Are you considering starting your own business? Are you unsure where to begin?

First, you should have a business plan detailing things such as your business’s products or services, goals, mission, and an assessment of the market you aim to serve. This plan does not need to be extensive but will require some thoughts and effort on your part. This step can be challenging, but there are resources that can help you perfect your plan. You can contact the WVSBDC (WV Small Business Development Center) 1-888-982-7232 or www.wvsbdc.com, your city’s chamber of commerce, or the SBA (Small Business Administration) 304-623-5631 (Clarksburg), 304-347-5220 (Charleston), or www.sba.gov for help. These resources are often free and can help guide you in the right direction. A business plan is the first step in starting your own business.

Now that business plan is ready, Legal Aid of West Virginia may be able to help!

The Community Economic Development Program (CEDLAW) is a new state-wide effort focusing on helping low income people who want to start or expand a business by providing free legal assistance. The Program is also available to nonprofit and community organizations working on community development which are unable to hire a private attorney because of budget constraints. Through the CEDLAW program Legal Aid may be able to assist you with things such as business and nonprofit formation, establishing employment policies and procedures, reviewing commercial leases, third party contracts, and loan agreements, drafting legal documents, providing support to transactional activities of the organization, advising on legality of the organization’s conducts, helping with trademark and copyright protection, assisting clients with legal barriers to employment, etc.

If you would like to apply for our services, please call our ATLAS intake line at 1-866-255-4370 or apply online.

Disclaimer: This is general legal information. Different cases have different circumstances and complications. The information on our website is to help you understand the issues that may come up in starting a business and is not intended to address every possible situation. For more guidance about your particular situation, please apply for services or talk to a private attorney.