Just Google It = Worst.Advice.Ever.
Google is one of those quintessential double-edged swords in our rapidly-evolving digital age. On the one hand, we have a world of information at our fingertips! On the other hand… we have a world of information at our fingertips…
Just the other day, I got curious and googled “what contracts do I need for my online business”? Even knowing ALL the things about this topic, I felt overwhelmed by the results!
First of all, the ads. So many ads!!
- Ads for CRMs like Honeybook that offer contract templates…
- Ads for Big Box Legal (side note: try searching “Legal Zoom horror stories”…that’s a terrifying rabbit hole!)
- Ads for online document signing tools…
Then came the blogs.
- Essential Contracts Your Small Business Needs
- Contracts You Need For Your Online Coaching Business
- 6 Essential Contracts For Your Startup…
How do you know which to choose??
Am I a small business? An online coaching business? A startup? Do I need the contracts for a small and growing business? Or will the brand new business contracts do the trick?
At this point, I was too overwhelmed to click on the Videos tab. I can only imagine the endless amount of content on Youtube.
I sat at my desk, imagining myself in my potential client’s shoes. In your shoes.
How could you possibly know where to begin? Even if you narrow it down to the type of contract you need for your particular kind of business, which of these 1,842,975 websites is legit? Which is going to get you legally-sound, easy-to-use contracts that actually protect you in all the ways you need?
This is why I am such an advocate of NOT DIY’ing your legal.
There’s a lot of stuff you can google and get away with early on in business – play around in Canva yourself until you can afford a graphic designer. One lopsided IG square isn’t going to make or break your business! Write your own content and follow some templates until you can outsource your copy to a professional. Whip out your calculator and crunch your own numbers until it makes sense to find a bookkeeper.
But your LEGAL STUFF?? All those behind-the-scenes agreements that keep you safe from unreasonable clients, wild refund requests, dishonest brand swipers, and other bad actors?
You can’t responsibly DIY that stuff.
So what should you do?
My advice is this: find a lawyer you trust – someone who has worked with lots and lots of businesses like yours. You’re one of my subscribers, so it’s safe to assume I’ve earned at least some of your trust. Contracts for online businesses, service providers, coaches, podcasters, course creators… 100%, totally my JAM, and I’m passionate about serving entrepreneurs like you.
Of course, there are other lawyers who have contract templates for businesses like yours, and you are obviously free to use their products! I know several who create some really high-quality work.
Once you settle on a lawyer you trust (hi, is it me you’re looking for?), it’s just a matter of doing the dang thing, right? Presumably, this lawyer you trust has put out plenty of educational content to help you make an informed decision. Read up! Consume their free content. If necessary and available, reach out personally with a question. Any legit lawyer will be happy to answer your questions (within limits, of course) so you can make the best choice for your needs.
And then click that BUY button. The only truly wrong decision you can make here is to make no decision at all, continuing to float in legal limbo for the foreseeable future.
Get the contracts you need now, so you can start growing, sharing and scaling from a place of freedom and peace of mind, knowing you have solid protections in place to keep you out of legal hot water.
Here are some of my resources you can dive into to get familiar with how my legal templates can work for you:
Read this article if you're not sure where to get started.
Browse contracts for business owners who don’t have the basics yet.
Browse contracts to business owners who are ready to scale.
Still have questions? Reach out to layne@laynelyons.com, and we will be happy to help!
Now, step away from Google, and start taking some action to button up your legal 🙂
