Business Assets

Safeguarding Your Business Assets

When you think of your business assets, you probably think first and foremost of your equipment or machinery, company cars, and so on. It’s important to make sure that all those assets are looked after and insured, as well as protected by alarms and locks to cut down the risk of damage or loss. However, if you’re in the business of inventing things or coming up with new ideas or you have logos or symbols that are a vital part of your business brand or image, those intangibles can be valuable assets. You can take care of most material assets, such as premises and computers, with insurance, but assets that fall under the heading of intellectual property are a lot harder to protect but even more damaging to lose.

Protecting your name

A rose by any other name may smell as sweet, but would your business be as successful if it was called something else? If you’ve worked hard to build a good reputation and your customers keep returning and sending referrals, your name is vitally important. For that reason, you don’t want anyone else using it and perhaps tarnishing it by selling inferior goods or services to the ones you provide. If someone is in competition with you and tries to use the same or a similar name as yours, you can take them to court and claim that they’re passing off their products as yours.

Of course, the last thing you want is to get involved in costly court proceedings, and you have to be sure that you have a good case. For example, the other company may not realize that another company with the same or similar name is doing a similar line of business. Try to negotiate before taking court action, but don’t wait too long before taking action or your good reputation may be lost.