple.Now, because of your...
WHY DO I NEED A SHAREHOLDERS AGREEMENT?
If you are in business with someone else, whether it is with a family member, friend, or business partner, it is crucial that the rules of this business relationship are documented to protect the business and the interests of all parties. Sadly, I often see businesses...
Protect your Business. Register a Trademark.
The only way to stop someone else from using a business name or logo that is the same as yours is through registering a trademark. Protecting your business from deliberate or mistaken intellectual property theft is crucial. Many people do not realise that registering...
Why one lawyer started a firm during the pandemic
I had been thinking about launching my own law firm for some time, I had become increasingly disheartened with traditional law firm models that utilise the billable hour. Then, fate intervened and gave me the perfect opportunity. Starting a Business in Tough Times!!...
How to Make Sure You Get Paid – Top Tips from a Lawyer
Cash flow is more important than ever right now and you really need to accelerate your cash collections. You have to make sure you get paid for every single job you do. You simply can’t afford to be complacent. The most important thing right now is to be clear with...
New Commercial Lease Code of Conduct
I thought it would be useful to prepare a summary of what will need to be covered when the Australian States and Territories legislate to give effect to the National Cabinet Mandatory Code Of Conduct - SME Commercial Leasing Principles During Covid-19 (“the Code “)....
HOW TO SUCCESSFULLY SELL A BUSINESS… Settlement
When it comes time to sell your business you want to ensure that you get a good offer and that the sale goes through smoothly. You do not want your business to be one of the many of thousands of businesses that do not sell or sell for considerably less that you had...
HOW TO SUCCESSFULLY SELL A BUSINESS… The Contract Stage
When it comes time to sell your business you want to ensure that you get a good offer and that the sale goes through smoothly. You do not want your business to be one of the many of thousands of businesses that do not sell or sell for considerably less that you had...
HOW TO SUCCESSFULLY SELL A BUSINESS… Business ready for sale
When it comes time to sell your business you want to ensure that you get a good offer and that the sale goes through smoothly. You do not want your business to be one of the many of thousands of businesses that do not sell or sell for considerably less that you had...
Is a contract binding if you entered into it when you were drunk?
We all know that things can seem like great ideas when you have had a drink or two! Imagine waking up, piecing the night before together and realising that you had signed away your business or your house. However, much like getting a Tattoo requires you to be sober,...
Selling your Business – Things to consider
There are a great many matters to consider when selling a business and some of the main things which need to be considered have been set out below. To ensure that the sale of business agreement reflects all the terms that have been agreed, this should be...
Top tips when preparing to sell your business
It is important to be well prepared and organised in advance of putting your business on the market for sale. This will not only avoid costly delays but could also maximise the value of your business. We have provided our top tips to assist you in preparing to sell...
Buying a business and why you need a business lawyer
Buying a business is a complex process and you will need to be very familiar with all the steps required in order to carry them out successfully. You may not be aware of all the searches and inquiries you need to carry out to determine whether there are any issues...
How do you sell a franchise business?
Selling a franchise business is a different process than the sale of an ordinary business. There is generally an established procedure for the sale of any branch of the franchise. This process is usually clearly documented within your franchise agreement under an...