The year is almost over, and it’s been another year full of ups, downs, and everything in between. I didn’t know what to expect from 2022 after the previous two years of covid chaos, and I was pleasantly surprised with how the year turned out.
Professionally, in 2022 I celebrated 12 months since the rebrand to Love Your Legals. The date was in October, and it completely passed me by at the time. The new brand is a good fit for how I want small business owners to feel about their business and take their first steps in working with a lawyer to support and protect their business with legal advice. I’m proud of my brand and the relationships I’ve nurtured through Love Your Legals.
2022 was a notable year for Love Your Legals because of the increased number of referrals and return clients, including clients I had drafted for back in 2017. The return clients were a prime example of how covid changed how people did business. Many return customers had pivoted their business model in the past two years. They needed their original contracts reviewed by a business contract lawyer to suit their current business offerings.
Service agreement reviews are essential for all service providers. Does your service agreement still reflect the services you are offering? I highly recommend scheduling a review for your service agreement every couple of years or whenever you know that your services have changed. This could include how you collect and share business information, take payments and payment terms, and more obvious service delivery changes, such as moving from one-on-one to group coaching programs.
This year, more client advice sessions were booked by established business owners who are getting used to seeking business legal advice when needed. Micro-businesses and start-ups tend to look for answers online in the first case and try to get answers for their business challenges via Facebook groups. Looking for answers online may seem an attractive and affordable solution, but as a business grows, getting the correct advice and flexibility, and ease of working with a trusted small business lawyer sets you up for success and results in a significant amount of peace of mind.
Having such a high rate of referrals and return customers is a sure sign of a successful, trusted business. I pride myself on providing a valued solution where my clients honestly Know, Like and Trust me.
In 2022, I released four new legal templates for small business owners, including:
The Business Coaching Agreement Template covers all the components of an effective service agreement, including Coaching fees and payment terms, Booking requirements, Refunds, Confidentiality, Dispute resolution, and the usual contract expectations.
Online Course Terms and Conditions Template provides the terms of purchasing and engaging your course or program so that you can lay solid foundations for your online course. Hence, all parties clearly understand their obligations and how the relationship will work.
Webinar Registration Terms and Conditions Template is an intelligent solution for those in the start-up phase of business or with an existing online business that provides free or paid webinars to their audience.
The Speaker Agreement Template is designed for Event Hosts to use with Event Speakers so that all of the requirements and provisions of the arrangement are clear between both parties. This template is ideal for online or in-person, paid or free events.
In 2023, I will be releasing several more templates, including:
- Business Terms and Conditions Template, designed for small businesses providing on-site services, such as interior designers, stylists and more.
- Model Release Template, so you can protect your business when using photos of customers or clients at your workplace.
- Virtual Assistant Client Agreement Template for straightforward VA service providers.
I release templates based on the needs of the small business owners I work with, so please let me know if there is a template you would like to see!
I worked with some truly interesting businesswomen throughout the year, building and creating fascinating businesses. They included women starting e-commerce and business services in the allied health sector, requiring a solid understanding of TGA requirements, NDIA service providers, including professional organisers, occupational and remedial massage therapists, spiritual coaches, channellers and advisers, mortgage brokers, financial planners and bookkeepers, naturopaths, dieticians, medical intuitives, design specialists, tradies and more. I appreciate you sharing your hopes and dreams with me while we create effective legal solutions for your businesses.
This year, Babu, who looks after our Fiji family law firm, finally returned from Fiji after 22 months because of international border closures to see our granddaughter, Maya, who was born during the pandemic. And I’ve had the good fortune of travelling back to my home country of Fiji twice in 2022 to renovate our home and contemplate working out of Fiji regularly. I took my home and life in Fiji for granted before the pandemic and missed it terribly when I couldn’t go. It’s a place of peace, focus and regeneration, which I think we could all do with some more of.
I cannot wait to experience 2023 with my incredible clients, people I haven’t met yet, and my family and friends, who always cheer me on behind the scenes.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Shalini x
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