Starting Your New Business in San Diego

Are you in the process of starting your new business in San Diego or Southern California? There is a lot to learn about business startups and the formation of a new company. It takes much more than downloaded forms from some website and a registration fee to get your company up and running.

The business formation attorneys at the Watkins Firm have helped to form thousands of businesses in San Diego across more than four decades of service. One of the most important steps in the formation of a new company is the selection of your business entity, and establishing the corporate guidelines that will not only get your company off to a strong start, but see it through the challenges and opportunities that will develop along the way.

It is important to consider not only the structure or your entity, but the corporate documents that will govern every aspect of present and future operations.

The Structure of Your Corporate Entity Is Determined By The Type of Business You Will Conduct

Are you considering an LLC or will you require an S Corporation or a C Corporation? How will you know the difference, and it can be very difficult to move from one form of business to another as your company grows. Only an experienced business attorney can guide you through the selection process.

Downloaded forms simply won’t get the job done in California. California laws are written to favor the minority ownership position, unless you specifically address this in the corporate documents. Many LLC packages do not include an effective operating agreement.

Starting your new business in San Diego requires well-crafted corporate documents. The operating agreement in an LLC, and the shareholders agreement or corporate documents and bylaws in a Corporation establish the rules under which the business will operate. They define voting rights, decision making authority, the roles and responsibilities of critical players and the way profit will be distributed.

Succession Planning

Most importantly, you must consider what happens in the event one of the founding partners becomes ill and incapacitated or faces personal challenges such as divorce or bankruptcy. You do not want the former partner’s ownership position controlled by a spouse or one of their children. How will an ownership position be valued when a challenge arises? Who gets the first option to buy out an exiting business partner?

How will new investment be brought into the company? How will voting rights be distributed now and in the future?

Our experienced business attorneys counsel new business clients in many aspects of getting their new company up and running. We have helped hundreds of companies like yours to start up, avoid pitfalls and successfully grow over the decades. We serve as your business coach and as a valuable business counselor to ensure your success and answer questions along the way.