Episode 191 : Stress-free Methods to Legally Protect Your Business with Girija Patel

Does getting legal in your business stress you out? It doesn’t have to! I’ve brought in Girja Patel to help guide us through stress-free methods to protect you business (and you). Listen in as she shares a few steps you need to take as a new business owner or even if you’ve been established for years! She’s diving into what assets will help you protect your business, along with a few that will protect your customers as well! Girija is a lawyer, a mom, a wife, podcaster, educator, and business owner in Houston, Texas. Her law practice, GBP Law, specifically focuses on helping creative entrepreneurs and online business owners build their business’ legal fundamentals so they can move forward confidently and do what they love. Her goal is to help make legal a line item and not a panic attack! In 2020, Girija launched Your Contract Buddy (www.yourcontractbuddy.com), an online contract template shop, and also founded her podcast, Law Chat with Girija. From her days of being a prosecutor to now managing her own law practice, Girija’s core value to serve her community remains at the center of all her endeavors. Making Legal Less Stressful Getting your business legal is so important for your protection—and your client’s protection! That idea and task shouldn’t be stressful. Girja is on a mission to educate and inform creative entrepreneurs about legalizing their business without the overwhelm. If her clients aren’t aware or educated, they’ll never understand the importance of being legal in their business. We can take this concept of education to any of our businesses—your client’s don’t know what they don’t know. It’s your job to educate them! Fundamentals to Legal When it comes to getting legal, prevention is is key, not the cure. If there is no contract in place, you’re not protected, especially when it comes to big projects, refunds, or scope creep. Law isn’t scary—it’s part of everyday life. Purchasing items, walking across the street, so many everyday life tasks include law. This means we should run to it, not away from it when it comes to our businesses. This biggest mistake you can make is “getting to it later.” You’ll never get to it if you continue to put it off and when you need to be legal, it’ll be too late. Setting Up Your Sole Proprietorship, LLC, DBA, & Assumed Name This is the very first step to getting legal in your business—you need to understand your entity options and set yourself up for success with the right type. If you’re plunging into making your business a solid foundation, you’ll want to make your business an LLC. This protects your personal assets, but also set you up as a legitimate business when you approach a bank or investor in the future. Your DBA & Assumed Names are simply calling your business by another name. This allows you to protect your business even if you’re not ready to commit to a name now. Get Contracts for Your Business Contract templates are great for starting your business and having a blanket coverage of protection, but when you decide to create custom services or work with bigger clients, it’s important to understand the value that comes with custom contracts.