Most business owners don’t wake up thinking:
“I need a legal, risk, governance and compliance review.”
They think:
Can someone review this contract before I sign it?
How do I protect my brand?
What do I need before bringing in an investor?
Are we ready to apply for finance?
Could I sell this business if the right buyer came along?
These may sound like separate questions.
Usually, they aren’t.
One business decision can expose much more
Take bringing in an investor.
You may start by thinking about valuation and a shareholders’ agreement.
But very quickly, other questions arise:
Who owns the intellectual property?
Who can make important decisions?
Are key customer and supplier contracts properly documented?
What happens if a founder leaves?
Are there risks or compliance gaps that due diligence will expose?
That is why at Erasmus & Associates Inc. we look beyond the immediate legal question.
We consider the business through four connected areas:
Legal. Risk. Governance. Compliance.
What is hiding in your business?
Like any cupboard, businesses accumulate clutter over time.
An agreement that was never updated.
A shareholder arrangement that no longer reflects reality.
A trade mark that was never registered.
An important decision that was never properly recorded.
Insurance that hasn’t kept pace with the business.
A key employee holding knowledge nobody else has.
A compliance requirement everyone assumes someone else is handling.
None of these necessarily causes a crisis today.
But they become important when the business wants to move.
Apply for finance.
Bring in an investor.
Sign a major contract.
Restructure.
Sell.
Deal with a shareholder change.
Renew insurance.
Prepare for due diligence.
A useful business spring clean asks four questions
LEGAL
Are our important relationships, rights, obligations and assets properly documented and protected?
RISK
What could materially disrupt the business or reduce its value?
GOVERNANCE
Is it clear who decides, who approves, who signs and who is accountable?
COMPLIANCE
Do we know what applies to us — and could we prove compliance if somebody asked?
The answers rarely sit neatly in separate boxes.
A contract can create a risk.
A risk can require a governance decision.
That decision may create a compliance obligation.
That is the value of looking at the business through an LRGC lens.
Before your next big move
You may not know whether your next opportunity will be an investor, finance, acquisition, new partner, major contract or potential buyer.
But you can decide whether your business will be ready for it.
This spring, don’t only clean the cupboards you can see.
Ask what someone would find if they looked closely at your business tomorrow.
Erasmus & Associates Inc.
Legal | Risk | Governance | Compliance
