Many women entrepreneurs and business owners are winding down, preparing for the new year but what things should they be doing exactly? Legally speaking, that is.
MyCity4Her Radio recently interviewed Baltimore-based corporate law attorney and MC4H enterprise expert Colleen Pleasant Kline, principal at Miles & Stockbridge, P.C., about the legal avenues business owners should be taking at this time of year. Her responses were insightful and incredibly helpful. Here’s just a few of the questions raised and her advice on the issues:
- When’s the best time to consider a formation change?: If your business has a fiscal year that goes along with the calendar, Colleen says this is a good time to start thinking about it. “You can always look at and examine whether it makes sense to restructure your company. Not only for tax planning purposes but also for some asset protection planning purposes and kind of make it coincide with the end of your fiscal year or to commence at the beginning of the next fiscal year.
- When’s the optimal time to change the ownership agreement?: “It depends,” Colleen says. “A lot of it will depend on what your agreement is with the other owners on whether or not you’re allowed to sell or withdraw from the company.” Kline notes that it’s never a good time to have the “it’s not working out” discussion but to try and have it as amicably as possible.
- Is now a good time for mergers and acquisitions?: “Right now, capital gains are at 15% so a lot of folks want to complete transactions by December 31st,” Kline says. In other words, yes–but only if you’ve already started the process. “If you’re not already in negotiations, you might not make it this year,” Colleen says.
Listen to Colleen’s full Today’s BusinessWoman on MyCity4Her Radio interview