Protect Your Business (Before It’s Too Late)
Starting or buying a business is exciting. You’re focused on growth, customers, cashflow… all the good stuff.
What most people don’t think about early enough? Protecting what they’re building.
On this episode of About the Green, I played nine holes with Alice Nunn, a private client and commercial lawyer, to unpack asset protection, business structures, trusts, prenups, and personal guarantees the stuff that usually only gets attention after something goes wrong.
And trust me, by then it’s expensive.
Why Structure Matters More Than You Think
Alice sees it all the time:
First-time business owners buy a business, start making money, and jump straight in… with no legal structure in place.
The issue?
If your business isn’t set up properly from day one, commercial risk can spill into your personal life your house, savings, KiwiSaver, even family assets.
The smartest move?
Have the conversation with a lawyer before you buy or start a business not after.
At a minimum, most owners should be operating through a limited liability company, rather than as a sole trader. It’s simple to set up and provides a legal barrier between business risk and personal assets.
Trusts: Still Useful, Just Not for Everyone
Trusts used to be everywhere mainly for tax reasons. That’s changed.
Alice was clear:
Trusts no longer provide tax advantages, and they’re taxed at 39%. But they do still have a place.
They make sense when:
You’ve got third-party risk (being sued, health & safety exposure)
You’re in a blended family
You want to protect assets from future claims
They don’t make sense if:
You’re low-risk
You’re never going to be sued
You don’t actually need the complexity
The key takeaway?
Don’t set up a trust “just because” set one up for a reason.
The One Thing Trusts Won’t Protect You From
Here’s a big one people misunderstand:
👉 Trusts do NOT protect you in a separation.
For that, you need a contracting-out agreement (aka a prenup).
If someone gets offended by the idea, Alice’s view was blunt:
That’s probably a bigger conversation you need to have anyway.
If you’ve got:
A business
Shares
KiwiSaver
Family loans or gifts
you should be protecting what you brought into the relationship.
Spending a few thousand dollars upfront can save hundreds of thousands (or more) later.
Shareholders, Partners, and Silent Risks
If you’ve got more than one shareholder, a shareholders’ agreement is non-negotiable.
And inside that agreement?
There should be a requirement for every shareholder to have a prenup.
Why?
Because separations don’t just affect people they affect businesses. And the last thing you want is a partner’s breakup dragging your company into a legal mess.
Personal Guarantees: A Necessary Evil
Personal guarantees come up a lot in business finance and Alice didn’t sugarcoat it.
They’re:
Often required to get funding
Legally enforceable
Easy to forget about
Hard to get removed
The biggest risk she sees?
People guaranteeing someone else’s business especially in family situations and never getting the guarantee discharged.
Key rule:
If you sign a guarantee, diarise when and how it gets removed. It doesn’t disappear on its own.
Asset Protection Isn’t About Hiding — It’s About Planning
Asset protection isn’t dodgy. It’s not about hiding money.
It’s about:
Putting assets in the right structure
Understanding when guarantees connect assets back to risk
Planning for things you didn’t see coming
Health & safety breaches.
Unexpected lawsuits.
Claims against estates.
These are the situations where good structure matters most.
Wills, Estates, and “Don’t Do It Online”
Yes, you can technically write a will on almost anything.
No, you shouldn’t.
Online wills often:
Aren’t witnessed correctly
Miss key provisions
End up needing court approval anyway
Which means… more cost, more stress, more legal fees.
If you’re going to do it, do it properly.
The Cost of Getting It Right (and Wrong)
Good protection isn’t cheap but neither is fixing mistakes.
Rough guide:
Trust setup + asset transfers + wills: $5k+
Prenup: $2–3k+
Business docs (shareholders, terms, IP): hourly, but worth it
Alice shared a client who spent serious money early on…
…and later said they’d used every single document they put in place.
That’s the goal.
The Big Mistakes Alice Sees
Starting businesses with no structure
No prenups
No shareholders’ agreements
Forgetting about personal guarantees
Leaving everything “until later”
Later is always more expensive.
Takeaways From the Round
If you’re building a business and want to protect what you’re working for:
Set up the right structure early
Separate business risk from personal assets
Use trusts only when they make sense
Get a prenup if you have assets
Be careful with personal guarantees
Review documents as your business grows
Get a good adviser and actually listen
Or as Alice put it best:
“Just do something.”