We had a fabulous presentation at this morning's meeting at Tuggerah - Isaac Chalik is an expert on corporate disputes and blew our minds with this short presentation!

There's clearly so much more to be understood about how you set up your business than first meets the eye .... and pointing out that most of us are taking advice from our accountants (who have a tax agenda) rather than a lawyer (who comes from an asset protection angle) was one of the key takeaways from his first slide.

• As a Sole Trader you have zero asset protection - you can definitely lose your house if your business goes in the wrong direction; 
• A Partnership is not much better because you're also liable for your partner's actions;  
• Setting up a company provides high asset protection for your personal assets, except in the circumstance of insolvent trading, fraud and other company unauthorised activity
• Trusts can be an excellent way to future proof your business

Isaac also shared some points about documenting your business growth with the appropriate partner, corporate, shareholder and director agreements, ensuring that you have mapped out how equity/liability is to be shared.  And what about when you leave your business - do you even have an exit strategy?  There's plenty of legal potholes to be avoided in

• the sale contract
• discharging any guarantees or loans
• transferring leases

And very briefly at the end Isaac touched on wills, succession planning, family agreements and estate planning for business owners

Truth be told, each of these 4 topics warrants a full presentation - we will definitely get Isaac back again!

If you would like to discuss your situation directly with Isaac this is how you can contact him:

Email:  isaac@zimanandziman.com.au

Ph: 0413870228