#04 Business Legals
I get asked a lot of questions about Business Legals. What are they? Do I need them? Do I need a lawyer to help me? I answer these questions and more in this episode as I talk about Business Legals and why they are the cornerstone of any small business.
In this podcast, I discuss the most common Business Legals, what your suite of Business Legals will do for your business and why I don’t recommend business owners to use templates or attempt to create them on their own. As I always say, DIY is for Bunnings, not for your legals.
I run through the four-step process I work through when tailoring Business Legals for my clients and why they are so important for your business. I also share a real life example of one of my clients who entered into an unnecessary dispute, losing time, money and her client, leaving neither party happy with the outcome. It all could have been avoided if her Business Legals were in place.
Prevention is far better than cure and the risk of not having Business Legals is considerable. However, with a beautiful set of highly tailored legals to suit your business, you can move forward with confidence knowing that your business is covering all the necessary bases.
Topics discussed and where to find them
[1:45]: Business Legals are the cornerstone of any small business. A suite of legal documents that govern how a business interacts and serves its clients.
[2:15]: The most common Business Legals: Business Terms & Conditions, Website Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and they each do different things
[3:08]: How every business needs a suite of Business Legals to do the following:
Govern the client relationship
Ensure your business is legally compliant to the Australian Consumer Law
Demonstrate professionalism to our customers
[4:25]: You can’t create your own business legals if you want to achieve the above targets
[5:12]: Using templates for Business Legals is not something I endorse
[6:40]: The 4 step process I work through when tailoring Business Legals for my clients:
Talk. I find out all about the business and how it works.
Draft a set of legals which is emailed
Talk again. I go through the drafts to explain what they are and answer any questions
Finalise the documents in order to present you with a complete set of highly tailored legals
[8:10]: Your business should be sophisticated and be tailored to suit exactly what your business does
[9:10]: Good Business Legals will help you avoid unnecessary, time consuming and expensive disputes and legal proceedings with clients when something goes wrong
[9:23]: Tracey shares a client example where there were no Business Legals in place and misaligned expectations lead to a dispute about a significant payment. Neither party walked away happy which could have been avoided.
[11:30]: Her dispute cost her time, money and a client but she now knows the importance of having Business Legals in place.
[12:13]: The risk is considerable and not worth it. Prevention is better than cure.