Startup founders typically feel pressure from all directions, no matter how well-funded or well-oiled their team and processes may be. Working together to achieve goals and meet deadlines can be harder than it seems at first, especially when you’re also juggling funding rounds that lead to late nights and big piles of work. 

In the rush, it can be easy to let regulatory issues slide to the bottom of a list of priorities. After all, regulatory fines and penalties seem reserved for companies with a lazy approach to data and poor financial protections, or for those with an intentional plan to defraud investors and clients — and that definitely doesn’t apply to you. But before you push this priority to the back burner, we suggest you take pause. A few simple moves can keep you on track without draining your time or resources.

Find out who your regulators actually are

An hour or two with a search engine can help you understand exactly which state, local, and federal regulators will oversee your growing business. If you’re preparing food, providing financial services, or taking responsibility for managing client data, your regulators will fall into different categories and may include just one agency or several. For example, companies handling large amounts of customer data from around the world may be subject to various regional data protection laws including GDPR for the EU and CCPA for California.

Some proactive companies reach out directly to these agencies to clarify requirements and ask questions. (Your regulatory consultants or legal team can do this for you.)

Trust but verify

Part of the regulatory process will require you to work with partners and vendors that are also compliant — at least when it comes to how they handle your data. Keep re-evaluating and re-examining these companies at least once each year. Your business depends on their compliance, not just your own, so make sure you know them as well as you think you do.

Document your compliance plan in writing

It’s not enough to just have a compliance plan in mind, or to have occasional discussions about it with your team. No matter where you are in the process (even if your plan is far from complete), make sure you can show documentation that proves you’re taking the process seriously. Of course, your controls will change and improve with time, but at a moment’s notice you should be able to show which regulations your business adheres to and which agency or agencies set those standards. Your internal policies and protocols should also be written down, so you can demonstrate your process if questioned.

Build your system to scale

Expect your business to grow. No matter how ambitious your long term plans may be, your company will very likely change in size and scope, and your compliance plan should be resilient in the face of these changes. Consider what happens when your team grows (even if you only employ one or two people) and expect to eventually conduct foreign transactions, even if you haven’t done so just yet. You can also expect your data management requirements to eventually expand as well. All of this will require different regulatory considerations, so make sure to keep checking your requirements as big changes happen in your business.

Get support

If you tackle this challenge on your own, you may save a few dollars. But more likely, you’ll face auditor requests, operations gaps, missing or incomplete documentation, disordered accounts, and a host of other expensive and damaging issues that could have been avoided by enlisting the help of skilled, professional consultants. Contact our team and we’ll walk you through your regulatory needs step by step, keeping your expensive hours to a minimum and preventing the missteps that can turn small headaches into big ones.

We’re here for you at every turn. Arrange an initial consultation today.

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