Where are all our basic ghouls at? It’s almost spooky season, and we know that being an entrepreneur in the online space can feel like living in a thriller—you just never know what’s going to happen next. It’s exciting … and it’s a little terrifying. (Don’t worry, that means you’re doing it right!)

While taking risks in business and facing the unknowns of entrepreneurship are always going to feel scary, you should not be putting the legal side of your business in that bucket. Take control of your legal and avoid these scary mistakes that could turn your life into a legit nightmare.

Wondering how? Grab your PSL and cozy up as you read through our five legal mistakes and, more importantly, how to avoid them.

1. Not Having a Privacy Policy on Your Website

Yikes! Don’t be that young girl who wanders around an abandoned motel in a horror film (what is she actually thinking?!). Like her, you’re practically inviting trouble by not having a privacy policy on your website. Adding a privacy policy that outlines how you collect, use, and protect user data not only safeguards your customers’ privacy but also helps you avoid violating regulations like the California Online Privacy Protection Act (CalOPPA). It’s a relatively quick and simple way to stay compliant and avoid fines, while also ensuring you’re doing right by your customers and clients.

2. Not Having Terms and Conditions for Your Digital Product(s)

If you sell digital products, beware the Pandora’s box you may be opening if you aren’t providing customers with clear terms and conditions. Imagine this terrifying scenario: A customer buys your course or digital product and resells all or part of it. Aside from suing them or haunting them in the after life, you don’t have a ton of options post-sale.

It’s way better to be proactive by making it crystal-clear at checkout that customers are purchasing a LICENSE to use the digital product and not the actual RIGHTS to the digital product, which would allow them to resell or share it. What’s more, if you don’t spell everything out clearly upfront, you could end up with more buyer’s remorse, refund requests, and chargeback attempts. Don’t rely on DIY-ing this, always use one drafted by a lawyer.

3. Not Using Lawyer-Drafted Contracts

We’re going to be real frank with you, most of the disputes we see arise because people didn’t use a contract, or because they didn’t use a good contract. Here is a PSA ⤵️

You should be using a lawyer-drafted contract for ALL clients, offers, products, affiliates, retreats, events, hires, speakers, and websites.

Consider these scary scenarios:

👻 A client had different expectations and now they’re pissed because they thought you were doing XYZ but you only did X.

👻 A hire claims they own the IP to something they made for your biz and, well, they actually do unless the rights were transferred in a written contract.

👻 An affiliate claims you didn’t pay them commission properly and drags you on social media.

You can avoid a good deal of this by using contracts, but you can’t just use any contract. Frankensteining a contract by piecing together random clauses from the internet or DIY-ing it can lead to missing terms that could cost you dearly. Without a well-drafted contract, misunderstandings, disputes, and potential legal battles can creep up unexpectedly.

Invest in lawyer-drafted contracts for all your business dealings—from clients and affiliates to hires and event participants—and you’ll be able to sleep easy.

4. Neglecting to Use an NDA

The last thing you need is someone you’ve worked or collaborated with to spill all of your business secrets and get away with it while you suffer the consequences. It’s the stuff of nightmares, but sadly, it does happen. To prevent this, you should be using a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) to protect your sensitive business secrets.

There are many different scenarios in which you might want to use an NDA, but as a general rule of thumb, consider sending an NDA to anyone with whom you’ll be discussing doing business with as a precautionary measure. Trust us, it’s not paranoia, it’s just smart business.

5. Not Prioritizing a Trademark Early in Biz

Finally, don’t fall victim to this scary legal mistake ➡️ Failing to secure a trademark for your business. It’s easy to think that a trademark dispute won’t happen to you, but sadly, it happens more than you think. Without a trademark, if someone else files for something similar before you do, you could end up having to rebrand or pay around $95,000 to try to fight for it in court. (This is the average cost, I WISH I was making that number up, but I’m not).

If that sounds horrifying to you, we encourage you to get your trademark applications filed as soon as humanly possible. Remember, you’re not just betting that no one else will file for your exact business, course, or product name, you’re betting that no one else will file for something too similar … and that is, of course, up to interpretation (by the USPTO).

Here are a few examples of brands that were found to be too similar to both exist:

👻 Zombie BBL vs. Zombie Braces

👻 Millennium Falcon vs. Millennial Falcon

👻 Zara Home vs. Zahra

👻 Kind Health Group vs. Kindskin

👻 Sunset Songs vs. Sunset Creative

👻 Truuvegan vs. Vegan True

👻 Mood Narrative vs. Narrative Cosmetics

Notice how none of these names are identical, yet they all were found to be too similar to each other to be granted a trademark. This is why it’s critical that you put yourself in the best position possible by filing a trademark application early.

Yes, trademarking costs money, and yes, money can be a scarce resource when you’re first getting started in business (or anytime, really), but it is an investment in the future of your brand and in your future success. Neglecting this important step now could cost you handsomely down the road, and we don’t want that for you. Start with a consultation with a lawyer.

Now that you’ll be steering clear of these five scary legal mistakes, you’re free to go forth and enjoy the spooky season without fearing the worst for your biz.

Need lawyer-drafted contracts for all the things? We’ve got them right here.