David Thacker
Are you a law-abiding business owner?
Of course, you’re. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be in business today. There are various business laws and industry-specific regulations that businesses must comply with; else lawsuits and audits will become the order of the day.
At a minimum, every business needs to obtain a business license. Beyond these, there are tax, labor, and other laws that come into play, depending on the nature and size of the business.
To ensure and maintain compliance, some businesses hire providers of regulatory compliance services. If you’re also looking to make the same move, you might be wondering how these services will help you.
Continue reading for in-depth insight.
Understand Your Legal Obligations Before You Start a Business
There’s a lot that goes into starting a business. If you’re in the pre-launch phase, you already have a startup checklist. This is a smart move, but most entrepreneurs forget to create a full list of their legal requirements.
The consequence?
You start up a business only to find that there’s more you need beyond just a business license or operating permit. When you learn of new compliance requirements, you might need to go back to the drawing board. Some of these requirements come at a big cost, so if you didn’t budget for them, you might find your business cash-strapped.
This is where regulatory compliance services come in handy. When you have this service provider on your team, you’ll get a clear picture of all the laws and regulations that your business must comply with. As a result, you’ll be in a better position to launch a business that won’t run into compliance audits in the first weeks of operation.
Ongoing Compliance Assessments
Just because your business meets all its regulatory requirements at launch doesn’t necessarily mean it’s set. Things can change, resulting in a potential regulatory violation.
Sometimes, these violations happen without your knowledge. Perhaps you’re a small business owner wearing many hats, so you might not immediately be aware of when something is going wrong.
For example, every business has a legal responsibility to ensure the health and safety of its employees. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is responsible for enforcing this. If you’re not always present on your business’s premises, you might not know when the business is committing an OSHA violation.
If this goes undetected for some time, don’t be surprised to be slapped with an OSHA compliance audit. Naturally, you’ll rush to rectify things, but by the time OSHA is giving your business an audit notice, it might be too late.
When you’re working with a compliance regulatory service that offers health and safety solutions, you can say goodbye to such embarrassing and potentially costly situations. This service will conduct continuous compliance assessments, ensuring potential or actual violations are caught and nipped in the bud before someone files a report with a regulatory agency.
Professional Advice and Guidance on Compliance Audits
Even when your business is fully compliant, it’s possible to undergo compliance audits. In fact, some audits are necessary before your business license or permit application can be approved.
As such, a lot can be at stake when your business is undergoing a compliance audit by a regulatory agency. You can’t leave anything to chance.
It’s an unsettling time, but when you have hired a regulatory compliance service provider, you’ll rest easy. You’ll get professional advice on what to do when your business is facing an audit. This kind of preparation can make the difference between passing the audit and failing.
If your business needs to prepare a written response to issues raised after an audit, bank on your compliance service provider to advise and guide you.
Protect Brand Reputation
In business, as in life, it takes years to build a good reputation. But it can all be soiled in a day.
The reputation of your brand is everything. You must protect it at all costs.
Yet, something seemingly as simple as a minor regulatory violation can ruin that reputation you’ve worked so hard to build.
For instance, let’s say your business is a restaurant. Obviously, food health and safety is paramount. What if an FDA audit discovers that there’s an issue with some of the dishes you serve? It will only be a matter of time before the information reaches the public.
Are you going to keep visiting a restaurant that’s known to flout food safety regulations? This is a no-brainer really. As a restaurant owner, such a situation is your worst nightmare.
There are various steps business owners take to protect the reputation of their brand. Unfortunately, not many take the step of hiring a regulatory compliance service. Yet, this is one of the most important steps – of course depending on the regulatory risk your business faces.
You already know that a compliance service will conduct continuous or regular assessments. If something is amiss, they’ll advise you on how to fix it. As a result, your business won’t face any unnecessary audits or make violations that can ruin its reputation.
Hiring Regulatory Compliance Services Is a Savvy Move
You might have been on the fence about hiring regulatory compliance services because of the associated cost. Or maybe because you’re in an industry with a favorable regulatory environment.
Regardless of your reason, as long as you own or manage a business, maintaining compliance is not negotiable. Hiring a regulatory compliance service is key in ensuring your business doesn’t break the law.
Stay tuned to our blog for more business advice.
