As we start the new year, many businesses and individuals are taking a step back and strategizing on what they want to accomplish for the upcoming year. Some may be considering changing jobs. Others may be planning to start a new practice. Whatever your next move is, preparation is the key to success, and the planning process will include raising and answering questions in order to put all the pieces in place for a strong foundation.
If you are considering changing jobs, you will need to review any prior written agreements to understand what your responsibilities are post-resignation. So, ask yourself:
- Do you have a non-compete?
- Is there a non solicitation clause?
- How much notice do you have to give before you change jobs?
When starting a new practice, you may not know everything that is required to protect you. So, ask yourself:
- Do you have a legal entity?
- Is it a professional corporation or professional limited liability company?
- What are the tax ramifications as it relates to each business structure?
- Do you require consent forms?
- Will you be hiring a team to support your new venture?
- Are you going to lease commercial space for your practice?
And then there are the questions about what to do when you want to retire. Are you contemplating your exit strategy? Perhaps you are looking to bring on a new associate or make an associate a minority partner in your practice so that you can take a step back and enjoy more time doing things outside of work. Some questions that may arise are:
- How do I actually exit my practice and not abandon my patients?
- Do I have enough money to retire?
- What documents do I need to protect myself and to make sure that I’m still earning money and still able to make a living, while doing the things I want?
The above are just sample questions that you may need to ask in order to understand the legal requirements prior to making any changes.
In order to answer these questions and more, I will be hosting a three-part series that will incorporate the concepts of opening up your business, purchasing a business, and handling the growth and expansion, and the decision to retire from it all and what questions you should be asking and getting into place to set yourself up for that next chapter in your life.
I’ll be speaking with experts in different industries who specialize in the areas of real estate, banking, finance, insurance, as well as practitioners across a variety of specialties who have made these transitions and they will share the steps they took and the hits/misses along the way. And as always, I will be bringing in the legal perspective on this during my content episodes each month.
The goal of this series is to provide insight on some of the issues and questions that you should be asking throughout your transition and to allow you to get a better understanding on what to do to prepare for these career changes.
So please keep a lookout for future newsletters and podcast updates. I am looking forward to speaking with all of my guests, including all of the practitioners that are going to take the time to share their insights!
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