Get Legal Templates Hassle-Free Today with These 2 Providers
Are you a small business owner, solopreneur, or wellness entrepreneur who’s feeling a little overwhelmed trying to figure out what legal policies you need to protect yourself, your business, and your clients?
If that sounds like you, then you're in the right place because, in this article, I'm sharing a couple of my favorite resources for DIY legal templates for your business and website that won't break the bank but will give you some peace of mind.
Rather listen or watch?
If you’d rather listen to or watch me talk about these resources, feel free to check out my companion video on my YouTube Channel!
Figuring out what you need to legally protect your business (and yourself!)
When I was starting my businesses, it was definitely overwhelming trying to figure out all of the things I needed to have in place to make sure I could run my businesses successfully and correctly from a legal perspective, a financial perspective, and a technical perspective.
You know…ALL THE THINGS!!!
And as a solopreneur doing this for the first time, I was looking for all the help and information I could get from anywhere and everywhere!
Are you feeling me on this?!
Suffice it to say that over the years, I've done my research, made some mistakes, and had some successes in this area.
That’s why I'm here to share two legal template resources that work well for me with the hope that I can save you a little bit of time and stress in your business.
So many policies. So little money. 💰
One of the most important things you need to do to protect yourself legally is to ensure you have appropriate legal policies in place.
They protect you and your assets along with your business, your clients, and your customers. This is not something you should, in my opinion, do with free resources or attempt to DIY without professional assistance.
Look, I get it. As a new business owner, you’re probably trying to save money wherever you can, and hiring a lawyer can be a pretty expensive budget line item.
If that's where you are right now, I understand, but covering your business’ butt legally is critical, and you’re going to need to spend some money here. It’s a wise investment.
That said, it doesn’t have to break the bank if a lawyer is not an option for you right now.
I think the two resources I’m going to share are reputable and worth checking out to see if they're a good fit for your business. Before I share them with you, I have two quick disclaimers.
Disclaimers
Disclaimer, number one: I am not a lawyer. Obviously.
Therefore you should not consider anything in this article to be legal advice in any way whatsoever. If you’re unsure what you need, consult a lawyer in your local area to determine what your business legal requirements are and that you understand those before you buy any type of legal policy template or hire a lawyer to write them for you.
Make sure that you do your due diligence on your end. You'll be better for it in the long run.
Disclaimer, number two: The resources I'm sharing are resources that I use myself in my businesses, and of course, I will be sharing links to them.
The links that I share with you are affiliate links. So if you do explore these options and decide that they are the right fit for you and you use those links to make a purchase, I will receive a small fee in return.
So be aware of that, but also, know that I will never recommend anything to you that I have not personally used myself and support in my business.
Now with that out of the way, let’s get to the good stuff!
My Two Favorite Legal Template Providers
Recommendation #1: Lisa Fraley's Legal Love DIY Legal Templates Shop
Lisa Fraley is a lawyer who specializes in helping holistic entrepreneurs. So if you are in the health and wellness space, a heart-centered entrepreneur such as Health coaches, Course creators, Yoga teachers, etc. She is of the same mind and believes in the importance of your legal policies being a way of loving your business and your clients.
She has a vast array of templates that can help you in all aspects of your business. Everything from LLCs, to client contracts to terms and conditions to privacy policies, to disclaimers. Podcasting guest contracts, contractor agreements, and social media disclaimers. I could go on, but you name it, she’s probably got it covered!
The best thing about her templates, and what I really appreciate about them, is that they are written in plain English. They're super easy to understand both by you, by your clients, or by visitors to your website.
When you purchase one of her templates (or bundles), you’ll get a document with full instructions and an audio or video guide to help you fill it out.
She makes the process extremely easy and in a manner that's just not full of a bunch of legal ease mumbo-jumbo that you don't even understand what you're filling out.
It's great, and I highly recommend them, especially if you feel overwhelmed by ‘legal-ease.’ Her templates are incredibly easy to understand.
In addition to her templates, she has a lot of other resources I recommend checking out. She has a podcast and some useful courses that may help you in your business journey.
She also offers the ability to (at the time of this writing) book a free 20-minute consult call with her team. So if you have questions about what it is you might need or what's best for your business, you can talk to somebody and get some answers before you put any money out the door on legal policies.
That's a really great thing! You can have confidence in knowing what you're buying and that you're getting the right thing for your business.
So, if you're in the holistic or health and wellness space, coaching, or course creation, she's definitely worth checking out. Heck, even if you're not in that space, her shop is worth looking into, as she covers so many bases!
Click image to visit the shop!
Recommendation #2: Termageddon
This resource was relatively new to me. I just heard about them and began researching them at the beginning of 2023.
Their service model is unique, and I really like the way they are providing their product.
Termageddon is not focused on any specific type of business. They're a resource for anyone and everybody.
What makes them unique is their model. As opposed to buying a template that you download and fill out, what you're actually buying is a license, and that license gives you access to a bundle of policies.
Once you've purchased that license, you go into their platform and fill out a questionnaire about your business. They guide you through it step-by-step. Once you finish the questionnaires for each of the different policies that you've selected, they create the policy for you.
You can read the policy, but then you will be given some code to copy and paste into your website. So as opposed to copying and pasting something off of a Word document and then loading that into your website, you take this code and copy it onto your page in your website (using a code block to embed the code), and then the policy pops up there!
