Legal to English

Protect Your Business for Growth

Episode 52: Creative Legal for Your Customer Agreements

If you are in a business that offers any type of service where an individual could be harmed or hurt, I am sure you are familiar with waivers. In fact, I am sure you have to deal with waivers all the time. You are always looking for a good way to handle your waivers. A good way to store your waivers. And a good way to make them work for you when you need them. There are apps and all kinds of options available for your waivers.

But, that isn’t the big picture. The waiver is only a small part of the relationship between your business and a customers. The waiver only helps you if something happens to them when they are using your facilities or services. The waiver makes sure they understand the inherent risks and dangers and that they are not doing anything or on anything that could create an issue. It is about informed consent. It protects you if they are harmed because of something they did. This is a moving part.

BUT, so often that is where businesses stop in the contractual relationship with the customer.

I see a lot of businesses do what their industry does when it comes to legal. And that can be good. At least, it can be a good start. In some instances, the industry standard legal things that you see aren’t all that is there, it is just what everyone notices.

In this episode, we will discuss how to go deeper and think about creative legal. We will discuss how to plan to go a little further in your legal than the obvious and how, with some creativity, you can make sure your business is protected without overburdening your sales system.

In this 16 minute episode, we discuss:

  • How to think deeper about the legal needs of your business
  • How industry standards are an opportunity to take control of your legal
  • How creative legal can help you protect your business
  • What types of issues you may need to consider in your business
  • Why it is important to go deeper in your business planning to protect your business for growth

Referenced and Useful Content:

Highlighted Topics:

Listen to Legal to English with Josh Andrews below:

Episode 51: 4 Legal Essentials Your Small Business Needs

Let’s be honest, if you want to know about the legal issues in your business, it can feel like drinking from a firehose.

And, there is a reason for that.

Everything that happens in your business is impacted by legal. It can be complicated. But, so is running a business. And, all of your legal issues don’t happen all at once. You can build a legal foundation, just like you build everything else in your business. You can’t ignore it, but you can take it slowly. Build a foundation that is sustainable and continue to improve your legal protections over time.

In this episode, we will talk about four legal essentials to help you get your business started.

In this 30 minute episode, we discuss:

  • You Need a Legal Entity
  • Why You Should Separate Your Business and Personal Money
  • Documenting Your Business Relationships
  • How to Know What Relationships You Have in Your Business
  • Why You Need to know where to get your legal Answers

Referenced and Useful Content:

Highlighted Topics:

Listen to Legal to English with Josh Andrews below:

Episode 50: Not Controlling Your Legal Means Someone Else Is

Everything that happens in your business is impacted by legal. It can be complicated. But, it doesn’t have to happen all at once.

If you want to protect your business, you must take control of your legal. Otherwise, someone else will be in control. If you take the time to understand and implement legal strategies and protections, you will be one step further to building a business that is sustainable and won’t crumble at the first sign of trouble. You will have a business built on a firm foundation.

In this episode, we discuss what happens when you don’t take control of your legal. Legal matters in your business. You can either control it’s impact or see what happens. Entrepreneurs may be risk takers, but they are not gamblers. Understanding how legal impacts your business relationships is essential to developing a business with a firm foundation.

In this 17 minute episode, we discuss:

  • How not making legal decisions in your business is making legal decisions
  • How not choosing an entity before you start is
  • How not putting your contractual relationships in writing is making a choice to rely on what the law says about your relationship
  • Some of the legal issues you may want to consider with your legal relationships
  • How not taking control of your legal can cost you your business

Referenced and Useful Content:

Highlighted Topics:

Listen to Legal to English with Josh Andrews below:

Legal to English Dictionary: EIN

LEGAL

An Employer Identification Number (EIN) is also known as a Federal Tax Identification Number, and is used to identify a business entity.

(SOURCE – IRS Website)

English

First of all, your EIN is like the Social Security Number for your business. You will use it on applications, on tax forms, to open your bank account. It is how the IRS knows your business.

If you take the time to create an entity for your business, you should make sure and secure an FEIN.

Typically, a bank will require an FEIN and your Certificate of Formation to open a bank account for your new legal entity.

You can file for this online at the IRS website. If, however, you already have an entity that received its FEIN online, you have to apply a different way.

Episode 49: How Legal Should Influence Your Business Systems

Business systems and legal should work together.  Legal impacts every aspect of your business. Every decision you make in business is impacted in some way by legal. Your relationships are impacted by legal, your transactions are impacted by legal. So, it isn’t a stretch to think that your systems should be impacted by legal.

Are you building your business processes to work with your legal? Is the development of your sales contract an integral part of the development of your sales system? If the two are not working together, neither of them may work at all.

If your sales system doesn’t speak to the contract your clients will sign, your contract may be completely worthless because of something you or your sales staff say during the sales process. If your contract isn’t influenced by your sales system, then the legal may kill the deal.

Legal isn’t something that fits on top of the business systems that work in your business. Legal is an integral part of your business.

In this 24 minute episode, we discuss:

  • How legal should be integrated into your systems early
  • How your contract should influence your contract
  • How to think about legal issues in your system development
  • Why systems influenced by legal can help your business weather the storms
  • How legal is like vitamins in your business
  • How business systems isn’t only for businesses that plan to scale and grow

Referenced and Useful Content:

Highlighted Topics:

Listen to Legal to English with Josh Andrews below: