Starting a business online is overwhelming – creating a website, learning about sales funnels and automation, learning about building an email list, generating traffic, and creating online products, ETC. Sometimes it feels like as soon as you’ve got one thing under control, there’s an entirely different new thing that needs to be figured out…amiright?? Needless to say, I understand why learning about and putting legal protection in place sometimes falls to the bottom of the to-do list. It’s not directly tied to generating new clients or income, so it falls behind other activities that CAN create more instant gratification = clients, filling programs, and building an email list.

BUT…the bigger and more successful your business gets, the more you are exposing yourself to liability or dissatisfied customers, which means it becomes more and more important to get yourself and your business legally protected. It’s sort of like insurance…it’s something we all get for our cars, homes, lives, health, etc. but many times we never actually use it. Until the one time you accidentally rear-end someone, or your house floods. THEN, you are SO glad you have great insurance to take care of things for you and protect you. Getting the legal side of your business squared away, may in the beginning look like you’re just adding documents to the bottom of your website, and having clients sign an Agreement that you never reference again, so the value of these documents may not be apparent right away. HOWEVER, the one time when a dissatisfied client tries to bring an action against you, or someone tries to get away with not paying you, you will be SO glad you have this stuff in place, because you will have documents to back you up and keep your business protected.

In short, here is what you need:

If you have a website that people can visit where you feature content and take email addresses to build your list, you need a Privacy Policy, Terms & Conditions, and Disclaimer, ASAP.

If you are working with clients in a one-to-one capacity, you Need a Client Agreement signed by each new client, BEFORE you start working with them.

If you have a group program offered online, or sell any other products from your website, you need Terms of Use in place, to be agreed to by the customer (usually via a checked box at checkout) BEFORE they purchase the product or program.

If you feature testimonials from former or current clients on your website, sales pages, or anywhere within your business, you need that person to sign a Testimonial Release, giving you the rights to use their words and their photo.

To get all of these documents, along with a step-by-step instruction guide, TA-DA! It’s available HERE.

Don’t forget to join my Facebook Group, The Legal Entrepreneur, for more tips and information!

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