#129 Are you making THIS mistake in business?
During the masterclasses and workshops I’ve been delivering for groups and communities lately, the most common question I get asked is: what is the biggest mistake business owners make? Today, I’m sharing my answer in hopes that it will help you avoid tricky situations I see people end up in far too often.
The mistake I find consistently surfaces among business owners is the tendency to put off obtaining tailored legal documents. While there are many associated risks involved with neglecting this step, a lot of business owners are often just unaware of the consequences that come with it.
I talk about the complex challenges that can arise when businesses are left vulnerable, and how your legals should be the first thing you address when setting yourself up for success. Just as a house needs a strong foundation, your business needs to have the right legal framework in place. And in my opinion, it’s not a nice-to-have; it’s a must-have.
Knowledge is power, and when we know better, we do better. Become informed on what your best chance of success is, and you’ll likely avoid the types of situations that cause unnecessary stress and distraction. The last thing you want is to face a challenge that takes your eye off the ball and away from those important, revenue generating activities in your business.
I hope today’s episode motivates you to really get your legals in order and create peace of mind for yourself, knowing you’ll be in the best possible position to face any challenges that may come your way.
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Tracey: [00:00:00] Hello everyone. Welcome back to another episode of the Rise Up in Business podcast. Let's dive into today's episode where I'm going to share with you the one biggest mistake that I see business owners make over and over again. The reason I'm sharing this episode today is because I've been delivering a lot of masterclasses and workshops for groups and communities lately, and a question that I'm asked in almost everyone is, Tracey, what is the biggest mistake you see business owners make? Because I'm being asked this so much, it is front and centre of my mind, and it occurred to me that you lovely listeners are probably wondering this as well.[00:01:00]
So today I'm gonna share it with you. The one biggest mistake that I see business owners make is putting off getting legal documents tailored for your business. They're not a nice-to-have, they're a must-have. Honestly, I'll say that again. Tailored legal documents for your business are not a nice-to-have. They are a must-have. And the mistake I see is when business owners put it off and they think to themselves, it won't happen to me. I've never had an issue. It'll be right. I've copied my mate down the road and they have a business that's similar. I've purchased a template. I'm sure it's right or wait for it.
I've Googled and I've just cobbled something together. First of all, this is not a podcast episode where I'm criticising any of that. I absolutely am not. I'm simply sharing information and I'm saying to you, that happens a lot. I see it. I hear it. Business owners tell me that that's their thinking, and that's okay.
No judgment. We all do [00:02:00] the best we can at the time with the information we have. And similarly, when we know better, we do better. And that's the kicker here. That's the most important part. When we know better, we do better. Putting off having your legal documents tailored for your business can leave you exposed on so many levels, and it is often at that point that a client will reach out to me.
Tracey, I have this particular client who wants a refund on the mastermind. Tracey, this person's not paying, or Tracey, scope creep has become debilitating for me. I need your help, please, to deal with this client. I don't know what to do. I need to terminate someone. Tracey, can you help me? Or, this is, I've received this claim from Fair Work or from QCAT or VCAT or NCAT or wherever because something's gone wrong.
The reason. That it got to that point is because there were no tailored documents in place to manage and navigate [00:03:00] those tricky situations. There were no documents in place to set that business up for success and to set that business up to avoid having to call a lawyer like me later to help them navigate out of that tricky situation.
So it's overwhelmingly number one, hands down the biggest mistake. That's not to say that there aren't others. There are, but that's the one that comes up the most. And I also think that's the one that carries the most risk, because if we don't have our legal documents tailored for our business, what we're saying to clients and what we're saying to the world is either, I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing, or I'm not a true professional.
I'm not quite sure that anybody listening to this podcast is keen on that message going out, but that's what we're saying. And that, again, that's not a criticism because maybe you don't take your business that seriously. Maybe it is a side hustle, maybe it is an afterthought. That's okay. That's fine. And maybe you don't know.
Maybe you don't know the importance of the legals. [00:04:00] Maybe you don't know the importance of having them tailored for your business, and maybe you don't understand yet the level of risk you're exposing your business to unnecessarily because you haven't got the tailored levels in place. Maybe you don't know.
And again, that's not a criticism. It's an observation. But either way, you're not setting yourself up for success, and chances are you're likely to find yourself in a situation which could have been avoided. And those types of situations tend to cause you to take your eye off the ball in business, having to deal with the tricky situation, the avoidable situation, takes you away from growth focus takes you away from revenue generating activities whilst you dive in and deal with it, and that could be avoided.
So what I would like business owners to take away from this episode is, tailored legal documents for your business are a must-have, not a nice-to-have, and in my view, based on my experience and all that I've seen that can go wrong for small business owners, [00:05:00] your tailored legals are more important than your branding, than your business coach, than your social media, than your marketing strategy.
It is foundational, much like building a house, this is a really great example because everyone can relate to it. You build a house, you start with the solid foundations. If you say to your builder, mate, can you go easy on those foundations? Cut a few corners here, cut a few corners there, she'll be right.
Chances are if they're a good builder, they're not gonna want you as a client because they all know, everyone knows, you don't take shortcuts with your foundations because you are going to have big problems later that are going to be massive, potentially massive to resolve, and sometimes you can't resolve them with that knock down.
We don't want to have to do that in business. Your document, your legal documents, are your foundational documents. They need to be stellar. They need to be solid. They could be. They should be. They will be, if you know that you need to take the time to get them done properly. [00:06:00] So, That is the number one biggest mistake I see business owners make in their business, but it doesn't need to be. It can be avoided. If this sounds like something you wanna jump on, something you wanna be proactive about or something you would like to talk more about, please reach out. You can book in a time to chat directly into my calendar. The link is in the show notes.
That is what I'm here for. I'm always happy to chat. I'm always happy to answer questions and I'll always give honest, straight down the line, direct advice. Thanks so much for listening. I'll catch you next time.
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