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November/December 2024
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2 ESSENTIAL TASKS FOR BUSINESS OWNERS Do This Before 2025 for a Smoother Year!
It’s hard to believe we are approaching 2025. Our team at the Sul Lee Law Firm is honored to have spent the past year working with business owners and leaders to protect, build, and grow their companies. Whether this year has been one of your best or one filled with trials and growing pains, our team has been proud to serve your business.
Key areas to focus on include anti- discrimination policies and law
compliance, remote work policies and guidelines, leave and sick policies, and employment contract regulations and alignment. Examine these areas for compliance with current federal and state laws, and make sure that your wording clearly states what employees are granted, must do, or are unable to do. For example, recently in this very newsletter, we focused on non-compete clauses in employment contracts. These are designed to protect your company’s projects, knowledge, and products, and workers are also given certain federal and state rights to the knowledge they take with them upon their departure. It’s vital that your non-compete policy follows the law while also protecting your business and your current employees. The time to discover this is not when an employee leaves your company. By then, the matter becomes more complex, and your business could suffer for it. Examine your employee handbook before 2024 ends to protect your business. And contact our team with any legal questions this reflection may bring up. Review Your Tax Documents We hate to remind you, but tax season is quickly approaching! While Tax Day isn’t
until April 15, employers face a tighter deadline. You must file your employees’ W-2s, 10-99s, and other tax forms by Jan. 31. This provides your employees with ample time to do their own taxes, and it’s a federal law. Thirty-one days may seem like a long time, but it’s quick, especially since the beginning of January is right after the holidays. Preparing your tax documents now (as far as you can) ensures this process is easier in January and allows you and your team to close the books on 2024 as quickly and smoothly as possible. Additionally, doing so can help you start preparing your own taxes, making tax season less stressful on everyone. Our team at Sul Lee is eager to continue helping our clients with their business law needs in 2025. But we’re not done with 2024 just yet! If reviewing your employee handbook and tax documents creates legal concerns for your business, contact our team today.
As we approach the new year, there are two essential tasks all business
leaders must accomplish. This applies to businesses of all sizes and industries, and it can be a difference-maker in determining whether you start off 2025 in coordination with your goals or in chaos mode. Review Your Employee Handbook We’re willing to bet you learned a few things this year. Maybe you realized that your company is thriving under work-from- home policies, or perhaps you discovered that an employee’s recent medical scare has left your company vulnerable. Regardless, the end of the year is made for reflection and adjustment. A simple yet effective place to start is by examining your employee handbook before 2024 ends to provide air-tight expectations and policies to your employees in 2025. This can better protect your company from possible liabilities while ensuring your employees have a clear understanding of rules, procedures, and policies.
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In the digital age, content is king. Having great marketing content across social media and popular websites is a surefire way to attract attention to your brand. However, if you do not have copyright over your content, then you are not in control of how it is used and where it can be published, among other things. The U.S. Copyright Office defines copyright as a type of intellectual property that protects original works, including artwork, music, writing, video, and more. In other words, it is an essential protection for all of your marketing media. Here is why copyright is important, and how you can ensure you are securing it from your marketing partners. WHY IT’S MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER COPYRIGHT IN THE DIGITAL AGE
Running a successful business can seem impossible if you feel your employees aren’t listening and giving you their full attention. Have you ever talked with a team member, giving them vital instructions for a task, only for them to respond with a slow head nod and a glazed-over expression? They likely didn’t ask follow-up questions or assert that they understood your directions. They simply heard what you said and will take it from there, creating a frustrating disconnect. Many business owners and managers don’t know how to tackle this dilemma effectively. They’ll often respond negatively to their team, increasing their frustration and causing their team to feel disrespected, which worsens the situation for everyone. You can’t yell, belittle, or fire your team members when this happens; you’ll only make the problem worse and create a hostile work environment. Instead, you have to get your team to buy into the business, their daily duties, and everything else to ensure you can run a successful business for many years. So, what’s the secret to getting your team to listen to you intently? Here are three strategies you should implement to see if they improve your team’s response. Get your team to buy into your business and core values. Let’s remove the elephant from the room right away. Most people who apply to work for you and accept an offer of employment are not committed to the business and its ideals from the get-go. They initially start working for your company for a paycheck and experience in the industry. It’s during their first few days, weeks, and months that you can get them to buy into the business and believe in your values, but they won’t do this without effort on your part. You need to figure out why your employees should believe in what you do. From Glazed Eyes to Focused Minds How to Get Your Team to Embrace Your Vision
Why Copyright Is Important Having copyright over your work is crucial for your marketing materials — whether they are digital or in print — and give
you full control over how those materials are used,
distributed, and replicated. For one, having copyright allows you to control who can publish your marketing materials (including blogs, graphics, videos,
etc.), display them, reproduce derivative works based on them, or sell or transfer the rights to them to another entity. Without copyright, your
materials are at the behest of someone else, whether it be a marketing agency, freelancer, or other company entirely.