The thing that's cool about this is that by doing it this way, they make sure that that policy is automatically kept up to date.
Using a privacy policy as an example, here’s how they do that:
Termageddon constantly monitors privacy laws around the world. Any changes in the laws will be updated in their platform, and the code for your policy(s) will automatically be updated if it’s affected by the change.
So your policy is automatically being kept up to date, and because it’s linked to the code and not a text-based document, you don’t have to do anything to keep it up to date!
Nope, you don’t have to re-copy the code!
How’s that for peace of mind?!
They also communicate with you. They'll send you emails, letting you know about major changes in the laws that you should be aware of and whether it's just an FYI or if it's something that requires you to take action depending on the policies that you have.
So if you’re more of the “set it and forget it” type, this is a great option for you.
Since it’s a license-based service, you will pay either monthly or annually to keep it going. So it’s different than a one-time charge to buy a template, but the convenience factor of knowing it's being updated and not worrying about keeping up with all the laws can be really comforting.
They also have a unique way of dealing with cookies. They have a whole cookie policy and cookie consent tool in place as well that you can use for your website.
It allows people to be able to choose their settings and accept what they want to and not accept what they don't want to, and they can go back and change their settings too. It's easy to set up and very user-friendly both for you and for any visitors to your website.
A different model and approach, but one I think is very useful for anyone looking for as close to a ‘hands-off’ approach as you can get combined with high-quality policies and low stress.
Check out Termageddon’s products below:
Click image to go to site.
Use the link above or code LOTUS at checkout and get 10% off your first purchase!
Other things to consider
Let’s talk about some pros of both of these resources.
Customer Support
Hands down, I’ve gotta shout out their customer support. I’ve engaged with customer support with both of these companies, and my experience has been outstanding.
They are quick to get back to you and extremely helpful and pleasant. They're right there to help you out, and you don't ever have to feel like you're stuck out in no man's land if you have a question or you run into a little problem with anything.
User Guides
Next up, they both have great user guides! As I mentioned, with Lisa’s templates, you get a thorough step-by-step guide in plain English that won’t leave your brain cramping!
And with Termageddon, they walk you through each questionnaire, explain what everything is, and when it’s time to copy that code into your website, they have a full list of instructions for your website platform.
You don't have to worry that you have to figure out all the techie stuff! And if you are working with a web designer to build your website, they can probably help you do that too.
Pricing Models
The biggest difference between these two is their pricing models.
Lisa Farley's DIY template shop it's a more traditional style template shop. You take a look at the different templates of policies that you may need or want, and you purchase the templates or template bundles once.
Once you’ve purchased them, they're yours, and you need to keep them up to date from there.
With Termageddon, instead of buying a template, you're buying a license that covers a bundle of policies. You need to keep up that license with them to continue to use those policies. So you will pay a recurring monthly or annual fee to maintain your license and policies.
So evaluating a ‘one and done’ vs. ‘recurring fee’ model is something that might be a consideration for you depending on your preferences and needs. You’ll need to balance price with features. So compare something that you pay for every year but don't have to worry about being kept up to date versus something more customized to your business services and in plain English, but you’ll need to keep up to date yourself.
Something else you might want to consider:
Regardless of whether you decide to look at these two resources or others, don’t forget that you can mix and match depending on what your needs are.
For example, maybe one provider is going to give you the best solution for your website terms and conditions and privacy policies, and another is a better fit for your client contracts and agreements or general business policies. Particularly when you're in the health and wellness space, the way those are written and what they cover can be very specific, so you may need a more bespoke option!
It’s ok to mix and match and buy templates from more than one place. Don't be afraid to figure out what's best for you and make the choice with that in mind. Choose what works best for you!
Final Considerations
Overall my general recommendation when it comes to looking at legal templates and legal policies is to really know your business. Know what's important to you and what you need to make sure that you are presenting yourself and your business and servicing your clients and customers in the best way possible in a manner you can manage.
Legal policies can be overwhelming, and yes, they can be expensive. Lawyers can be very expensive. But this is a place where it's really important to spend a little bit of money because you want to be protected and you want to protect your clients too.
There's no reason to put yourself or your clients at unnecessary risk. So if you're tempted by the free templates that are out there…buyer beware is all I have to say on that!
Consider your budget and the needs of your business and of your clients. Use that as your guide.
Most importantly, no matter where you go looking for templates,
Do your research!
Don't just go click on a link and buy something because somebody on the internet told you it was the greatest place to go!
These are recommendations from me based on my personal experience with these two companies. I think they're great resources that are worth your consideration.
But you should always do your research. Look at these providers. Look at other ones. Check them all out. See what they offer, and understand the product that you're looking at.
Ask questions if you have them. And don't purchase anything unless you feel it is the right fit for you and your business. If you have questions, consult experts who can answer your legal questions before you spend money on anything.
Your business is too important to take lightly to try using a free, back-of-the-envelope blanket policy and think that you're covered.
Do the work. Do the research. And once you've done that, choose the provider that's best for you and meets your needs and your budget so that you'll feel comfortable moving forward.
You’ll be glad you did!
P.S. Once you’ve got your policies, learn how to add them to your Squarespace website here.
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