Photo by Melanie Wasser on Unsplash
“But what about that independent contractor law I heard about?”
“Don’t worry about it,” I respond.
“…and GDPR? I heard that’s a thing.”
“Forget about it,” I reply.
We did this dance a few more times until he got the message I was trying to convey.
And the message was simple: none of those things matter now – just get started.
It’s hard to start something new when myriad legal issues cause you to worry about getting something wrong.
But getting overwhelmed by legal can be a killer for new and growing businesses – so let’s figure out how to fix that problem and thrive.
Starting is hard, and fear stops you from starting.
Starting a business is hard.
I’ve been through it, and I’ve seen tons of my clients go through the doubt and the fear of starting something new. But unfortunately, I know many more people who succumbed to the fear and never started.
Steven Pressfield calls this “The Resistance,” a hyper-intelligent beast that constantly tells you to play it safe and not take the creative risk you want.
It masquerades as prudent decision-making, but it’s not. It’s fear.
And the trick with fear is to recognize it and learn to act despite it.
Fear often looks like legal hurdles.
I’m convinced that many people use legal hurdles to rationalize fear.
They spend hours online gathering tidbits from here and there until they’ve built up a thicket of horribles that prevents them from starting.
And some people even come to me to validate these fears. And I seldom do because I see what’s going on.
That seems to surprise many of my clients, who sometimes assume that because I’m a lawyer, I will tell them not to move a muscle until every legal thing is completely locked down.
But that’s often not helpful.
My job is to clear out 90% of these illusionary legal blocks so people can move forward with their businesses or creative project while focusing on the legal stuff that matters and will grow their businesses.
Focus on the 10% that matters now.
Legal stuff matters. A lot.
But the trick is to know which legal stuff matters most RIGHT NOW and focus all your energy on that. The rest – maybe 90% of it – will come later.
And there’s no need to figure it all out in the beginning.
The goal for any creative business owner is to stay focused on the legal stuff that actually moves the needle, creates value and moves things forward while having the support to help you uncover the issues that will come up later.
Trying to tackle all of the possible legal issues upfront can tie you up in knots – I’ve seen it happen many times.
Don’t expect to get everything right at the start.
Building a business is an iterative process. You put something out, get customers, and respond to feedback. Repeat.
Same deal with the legal stuff.
I told a client the other day that no matter what you do, you will not have a perfect client agreement right out of the gate, for instance. What works now might not work a month or a year from now – you’ll always have to be tweaking things as your business grows and the ways you do things change.
Even as a law firm, we find this to be true in our own business. As a result, we’re constantly updating our contracts and policies as we learn more about what works for our customers and us.
Get help to know where to focus.
Trying to figure out all the legal issues at the start of the business will tie you in knots. And, as I’ve said, this can create an incredible amount of resistance, making it harder to start or grow your business.
As lawyers for creatives, we often help people cut through the noise and figure out what needs to be done to make immediate progress. But, as small business owners, opportunities can quickly dissolve if one gets too mired in legal hypotheticals.
Starting a business CAN be intimidating, so it’s crucial to get support to clear legal overwhelm so that you can reduce stress and focus on creating.
