Just as there are legal considerations when starting a business, there are legal needs to address when growing a business too.
You've likely worked very hard to get your business where it is, set up a good foundation, and are now ready to move to the next level. Business growth presents lots of new opportunities, but also presents new legal issues that may not have been issues early on.
Make sure to evaluate your needs, and proactively address the following potential issues:
Finding the right employee to fill an open position can be a stressful task. In addition, you've got to make sure to address all the legal implications of bringing on employees: wage and hour laws, overtime, confidentiality, discrimination and tax issues just to name a few.
Intellectual property is extremely important to your business; every business, no matter the size has trade secrets that need to be protected, and especially as it grows. Growing your business means that you are going to start using your name and logo in a much larger geographic area, so if you haven't already done so, look into getting a trademark to protect those valuable company assets.
You may already have some contracts in place or had one done through a DIY service when you started out. Now is the time to get those contracts reviewed, or new one's created. If you're growing, you're past the point of using a DIY service to get things done. Find an actual lawyer who can draft contracts to fit the specifics of your business and best minimize your potential risk: a computer program can't do that. Growth means more potential exposure to risk. Having a professional build out all contracts can cut down on potential future problems.
Clear up any legal disputes or potential legal disputes you may have before moving forward with your expansion plans. Legal disputes are time consuming and expensive, if you're looking to expand you don't have time or money to waste with disputes. Clear them up, and then move forward with a clean slate.
If you're expanding, you are going to face at least one of the legal issues listed above, addressing the issues proactively, before it becomes a problem, is much more cost effective and efficient that putting it off.