Hearding Cats

Have you ever tried to organise a group of cats? 

Probably not.   

Me neither, but I’ve just watched something that I imagine is very similar.  A school teacher trying to organise a group of very excited but not badly behaved children on their way home from a trip to The Globe.  I could see the potential trouble she could have had, and marvelled at how she handled it.  She clearly knew which were the children who could safely be left at the further end of the cartridge, and which were the children who needed to be closest to her and surrounded by several teaching assistants.  She knew to never take her eye off any of them, and to make sure they all had something to do to prevent the start of mischief.  They all had little booklets from their trip to fill in (that’s how I knew where they’d been) and for the few who finished early, she had other things for them to do.  In short, she was well organised.  She knew her weak spots and her strengths and she played to them beautifully.  She managed her group of 30 better than I’ve ever managed my two on a train. 

Preparation is everything and this is true in many aspects of our lives, especially our business and professional lives.  If you know the most likely things that could go wrong, you know how to prepare and organise yourself either to stop it happening, or to cope better if it does.   

I’m often asked by start up companies when they should start thinking about their preparation and organisation from a legal perspective, and the obvious answer is that it’s never too early.  Actually, the answer should be, you should be prepared before you even start.  There’s no point in being on the train with a group of bouncing 8 year olds and suddenly realising that any minute now one of them is going to need the toilet.  You should have done the bathroom run before you set foot outside the door. 

Although I’d suggest that getting it all right at the start is always a good idea, better late than never.

Whether you set up last week, last month, last year, or so long ago that you can’t remember, it’s always a good idea to consider what you can do, to be better prepared for those unexpected calls of nature.

If you’ve got time for a coffee and a chat sometime soon, and you’d like to run through your compliance, then drop me a line and we’ll come up with a careful plan.

Kleyman & Co Solicitors.  The full service law firm.  Prepared for everything.