When you start a business, you should also think of how to end it

Starting a business is almost like welcoming a new member to your family. You could experience profound excitement, joy, anxiety and pride as what was once just a concept eventually becomes a viable company.

As with changes to your family, creating a business requires careful planning for the future. When starting up a business and handling the details of its legal formation, don’t fall in to the trap of only thinking about success and the short-term future.

You also need to plan for possible failure and the need to dissolve the business eventually in the future. Planning for the end of the company when you create it can put you in a much better position when the business has outlived its profitability or usefulness.

Will you sell the company, dissolve it or adapt it to a new purpose?

You may intend to grow the business to a certain size in order to attract investors who want to purchase a turnkey business. You could also plan to start in one aspect of a specific industry and eventually grow in to a completely different but related field. You may know that there aren’t other people who will want the business after you, which means that when you retire, the business will close.

Whichever approach you feel is most likely should determine how you form the company now and manage it in the years to come. You can have certain rules or expectations in place for company performance so that you know when you reach the point where selling the business or dissolving it would make sense. You can also plan to have someone else take over by carefully documenting daily operations and your role in them.

Starting a business requires looking at the big picture

Whether your company is a short-term means of growing your portfolio or the culmination of a lifelong dream, you want to handle the setup process for your new business properly.

Getting legal advice and assistance with everything from business formation to succession planning can help set you and the company you develop up for long-term success. An experienced attorney can prove invaluable for identifying oversight and hoping you realistically plan for the future.