Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) and Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) are generous tax incentive scheme created to encourage seed investment in early stage businesses. The SEIS offers both income tax and capital gains tax relief to qualifying investors who subscribe for shares in qualifying companies. The interested parties may contact HMRC who will assess whether a company is eligible under the …
Shareholders agreements: A shareholders agreement is a legally binding contract between the shareholders of a company. A shareholders agreement determines the shareholders’ rights, responsibilities, privileges and protections. It can be used to protect investments, it creates a secure relationship among shareholders and maps out the running of a company. With a shareholders agreement there is clarity and certainty as to …
In startups, co-founders often overlook the need for legal security in their company. Startups are especially vulnerable to legal matters relating to many different areas such as protecting their intellectual property, getting the right terms and conditions, and various forms of employment contracts. Often co-founders only feel the need to get their legal agreements later, once legal issues have already arisen. …
Meet Mikael Metthey, the Co-Founder and CEO of Careviz. Careviz is a mobile platform dedicated to cancer patients and their families. The company hopes to utilize technology to improve the journeys of cancer patients. What does your company do? Mikael: We regroup products and services needed by cancer patients and their families. What inspired you to start Careviz? Mikael: Challenging …
What is GDPR? The General Data Protection Regulation is Europe’s new system for the protection of personal information. The framework put in place is set to equalise the data protection across all of the European Union as well as give better protection and more rights to individuals. It was approved by the EU Parliament after four years of debate and …
Meet Elliot Robinson, the Founder and CEO of PolicyMogul. PolicyMogul is a technology startup preparing to launch within the next few weeks. The company hopes to transform parliamentary democracy through the use of software and technology. What does your company do? Elliot: PolicyMogul is creating software to help public affairs professionals to have greater impact through collaboration. We also help …
Research done by the Silicon Valley Bank shows that most UK startups are aiming to be acquired. An acquisition is the most popular exit strategy for startups and has a lot of benefits for both the buyers and the sellers of the company. An acquisition can help expand the market and the resources of the selling company. On …
Meet Lee Hemmings, the Founder and Managing Director of Player LENS Ltd. Player LENS is revolutionising the professional football transfer market through the use of technology. What does your company do? Lee: Player LENS is an online digital platform for the professional football transfer market allowing clubs and players to broaden their network and increase their exposure to a global …
When entering the business world it is important that you are aware of the different business agreements that are needed in order to run your company. You don’t have to be a legal expert, however, you do need to have a basic understanding of how the law works in relation to your business. A lot of jurisdictions around the …
A lot of founders when they first start a business do not see protecting intellectual property as a priority. However, if your business is substantially based on your trade secrets it may be necessary for you to do so. If it gets stolen and it is not protected it would be extremely difficult to get any kind of remedy …
“I don’t want to spend an arm and a leg to get this done.” – Luke, Founder and CEO of Happy Clouds LTD
Luke is founder and CEO of Happy Clouds LTD, a cloud service provider for companies of all sizes. He started this business by himself but shortly after took on a co-founder, Lucy. Luke and Lucy have been working together for a year but have yet to set up a shareholders’ agreement.
They have been bootstrapping Happy Clouds’ growth and so have spent the bare minimum. A year on, the business is generating revenue and as the client base grows, Luke and Lucy need to ensure that their business foundations and customers contracts are bulletproof.
Luke and Lucy are fast-paced – they don’t have time to spend explaining their business model to lawyers, they want someone who can quickly understand what they want and run with it. They also don’t want to spend an arm and a leg to get this done.
Luke and Lucy come to Linkilaw. After getting their initial terms of business set out, they realise they also will need another 3 to 4 contracts in the next 12 months.
PRO MEMBERSHIP
| Contracts (drafted by specialist lawyers) | 4 contracts |
| Drafts allowed per contract | 3 drafts |
| Bonus legal advice | Digital only |
| Priority of service | Over non-members |
| Speed of contract turnaround | 7 working days |
| Annual business review conference call | Included |
| £2,500/year or £235/month |
“We are scaling up but we want to make sure we get everything updated and in place too.” – Liam, Co-Founder of WineToGo
Liam is the co-founder of WineToGo. His business sources wine from a large network of wine producers and helps their customers select the best wines for their taste to get delivered to their homes. He founded his business with 3 co-founders (Lance, Lily and Larry) and has a shareholders’ agreement in place. The four of them met at university and decided to build their marketplace.
Lance and Larry are passionate about wine and have a background of oenology. Lily is a developer; she built the first platform and collaborated with Liam on business-related matters. They all work in a small office in North London.
After 1.5 years in business, WineToGo features a first selection of 20 UK wine providers and developed its activity in London. However, the business requires funding to expand to the UK (especially Manchester and Birmingham).
Liam and his co-founders are looking towards the future and are happy to get legal advice. They have a focus on investment but also want to explore the possibility of needing future contracts. They plan on having more team members in the near future (business development consultants to prospect wine producers and developers). Liam and his co-founders want to know what to expect and they should have in place for their growing company.
PRO MEMBERSHIP FOR
| Contracts (drafted by specialist lawyers) | 5 contracts |
| Drafts allowed per contract | 4 drafts |
| Type of communication | Digital + calls + in-person meetings |
| Priority of service | Over non-members and digital members |
| Speed of contract turnaround | 5 working days |
| Annual business review conference call | Included |
| Bonus legal advice | Unlimited |
| £7,500/year or £650/month |
“My businesses are successful and I want legal services in the long term” – Lynn, Founder of ConsciousDressToImpress.com.
