No matter the size of your business, various laws and regulations are always applicable to you. Unfortunately, while many of these are obvious – such as paying your taxes – others could be less clear, more complex, and misunderstood. 

Hiring a freelance legal consultant for your small business is always great. The few legal documents and regulations (contracts, terms, and conditions, …) that you actively work with often impact your business immensely. Here is what a freelance legal consultant can do for your small business.

Risk assessment and mitigation 

If you have a small business, the odds are that you are using standard or outdated documents. While using templates and filling these in yourself are an excellent way to save money when you’re just starting, this also carries significant risks. If your template is outdated or has errors, the consequences can be very impactful from a legal and financial perspective. 

A freelance legal consultant can review the documents you are using daily and correct the errors. Often, this process – depending on the size of your business – can be completed in a few hours. However, it is recommended to do this every few years to ensure your contracts and other documents stay up to date from a legal perspective.

Next to fixing your current legal framework, a consultant can also assist you in plugging the gaps. For example, if you are missing specific clauses or policies – like a privacy policy – they can notify you of this and write these documents for your company. 

Optimization

A freelance legal consultant for small businesses doesn’t just fix errors and doesn’t just bring your documents up to date, but they can also optimize them. Optimizing legal documents such as your contracts and terms of conditions don’t just help you cover your risks by lowering your (financial) liability but can also help you gain extra revenue.

An example is the interesting tax structure for the remuneration of intellectual property transfers between an artist and a business. Other examples include ensuring you get the optimal interest rate and late fees on late payments from clients and customers who did not pay invoices on time. 

Depending on your niche and business size, a project of this scope can be completed in a few hours, but pay dividends for years to come. Optimizing your existing contracts can thus have a huge and immediate ROI. 

Day-to-day advice

Do you have a quick question regarding the law? Do any (new) rules apply to you? By knowing a freelance legal consultant who is up to date on what is going on in the world of regulation on small businesses, you can get clarity on important matters the same day. 

Getting a fast response doesn’t just give you more peace of mind; it also allows you to act quickly on opportunities and cover any risks you are exposed to. For example, depending on the subject and complexity, a freelance consultant might bill you for 30 minutes or an hour, helping you keep the costs low for an essential service. 

Conclusion: hiring a freelance legal consultant creates revenue

Hiring a legal consultant for your business might seem unnecessary or prohibitively expensive. However, when you do the math and compare the costs with the benefits, it quickly becomes clear that the ROI is well worth it. In addition, due to the small amount of crucial legal documents a small business has, revising, optimizing, and filling the gaps can sometimes be done in a single working day. This helps you keep the costs low and allows you to work with your new legal framework much faster. 

The best way to find a freelance legal consultant for your small business on a budget is to use Limine! Make an account on our platform and post your assignment to get help from the most relevant experts at low fees.