BC Business
Virtually any business venture entails considerable excitement and anticipation. But it is also accompanied by a certain degree of intimidation, which sometimes can lead to outright panic—especially for newer entrepreneurs unfamiliar with financing, legalities or the regulatory landscape. The solution: a team of professionals who provide services in all aspects...
Stewart Muglich is the leader of Alexander Holburn’s Corporate Finance + Securities and Merger+ Aquisitions Practices
Virtually any business venture entails considerable excitement and anticipation. But it is also accompanied by a certain degree of intimidation, which sometimes can lead to outright panic—especially for newer entrepreneurs unfamiliar with financing, legalities or the regulatory landscape. The solution: a team of professionals who provide services in all aspects of business development and growth.
That is precisely why Alexander Holburn Beaudin + Lang LLP (AHBL) has risen to prominence, not just as a law firm, but as a trusted advisor to small and large businesses, start-ups and seasoned entrepreneurs who want to rise to the next level.
AHBL’s lawyers practice in 25 subject areas, but what really drives the firm’s success is the philosophy behind its services, which can be summarized in one word: SMART. “Entrepreneurs need to make smart decisions to launch or grow their businesses, and that’s where we come in,” says Stewart Muglich, leader of AHBL’s Corporate Finance + Securities and Merger + Acquisitions Practices.
Taking financing as just one example, Muglich points out there are smart, neutral and potentially damaging approaches to raising capital, and unfortunately many people opt for the latter two.
“A bank loan may fall under the category of a neutral approach in that it’s an impersonal transaction with strict rules and schedules and typically provides only capital,” he says. “A potentially damaging option might be in the form of a private investor who has his own ideas about how your business should be run. But a smart option might be an investor who fully buys into your vision and whose acumen can assist in advancing it.” AHBL makes it easier for clients to choose smart options, not just for financing, but for all business needs; and it does so by offering a portfolio of innovative, tailored legal packages covering the logistics of starting out, human resources policies and day-to-day advisory needs.
With SmartStart, an appropriate AHBL lawyer walks a start-up client through the steps he or she needs to get up and running, from securing a company name and incorporation, to drafting shareholder and employment agreements, to reviewing commercial lease agreements.
The PeopleSmart program ensures that a client has effective human resource policies in place to start employment relationships off right, and to maximize his/her investment in those hires.
Finally, AHBL’s SmartCounsel program addresses the myriad legal issues facing any businessperson on a daily basis—without incurring the expense of a full-time in-house lawyer. Clients can request the degree of access required to an AHBL lawyer: daily, weekly, monthly or periodically, and the lawyer’s service can be for an hourly rate or a fixed fee—whatever makes sense to the business in question.
Muglich, who began a career in commercial litigation in New York in 1992 and later focused on corporate securities upon returning to Vancouver in 1994, joined AHBL precisely because of its flexibility of service and its commitment to forming long-term client relationships.
“In that regard, AHBL lawyers view themselves as business advisors, and I completely share the philosophy that the more you understand your clients, the better you can serve them,” he says.
As more and more businesses seeking smart choices are finding out, AHBL’s over half century of multi-practice service makes it uniquely positioned to navigate the complex business landscape of the new millennium.