Lynn is a serial entrepreneur who has founded 6 businesses and successfully exited 3 of them. Her sixth and last business is a sustainable fashion brand that retails exclusively online on her website, ConsciousDressToImpress.com.
Lynn is currently generating a stable £4 million a year of revenue and makes between £750,000 and £950,000 of net profit yearly. She really loves being able to bring sustainability and awareness to one of the most polluting and wasteful industries on the market, and now wants to stop building businesses to just focus on this one.
Unlike her previous businesses, Lynn does not want to sell. She wants to stay managing director for the foreseeable future, as ConsciousDressToImpress grants her a job she loves and stable, high income.
Lynn has used Linkilaw previously in her other businesses and loved the work they did for her. It was made easy, accessible, and affordable. She loves being a Linkilaw member because she feels the Linkilaw team is focused on the long-term and on maintaining an honest, professional and friendly relationship with her and her business. Amelie, her dedicated legal point of contact is also a fan of sustainable fashion and loves wearing ConsciousDressToImpress.
PRO MEMBERSHIP
| Contracts (drafted by specialist lawyers) | 6 contracts |
| Drafts allowed per contract | 3 drafts |
| Type of communication | Digital + calls |
| Priority of service | Over non-members and digital members |
| Speed of contract turnaround | 5 working days |
| Annual business review conference call | Included |
| Bonus legal advice | 30 minutes per contract |
| £9,000/year or £800/month |
“I want a check-up on my contracts and make sure everything is in place.” – Logan, Founder of InvestMap App
Logan created the InvestMap App 5 years ago with one of his long-term colleagues, Lauren. InvestMap is the tool for people who never invested and want to start. Via the app, the consumer learns about how to make wise and long-term beneficial choices; is invited to invest at the right time, and gets updated on the next gold mine.
Logan and Lauren already have a few consultants and their app has been adopted increasingly that it’s now difficult for them to manage their activity with their original team. They now want to implement more structure into InvestMap in order to get more staff and be able to get to the next level.
Logan comes to Linkilaw and expects to review the first contracts that have been drafted when he started his business and get more for his new coming employees. He is very keen on ticking boxes and making sure that InvestMap is secure as it goes on.
PRO MEMBERSHIP
| Contracts (drafted by specialist lawyers) | 9 contracts |
| Drafts allowed per contract | 1 draft |
| Type of communication | Digital + calls |
| Priority of service | Over non-members and digital members |
| Speed of contract turnaround | 7 working days |
| Annual business reivew conference call | Included |
| Bonus legal advice | 30 minutes per contract |
| £8,600/year or £750/month |
“At this stage, Move.In will need legal counsel.” – Leah, Founder and CEO of Move.In
It’s been 8 years since Leah created Move.In, selling kits for students moving to another city (including cutlery, first food, sanitary and emergency essentials). Leah started on her own the business but hired 41 employees during these couple of years. She has now 30 employees and operated over the United Kingdom, Germany and France.
With long-term partner contracts who feed her a stable stream of leads, Move.In has established itself as a leader in the market and currently generates over £3 million of yearly revenue. Its growth is also steady (5-10% a month).
Leah is looking for a legal advisor who will take on the role of in-house legal counsel, but without working full-time. She wants to work with someone who knows and understands her business and proposes the most commercially minded decisions. She doesn’t have the budget for full-time legal counsel, but would nevertheless like to have a lawyer she can reach whenever she wants.
Leah was looking for someone who had expertise in both commercial contracts – ensuring she created real win-win situations in her partnerships – and employment – managing employee onboarding documents such as offer letters, employment and option agreements, staff handbook. Leah now works with a dedicated Linkilaw lawyer and is delighted that she is able to work with a senior lawyer at a rate that is significantly under her budget.
PRO MEMBERSHIP
| Contracts (drafted by specialist lawyers) | 9 contracts |
| Drafts allowed per contract | 2 drafts |
| Type of communication | Digital + calls + meetings |
| Priority of service | Over non-members and digital members |
| Speed of contract turnaround | 7 working days |
| Annual business review conference call | Included |
| Bonus legal advice | 1 hour per contract |
| £12,800/year or £1,200/month |
“I want to get legal work sorted with a moderate budget.” – Lara, App developer
Lara is an app developer who created custom mobile applications for startups. She often works from her clients’ offices to get immediate feedback on her work. When she’s not working from a client’s office, she works from a co-working space or from a local cafe. Her accountant recently told her she should create a business entity for tax and liability purposes.
Lara’s business is already taking off, so she has a moderate budget to spend on getting her legal work sorted. She knows she wants to incorporate her business, write her own terms of business to use with clients (instead of just accepting the terms they provide her with), and make sure her new website has the documents it needs, but she’s not confident in her legal knowledge. She wants access to legal advice for all the small questions that pop-up day-to-day.
Lara loves working with Linkilaw because her dedicated legal point of contact, Gillian, is knowledgeable, responsive and friendly. She likes that Gillian knows and understands her business and long-term goals. The legal solutions Lara receives from Linkilaw are not only accurate, but they are also commercially-minded and thoroughly thought through.
Lara is grateful to have been introduced to Linkilaw by a friend and she now recommends the Linkilaw membership to her clients.
PRO MEMBERSHIP
| Contracts (drafted by specialist lawyers) | 3 contracts |
| Drafts allowed per contract | 5 drafts |
| Type of communication | Digital + calls |
| Priority of service | Over non-members and digital members |
| Speed of contract turnaround | 7 working days |
| Annual business review conference call | Included |
| Bonus legal advice | Unlimited |
| £4,000/year or £350/month |
