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Research & Analysis

11 steps for scaling a startup

• by David MacMillan
• on Mar 11, 2013

This report underwitten by: TriNet

Establishing a startup’s business infrastructure early — that is, establishing support in the areas of legal, accounting, tax, insurance, and human resources (HR) — provides a number of critical benefits, including:

• Minimizing risk
• Increasing efficiency
• Standardizing contracts
• Quickly processing one-off contracts and special circumstances
• Safe harbors
• Advice on new business practices and new jurisdictions
• Providing a sounding board
• Facilitating tax benefits and avoiding tax problems
• Building wealth (e.g., founders’ ownership and intellectual property rights)
• Smoother financings
• Effective employee management (i.e., avoiding employment-law issues)

Sections of this paper discuss each of the above benefits and provide suggestions for management teams that will facilitate establishment of an appropriate infrastructure.

Note: The situations described in this note are given only to illustrate concepts and should not be taken as providing legal, tax, or accounting advice.