If I were starting from scratch in 2026, here’s what I’d do first
The answer that made three people recoil at brunch (and why they were right to)
In this edition of The Loophole:
The brunch question that nearly cleared the room
The client who almost lost a multi-six-figure investment because there was nothing to invest in
The four legal moves, in order, before you do anything else
I was at brunch recently with a group of entrepreneurs at various stages of their businesses, and someone asked us to go around and share the one piece of advice we’d give someone starting from scratch today.
I gave the answer I give every client.
“Build your legal foundation first.”
Three people physically recoiled. Not politely. Actually recoiled, like I’d suggested they spend their Monday reorganizing their filing cabinet. (Which, for the record, I would also recommend. Different newsletter.)
I get it. Legal foundation doesn’t go viral. Nobody wants to posts a Reel about incorporation. But I have been on both sides of this — the business owner who got the foundation right early, and the lawyer who gets called after someone skipped it — and I can tell you the second call involves a lot more sighing. Theirs, not mine.
So here’s what I would have said if nobody had recoiled.
Think about your exit before you think about your launch
I know. You want to talk about starting, and I’m talking about ending. But the exit question — do you want to wind this down when you’re done, or build something you can sell — shapes every structural decision you make from day one. Answer it early, even loosely, and the rest gets easier.
Form the right entity, not the fastest one
Most founders incorporate for the tax deduction and miss the liability conversation entirely. That’s how people end up personally responsible for things they were certain their corporation was handling. (Your cousin who says he figured it out by replying to a CRA email did not, in fact, figure it out.) The right structure protects you personally, positions you for growth, and can hold intellectual property or attract investors when the time comes.
Get contracts in place before your first client
Early clients feel like relationships, like favours, and they are. They’re also the people most likely to surface every assumption you made about scope, payment, and who owns the work when it’s done. A contract is how you have the hard conversation in writing before anyone has a reason to be upset. I have watched the alternative play out more times than I can count, and it almost always starts with someone saying “but we had an understanding.”
Trademark before you build visibility
This is the step I watch founders skip most consistently, and it is the most expensive skip on this list. Registering your corporation does not give you trademark rights. Buying your domain does not either. (I will keep saying this until it sticks or until I run out of newsletters.) You can file part of your trademark application before you launch, which means you can lock in the name before you’ve built anything around it. Rebranding after you have real momentum is one of the most exhausting things I’ve watched a founder go through, and it involves more tears, new business cards, and explaining the Instagram handle than anyone budgets for.
A client of mine had an investor approach her about putting serious money — multi-six-figures — into her business. She was doing well. The interest was real. And she had no legal structure. There was nothing to invest in. We did some fancy footwork and got there, but she told me afterward it was the most stressful month of her professional life, and it didn’t have to be.
The foundation isn’t the exciting part. But it’s the part that makes everything else possible.
One quick question before you close this: if someone came to you tomorrow with real money and real interest in your business, would there be something to invest in?
Reply and tell me honestly. I’ll tell you whether you have more runway than you think, or whether it’s actually urgent.
Try this prompt with your AI chatbot of choice:
You are a knowledgeable Canadian business advisor. I want to audit my legal foundation. Ask me five questions about my business, one at a time, covering my business structure, whether I have client contracts in place, my trademark status, my current revenue stage, and the one legal task I’ve been avoiding. Then tell me which gap is most urgent and what kind of professional I need first.
As always, your chatbot will get you to the door. A lawyer will get you through it.
Build smart, Sonya
P.S. One of the people who recoiled at brunch has since booked a discovery call. Foundation anxiety is real, and it is curable. Brunch anxiety is also real. I’m worried about whether I’ll get invited back.
This is such a powerful reality check, it’s a reminder that while branding builds the house, a solid legal structure is the only thing that actually allows you to own the land it’s built on.