Help make those New Year Goals a reality....by getting your legals sorted!

I LOVE this time of year!  My social feed and my inbox are full of gorgeous entrepreneurs and lightworkers talking about their goals for the next 12 months - and the new offerings they are creating to help them smash those goals.  The energy and creativity are palpable and it is an exciting time!

My big tip for you is to make sure you think through your terms and conditions for each new offer as you plan them out.  Don't just plan content, marketing and numbers - think legals too.

There are two main reasons for this: the discipline of thinking through the legals will make sure you plan out every aspect of the offer so you launch it into the world from a good solid platform; AND (this is the bit I love!) the security of knowing your back is covered will mean you show up with all the best energy in your launch, brimming with confidence. Which of course means your potential clients will have more confidence in you and your offer - and ultimately more sales!

Here are 5 points you should start with to get the ball rolling:

1. For each product or service you supply, are you supplying to businesses or consumers?  If it is consumers. you need to make sure your contract or terms and conditions comply with consumer protection legislation.  It is a false economy not to do this as it will lead to an extended period of time in which you have to give refunds!😩
2. For each offering, what is the sign up process?  Will there be a discovery call followed by an exchange of emails? Or will it be an online sign up process?  This is one of the main factors which will determine whether you need a one to one contract or online terms and conditions of sale.  Most importantly of all, you need to work out at which stage of the process your clients need to agree to your terms to make sure you are covered.
3. Make sure you have a detailed and concrete description of your product or service.  In practice, this is the one element of their contracts my clients rely on more than any other when something goes wrong.
4. Set healthy boundaries in your contract.  This is super important for coaches, therapists and healers. Make sure you define what your responsibilities are - and what your clients' responsibilities are too.  You are a coach, not a miracle worker!
5. A good chunky (but reasonable) limitation of liability of clause to cover you if things go wrong.  This is the technical legal bit which makes sure your assets are protected if there's a problem - so it's also the clause that makes sure you sleep soundly at night.  Unbelievably, I see so many coaching contracts that don't have one of these at all!! Don't leave yourself unprotected - make sure you have one and that it has been drafted for you by a professional.

Here's to a wonderful 2020 - good things are coming.  I can feel it!

Now you’ve got this far, I’d love to help you keep up the momentum! My Legal Essentials Bundle for coaches has everything you need to get your legal foundations in place.