Risk
Risk assessment: Identify potential risks with the help of your experts.
Do you have written agreements with your independent contractors as well as your regular employees? Your lawyer should review all your employment-related documents, even if she wrote them! They should be read again to make sure that the agreements are enforceable and create the intended legal relationships. Otherwise, you run the double risk of having state and Federal taxing authorities impose employment tax liability and having your "employees" come back to you for benefits like unemployment insurance, all because of imperfectly drafted
contracts.
Have your attorney look at your waivers, as well. Recognize that your business involves substantial risk of injury. All your students, as well as your faculty and staff, should sign waivers acknowledging the risk of injury. Legally, they, not you, should "assume" the risk of injury to themselves and loss or damage of their personal property.
Monitor the use of recorded music by your faculty, choreographers, accompanists, musical directors, and anyone else who uses recording equipment for you or on your behalf. You run the risk of incurring liability for royalties if you don't get proper permission to use recordings. Similarly, make sure your choreography and written notes are copyrighted, to avoid the risk of losing exclusive rights to your own work or to "work for hire", that is, work created for you by the choreographers and mus-icians you employed for that purpose.
Ask your accountant if your business entity is the best choice to actually serve your business purposes. You may have options you didn't know about. If you are self-employed, for example, would you benefit by incorporating? Or taking a partner? Or accepting sponsorship? Is your corporate entity saving you money, or is it costing you? Should you become "not-for-profit" to benefit from grants? Or should you become an LLC and take investment money from "silent partners"? Being in business is risky enough without looking for every possible way to maximize your profits.
Get an engineer to inspect your premises. You'll know if the staircase needs attention, but you won't necessarily know if your electrical system is straining to support your new sound system, and your sophisticated computer network, and your air conditioning...More students and more activity may also strain your plumbing, running the risk of flooding from your bathrooms.
And don't forget to speak to your best friend. Trust her to tell you things that no one else will, like which pas teacher is taking chances (or liberties) with the students or whether the cute guy who's taking money at night is really taking money.
Next month: risk management