Conflict Of Interest

Written by Richard Lowe


One ofrepparttar most insidious traps inrepparttar 106340 world of business (or in any other place for that matter) is this thing called a "conflict of interest". The conflict produces a situation whereby your decision to do or not do something is swayed by other or outside interests. In other words, you need to make a business decision, and your decision is changed (or appears to have been changed) based upon something other than what's going on at your job.

Sometimes these conflicts are completely and totally obvious. In our company we are all forbidden to accept any gifts from any vendor. In fact, this policy is brutally enforced by suspension and possible termination. Why? Well, let's say a buyer has to purchase a million dollars worth of product and he receives "gifts" from various competing vendors. Is he making decisions that are inrepparttar 106341 best interest ofrepparttar 106342 company or is he simply repaying that "special" vendor who gave him a trip to Hawaii?

There are many ways that conflicts of interest appear. Sometimes they are hobbies, sometimes gifts from people, sometimes simply having an agenda other than that ofrepparttar 106343 company.

I've found that a person with a hobby is a person with what is potentially a fascinating conflict of interest. For example, when I was just seventeen years old, I managed a liquor store. My boss was a German U-boat commander from World War II, and he loved German wine. We had German wines all overrepparttar 106344 place. The stuff never sold, not a single bottle, but regardless we hadrepparttar 106345 bottles everywhere. I distinctly remember having to dust them constantly. I used to wonder why we carried these dogs, but no longer. The boss had a hobby. He liked German wines, and in spite ofrepparttar 106346 fact that each bottle onrepparttar 106347 shelf was wasted money (and a lot of it, these bottles were not cheap) he continued to purchase them. This part ofrepparttar 106348 business was actually his hobby.

A more obvious conflict isrepparttar 106349 one between an auditor from an outside firm andrepparttar 106350 auditor's firm. Let's say you hire Joe from XYZ company to audit your books. You hire lots of people from this company to perform audits all ofrepparttar 106351 time. Sincerepparttar 106352 auditing firm makes money from your business, there is an apparent conflict of interest here - an auditor which finds problems may find himself out of a job. This conflict becomes even greater ifrepparttar 106353 auditing firm gets follow-up work based uponrepparttar 106354 results ofrepparttar 106355 audit. That's why intelligent managers make it very clear to their auditing firms that they understand this natural conflict. These managers also MUST make it clear that they expect unbiased results, and attach severe penalties for improprieties.

How To Incorporate Yourself Without a Lawyer

Written by J. Stephen Pope


How To Incorporate Yourself Without a Lawyer by J. Stephen Pope

You could save hundreds of dollars by incorporating yourself without a lawyer. How? Is it advisable to do so?

1. This is Not Legal Advice!

The only ones who should be giving legal advice are those licensed to practise law (in other words, only lawyers). This article is not legal advice. If you need legal advice, consult a lawyer.

This article is being written simply to inform you that it is possible to form a corporation or limited liability company without a lawyer.

2. Why Use a Lawyer?

First of all, if you make a mistake incorporating yourself, who do you sue? You only have yourself to blame. Onrepparttar other hand, a lawyer has insurance to cover errors and omissions.

Secondly, you could benefit fromrepparttar 106339 expertise of your lawyer. Perhaps a corporation isn'trepparttar 106340 right vehicle for you under your circumstances. Be aware that there can be disadvantages as well as advantages to incorporating. Your lawyer can consider commercial law, securities legislation, limited liability, tax factors, estate planning, share structure, and a myriad of other business considerations. Sometimesrepparttar 106341 advice of a good lawyer can save you thousands of dollars.

3. Is it Advisable to Incorporate Yourself?

Is it advisable to perform surgery on yourself? It is illegal to perform surgery on someone else unless you are licensed to practise medicine, but perhaps in a wilderness survival scenario, self-surgery might be your only option. However, is performing surgery on yourself really a good idea in most instances?

Likewise, just because it is possible to incorporate yourself without a lawyer doesn't mean it is always a good idea.

In some jurisdictions, only lawyers can incorporate others. For a paralegal or other person to incorporate a company for you could be considered unauthorized practise of law. Thus, it may be legal to incorporate yourself but not others.

Some factors you might consider are: Am I really that short of cash that I can't spendrepparttar 106342 extra money for good legal advice that may save me thousands of dollars? Am I confident that my situation is one that really doesn't needrepparttar 106343 services of a lawyer to incorporate? Canrepparttar 106344 money saved on legal fees be better utilized in financing other aspects of my business?

Each person will have to make their own decision on whether or not to seekrepparttar 106345 services of a lawyer in forming a corporation.

"He who has himself as a lawyer has a fool for a client." I have often thought that perhaps a law firm originated this common expression.

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