You know the old story…the one in which the cobbler’s children have no shoes…that’s often us when it comes to dealing with the legal formalities of maintaining our business entity.

I have no idea what form of business entity you’ve created. There are different business forms in every state, including corporations, limited liability companies, and variations in some states specific to professional service firms. It’s possible that you’re operating as a sole proprietorship and haven’t formed an entity at all.

Regardless of your business form, it’s important that you keep up with the formalities required by your state.

Our firm is a corporation. We’re required to hold an annual meeting, record minutes, and take a few other fairly simple steps to maintain our corporate status.

Unfortunately, keeping up with those formalities, even though they’re simple, proved to be more than we could handle. That’s why, more than twenty years ago, we outsourced the details to another law firm. Those lawyers have stayed on top of it and made sure we have remained in compliance with the requirements of our state.

We hired a small firm that specializes in business law. The firm e-mails us once a year with a series of questions about things that have happened during the past year. Our answers form the basis of the minutes and other documentation the firm prepares for us. The firm sends the documents to us for signature, and the firm maintains our corporate records. It’s very reassuring to know that we’re always current on doing what we’re required to do.

It’s nice to know that we’ve got an attorney proficient in the details of complying with the law related to corporations on our team. Are you keeping up with the requirements in your state? Make sure you’ve got a good system in place to keep your business on track with the government.

Don’t be like the cobbler. Make sure your children have some shoes and that your business is meeting the requirements of your state.