Practice area 3.4 · Small Business
Small business
Most small-business trouble is a signature from two years ago that nobody read closely. We are the read-it-closely, before the pen moves, so the paperwork protects the thing you actually built.
1. This page is for you if
- 1.1
You have run as a sole proprietor for years and your accountant has started saying the word incorporate.
- 1.2
A landlord has handed you a commercial lease and pointed at the last page for your signature.
- 1.3
You are going into business with a friend and everyone is being far too polite about the money.
- 1.4
You are buying or selling a main-street business and the deal is now real enough to need paper.
2. What the work includes
Incorporation, done right
The company set up, the records book started, and a share structure built for your plan rather than a template's.
The contracts you actually use
Client agreements, supplier terms, and the service contract you have been meaning to put in writing for a while now.
Commercial lease review
We read the lease the landlord drafted in his own favour and tell you which clauses to push back on before you sign.
Shareholder and partnership agreements
The document that settles what happens when partners disagree, written while everyone still gets along.
3. What it costs
Incorporating a BC company is $1,100, plus the government filing fees, which we name before you commit. Contracts, leases, and agreements are scoped and quoted before we begin, and where the work is billed by time Daniel's rate is $350 an hour. You approve the number first, every time.
4. What happens next
The anxiety is almost never the law. It is not knowing what happens next. So here is what happens next.
- 4.1
Tell us what you are building
A first meeting about the business, not the law: what you sell, who you owe, and what keeps you up at night. The legal answer follows the plan, not the other way around.
- 4.2
We quote the whole job
You get a written scope and price before a document is drafted, so the bill is a decision you made rather than an envelope you dread opening.
- 4.3
We draft and you understand it
Every agreement arrives with the plain version beside it. If a clause protects them and not you, we say so out loud and we fix it.
- 4.4
You leave with a company that stays current
Incorporation is not a one-time event. We set up the annual filings and remind you before each is due, so the company stays in good standing.
5. Who does the work
We give a two-person shop the same care as a numbered company with a boardroom, because on a Bellwood main street the two-person shop is usually the braver bet.
6. Reading, before you spend a dollar
7. Questions people actually ask
- Do I even need to incorporate, or is that overkill for my size?
- Not everyone does. Incorporation buys you liability protection and some tax flexibility, but it also adds filings and cost. For a low-risk operation, staying a sole proprietor may be the right call this year. We walk you through the trade-off honestly instead of selling you the pricier option by default.
- How much does it cost to set up a company?
- The incorporation itself is $1,100, plus the government filing fees, which we tell you before we start. If you also want a shareholder agreement or a custom share structure, we scope that separately and quote it before any work begins. You will never see a number you did not approve.
- Can you just look over this lease before I sign it?
- Yes, and it is one of the cheapest hours of legal work you will ever buy. A commercial lease runs for years and the landlord wrote it to suit the landlord. We flag the clauses worth negotiating and tell you which ones actually matter for a business like yours.
Begin with a conversation
Ten minutes on the phone, no charge, and an honest answer about whether you need a lawyer at all.