Andy Hadfield

Welcome to Chapter 7 of Open Source Startup: Disciplinary Policy Template. For a table of contents, head over to the Introduction here. 

Ah. South African Labour Law. We all know very well why it's as employee-friendly as it is. Because capitalism can be nasty and there are plenty of people that need to be protected. But it does make it quite hard to build a business in this beautiful country of ours.

As a nation, we choose not to sacrifice protection of lower-income workers, therefore we need to figure this out and find a way to play the cards we've been dealt.

The first step is to have an Employment Contract. The second is to have a Disciplinary Policy (which is specifically referenced in said employment contract) - and to make sure every employee of yours has received it and read it.


A Disciplinary Policy is a safe guard against an enormous amount of time spent in the CCMA trying to get rid of a bad egg. And trust me, everyone is going to end up hiring a few bad eggs. Usual…

Welcome to Chapter 6 of Open Source Startup: Shareholders Agreement & Memorandum of Incorporation Templates. For a table of contents, head over to the Introduction here. 

This is Chapter 6 for a reason. These documents should be one of the first things you get straightened out in your startup - but often aren't. Sometimes, you need to get a feel for the environment first. Sometimes, you just procrastinate.

Be warned and be warned well: you make contracts in case of divorce, not in case of happy marriage. You need contracts when people fight, not when people get along. The longer you leave these documents, the harder they get.

And they get hard. They get complicated. But this is just a nut you're going to have to crack.


Let's start with a few definitions and some scare tactics...

What is a Shareholders Agreement? It's used to govern the relationship between the various parties in their capacity as shareholders (and often in their positions as directors) of your compa…