A legal checklist for a new business
Startups often focus on the product and postpone legal structure until a bank, landlord, investor or co-founder forces the issue. Addressing ownership and authority earlier usually gives founders more choices.
- Choose and register the business structure.
- Document founder ownership and decision-making.
- Review customer, supplier and contractor contracts.
- Understand lease obligations before signing premises.
- Identify licences, privacy obligations and sector-specific rules.
- Document ownership of brand names, software and other intellectual property.
Plan for disagreement while everyone agrees
A useful founders or shareholders agreement does more than state percentages. It can deal with funding, voting, transfers, departures, incapacity and what happens when owners cannot agree.
Verify registrations and filings through current B.C. sources
Business registration systems change. BC Registry Services provides the current online path for registering and managing many B.C. businesses. Before paying a third-party filing service, confirm the official requirement through BC Registries.
Separate formation from operating agreements
Registering a company is only the formation step. The operating relationships still need attention: who can bind the business, who controls bank and borrowing decisions, how new capital is approved, and what happens if an owner wants to leave. Those issues are often dealt with through shareholder, partnership or other ownership agreements rather than the incorporation filing itself.
Put recurring business relationships in writing
Early contracts can become the template for years of business. Customer terms, supplier arrangements, independent-contractor agreements, confidentiality provisions and intellectual-property clauses should match how the company actually operates. A short agreement that clearly allocates payment, scope, ownership and termination risk can be more useful than a long template copied from an unrelated industry.
Build compliance into the launch plan
A startup may also need municipal licensing, tax registrations, employment policies, privacy practices, insurance and sector-specific approvals. The exact mix depends on the activity and location. Treat these as launch dependencies rather than paperwork to solve after revenue starts, because a missing registration or poorly drafted lease can delay opening or create avoidable cost.
Related planning guides
Use the Burnaby business-law guide for contracts, shareholder arrangements, leases and transactions, and our lawyer-selection guide when professional advice is needed.