Most small business legal problems are not disputes; they are paperwork that was never done. This article explains the small number of documents and filings that actually protect an owner, why the liability shield fails when it fails, and which compliance obligations carry personal exposure that survives the business. It covers entity choice without pretending there is one right answer, the operating agreement nobody writes, worker classification, payroll tax liability that follows the individual, and the contracts that prevent the disputes. It follows two fictional businesses with the same revenue and very different outcomes. The practical thesis is that a weekend of paperwork at the start prevents nearly every catastrophic outcome described here.