Is Your Business Legally Protected?

Today, in 4 minutes or less, you’ll learn:  

1. Every online business needs three essential legal policies from day one: Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, and Website Terms of Use to protect your business and properly handle customer data. 
2. Legal services specialising in online business make setup easy with virtual support and ongoing consultation. 
3. Keep policies updated as your business grows - start with the basics and maintain legal support. 

Remember when you first dreamed of starting your business? All those exciting plans about helping others, creating amazing offerings, and building something meaningful? I bet "legal policies" weren't on your vision board!    

But while we get busy in our early days pouring our hearts into creating valuable content and products, we must recognise that our businesses might be vulnerable without proper legal protection.   

Getting your legal policies in place is a must for protecting yourself and your customers. Today, I want to help you avoid that stress and protect your business from day one! Here's what every business mum needs to know.   

Legal policies are not just a formality but essential safeguards for your business. These documents:   

• Set out the rules for interacting with your website and resources.   
• Clarify how you'll handle any data collected from customers.   
• Protect you from potential liability, especially when offering products or services.   

Once you're gathering customer information, you're legally required to disclose how you're using and storing that data. If you're using third-party services like Kajabi, these policies help keep everything transparent.  

When you're new in business, I recommend having the following three policies in place from the start:   

• Privacy Policy: this policy details how you collect, store, and protect customer information. It's essential for transparency and compliance, especially if you're targeting customers in regions with strict data protection laws.   
• Cookie Policy: this policy is necessary if you're using cookies for tracking, analytics, or advertising. It explains what data you're collecting and allows users to understand and opt in/out.   
• Website Terms of Use: this document outlines the rules for using your website and purchasing your products. It's your first layer of protection to ensure customers understand their rights and your limitations.   

From there, you can also add any specific legal policies you need for your business. A great Australian government website is worth reading through to see what you may need to add. For example, I also created a coaching policy that clients sign before working one-on-one or in group coaching with me.   

The best part? Getting these sorted is easier than you might think! I worked with an online legal firm, Sprintlaw, to draft my policies, and the process was surprisingly smooth - all done via email and Zoom calls (perfect for busy mums). The privacy policy, website terms and cookie policy cost approximately $900, and the coaching agreement cost approximately $1600. They also offered a 12-month consultation package, which has been invaluable for all those "quick questions" that pop up. I preferred having these policies done for me and knowing that they were entirely customised for the needs of my business. 

I have also heard the following companies recommended by Tina Tower, an expert in the online business space for women (particularly for the legal templates they offer):  

• Foundd Legal  
• Ready to Boss Legal  

Are you ready to protect your business? Here's what to do next:   

1. Start with the three essential policies. Check out these resources from Sprintlaw for a deeper dive: Do I Need Terms of Use? and Cookie Pop-ups: Do I Need One?   
2. Choose a legal service that understands your business.   
3. Plan to review and update your policies as your business grows and evolves.  

Legal policies might not be the most exciting part of setting up a business, but they're invaluable for running your business with confidence and peace of mind. You can operate knowing your work and ideas are protected, and you have built a solid foundation of trust with clients.  

I would love to know if you have sorted your legal policies yet. If not, what's holding you back? Be sure to send me a message if you need any suggestions.