Shalini Nandan-Singh is a legal coach, small business lawyer and the founder of her own practice since 2015. Love Your Legals has worked with thousands of new and established business owners, championing their legal rights and supporting their growth.
Shalini joined editor Cec Busby on the Flying Solo podcast to warn business owners of common legal pitfalls they could face. Guided by her own experience and passion for business, Shalini has helped small business owners navigate the ins and outs of their legal obligations, providing support and advice to her clients.
“I spent a lot of time in Facebook business groups because I loved small business,” says Shalini. “I’d love to say that law is my passion, but it’s actually small business.
Discovering a way to combine her passion for business and law, Shalini developed a contract drafting service for online entrepreneurs.
“There were women setting up businesses that were reluctant to go to big law firms or the street-front law firms. They just wanted to talk to someone about where they were at in business and what they needed to do next.”
Shalini Nandan-Singh, founder of Love Your Legals
Understanding your responsibilities as a business owner
New business owners can sometimes overlook necessary formalities and processes, distracted by their creativity and passion. According to Shalini, this tunnel vision is why so many passion projects born during the pandemic have struggled to survive.
“You have responsibilities as a business owner; you have relationships with clients and suppliers that you have to manage,” says Shalini. “I think in the beginning, getting the right advice is really important.”
A lot of Shalini’s consultation work focuses on mentoring her clients about the importance of pricing. Knowing the value of your goods and services, supported by thoughtful service agreements and contracts, is the most effective way to ensure long-lasting relationships with both clients and suppliers. To Shalini, a well-drafted contract is the key to efficiency, profitability and growth.
Navigating privacy, profit, and online platforms
These days, almost every business has some kind of online presence. Social media has introduced newer and more efficient ways of showing up and communicating with your market and providing them with the solutions they’re seeking.
“If your brand becomes really well known, and if you’re purely online, the world is kind of your oyster,” explains Shalini. “But you also need to be aware of your messaging and the development of your brand.”
While social media has allowed some brands to exponentially grow their customer networks and brand awareness, understanding the implications of data and privacy breaching can be challenging to navigate for business owners.
“Everybody has to address their privacy; their obligations to protect personal data that they collect for marketing,” says Shalini. “Because not only is it the law that requires that, but social media platforms and online platforms like Google, Facebook, Instagram, they all require you to be commercially active online.”
Listen to Shalini Nandan-Singh on the Flying Solo podcast:
Avoiding privacy pitfalls can seem like an overwhelming job in today’s online landscape. Businesses of all sizes are collecting more data from their audiences than ever.
“No one is immune,” says Shalini. “I worry about it myself and work in the field. The technology for breaching data privacy develops faster than our ability to protect our devices and accounts.”
“Influencer marketing is still fraught with problems for many business owners because the platforms like Instagram and Facebook are quite vulnerable,” the legal expert explains.
The definitions of ‘influencers’ and the legal obligations surrounding their online messaging is a rapidly changing field. New regulations targeting the promotion of health products across social media were only just introduced in July. As the power of influencer marketing becomes more apparent to brands and businesses, so does the responsibility to protect their consumers.
According to Shalini, effective influencer marketing no longer depends on big, well-known names.
“Markets have become so niche,” says Shalini. “You just need to be reasonably well known with the requisite number of followers in even a very micro market to be considered a sought-after influencer.”
“If someone doesn’t wanna comply, they’re not gonna comply”
According to Shalini, it’s widespread for entrepreneurs to be uncertain about the specific contracts they require for their business, and this lack of knowledge often lands them in hot water. The legal expert urges the best practice is to be prepared for anything.
“When a structure or a relationship has gone wrong, parties realise that moving forward, there needs to be a contract or an agreement in place,” she says.
If there’s one thing Shalini can recommend to any business owner, it’s ensuring the paperwork – daunting as it may be – is a priority. Having the proper contracts and service agreements will provide you with a powerful platform for negotiation and enforcement.
“If you have terms in place or your contract has been drafted with some sensitivity and insight between the parties of the relationship they’re seeking, then the resolution is in the contract itself.”
Shalini shared loads more tips and insights into the legal must-knows for small and solo businesses in this Flying Solo ep – listen now.
