By Rodney R. Moy –

Most small business owners I speak with are fueled by their entrepreneurial spirit.  I can see their excitement when discussing a new idea or enterprise, and how they genuinely want to get that idea into the marketplace to improve the lives of their customers.  Being born into a family of entrepreneurs provided me with a unique perspective on what it means to follow this passion in the business world while managing the risks inherent in any start-up enterprise.

For my family, the business is construction, roofing specifically.  As early as I can remember, my dad was always building something: a new deck, a shed, a patio cover, remodeling houses, and on and on.  But really, my dad was all about roofing.  He launched his own business – Cal Roofing Systems, Inc. – when I was about 14 years old.  I grew up seeing the pride in his eyes when he showed me the new shopping center, industrial building, or custom house he had just roofed, and knew that he had found his purpose.  During my high school summers, I worked on the company's roofing projects with my dad and uncles.  It was tough work, but rewarding.  And later in life, my education allowed me to take on an ever-changing role at the company, opening my dad's eyes to the legal implications of different transactions and helping the company navigate the choppy waters of risk.

By the time I finished my legal studies, I knew I had been called to focus my practice on helping small businesses grow while managing risk.  The roofing company had seen ups and downs, but after nearly 20 years in business, my dad was facing legal complexities and regulatory compliance issues he had never fathomed.  In an effort to sort through these new legal realities with him, I launched a quest to find practical solutions to these problems that could be applied to all small business owners.  By assisting entrepreneurs like my dad in (1) setting up the right type of legal entities, (2) keeping licensed and in good standing, (3) creating an arsenal of effective but customer-friendly contract documents, (4) building compliance programs for ever-increasing governmental regulation, and (5) resolving disputes early and efficiently, his business continues to flourish while local competitors were unable to weather the storm of a downturn in the economy.

As we continue building HMS Law Group LLP to counsel entrepreneurs and visionaries like my dad, I look forward to sharing our expertise and insights on the steps necessary in building a solid foundation for a small business, protecting its assets as it grows, and identifying creative solutions to problems through the practice of law.