Securing Copyright Many businesses work with marketing agencies and freelancers to help them meet their content needs. It is important that any contracts you have in place with your marketing partners clearly delineate that the content they create on your behalf belongs to you and that you have copyright over them. It is also important to file for trademark protection for your significant assets and marketing materials to prevent others from capitalizing on your work. Applying watermarks or signatures on your videos and images can help prevent others from absconding with your work, but full copyright protection is still vital. If you are interested in securing copyright for your work or want help drafting a cease-and-desist letter to deter others from infringing on your copyright, we can help. Call our office at 469-715-4558 to set up a consultation.
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The Entrepreneurs Changing Dallas NORTH TEXAS DEVELOPERS RECEIVE TOP HONORS
From 2022–2023, the population of the Dallas-Fort Worth area grew by over 150,000 — the fastest rate of any metropolitan area in the country. As of 2023, the population of Dallas-Fort Worth is over 8.1 million, which is an increase of around 1.35 million since 2013. This explosive growth is not an accident. The significant business interests, and key North Texas developers, have helped turn Dallas into one of our country’s greatest financial and business hubs. Two of those developers, David Craig, founder and CEO of Craig International, and Mike Rader, president of Prime
45 Development and Prime Rail Interest, have been especially influential in their efforts to transform Dallas into the thriving metropolis it is today. In light of their contributions, the North Texas Commercial Association of Realtors is inducting them into their Hall of Fame next April. David Craig Originally hailing from sunny Las Vegas, Nevada, Craig has been one of the most influential developers in all of North Texas. His company, Craig International, is currently working on the massive Preston Harbor project. The development spans over 3,000 acres in Denison, Texas, stretching across nearly 10 miles of lakefront and tributary shoreline. Preston Harbor will include shops, restaurants, and homes and will feature the Margaritaville Resort Hotel amidst the lake. Efforts like his have been key to revitalizing North Texas, and taking us into a more prosperous and bright future. Mike Rader Ever since leaving his sales job behind 25 years ago, Rader has been one of the most prominent and impactful developers in the Dallas- Fort Worth area. His companies have acquired vast tracts of land in the South Dallas area and pioneered massive developments that span thousands of acres. Both of these entrepreneurs are well-deserving of their awards and deserve recognition for their part in making Dallas-Fort Worth one of the most prosperous metropolitan areas in the country.
WORD SEARCH
FENNEL GRATIN
INGREDIENTS
• • • • •
2 cups heavy cream
• •
1 tsp black pepper
2 shallots, roughly chopped 4 garlic cloves, smashed 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
3 large fennel bulbs, cored and cut into 1-inch-thick wedges 2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
•
1 1/2 tsp salt
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 F with one rack in the center and one about 4 inches from the heat. 2. In a small saucepan, bring cream, shallots, garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper to a simmer over medium heat, stirring often. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring often, for another 15–20 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes. 3. Arrange fennel wedges, slightly overlapping, in a large cast-iron skillet or broiler-safe 2-quart baking dish. Pour cream mixture over fennel. Roast on center rack until fennel is tender, about 40–50 minutes. 4. Remove skillet and increase oven temperature to broil. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese evenly over fennel. Broil on upper rack until top is browned, 1–4 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.
Apple Basketball Black Friday Fireplace
Gratitude Leaves Nap Parade
Pie Stuffing Turkey Veteran
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3030 Lyndon B Johnson Fwy, Ste. 220 Dallas, TX 75234
INSIDE THIS ISSUE Business Owners: 2 Must-Do’s Ahead of 2025! page 1 The Importance of Copyright page 2 The Secret to Employee Engagement page 2 Developers Honored for Dallas Contributions page 3 Fennel Gratin page 3
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Start by asking yourself a few valuable questions. Why does your business exist? Why do you need a team? Why are you asking your team to perform a specific task? These shouldn’t be difficult questions for you to answer, but your employees won’t likely consider them during their daily shifts. You must explore the answers to these questions and then share them with your team. By doing so, you’re giving them a purpose behind any request. When you have the right players, sharing this information helps them get on board and emotionally connect to the business. When everyone is working toward the same goal, it creates a more friendly and productive work environment. Trust goes both ways. Many business owners live with the idea that it’s my way or the highway. This does not create a great work environment. If you want your team to trust in you and what you say, you need to reciprocate it. This is a slow process and will take time to build. Don’t micromanage your team unless you have to. You hired them to do a job and take on specific responsibilities, so let them. If you find this challenging, start small. Delegate smaller tasks to your team until they’ve fully earned your trust. Then, you can pass off more significant responsibilities. This will help you build influence with your team while giving you more time to focus on tasks vital to your business’s success.
Be clear with your expectations. Don’t be vague. You must be clear with your team and share your expectations to achieve the desired results. Sometimes, your employees won’t know exactly what they must do to accomplish your goals. Walk them through specific tasks when necessary and explain what the result should be. Once your team understands what they need to do and why it’s crucial to the business’s overall success, they’ll be less likely to make mistakes. When your team believes in your business and everything you’re trying to accomplish, you’ll notice immediate boosts within every aspect of your business.
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