Keeping Your Creative Business Legal with Amira of ASelfGuru
Hello my friend!!! After the extensive research for the previous post on 7 Ways to Keep Your Handmade Business Legal, I wanted to provide you with more information about the amazing lady behind A Self Guru so you can hear from her what she recommends to keep your business legal as well as hear her story. She started her business from her father having lost his business due to a legal issue and is passionate about making sure that other entrepreneurs do not suffer through the same horrible event that he did but instead are protected and have the confidence that their business is legally secure no matter your niche or specialty.
Note - This post contains affiliate links, which means I will make a commission at no extra cost to you, should you click through and make a purchase. However, I do not recommend products I have not used myself and ALL of my legal documents on VAMICreations are from Amira’s templates. :). Thus, I highly recommend her work and have found the templates super easy to use and love that the website is protected and legal. :)
Keeping Your Creative Business Legal with Amira of A Self Guru
By Michele of VAMICreations and Amira of A Self Guru
What gave you the idea/inspiration to start A Self Guru?
I was working as a lawyer for almost a decade, but I still owed $150,000 in law school student loan debt that needed to be paid off. It felt like I was paying a second mortgage every month.
I knew I needed to start a side business to pay off this massive debt. I wasn't sure what kind of online business I wanted to start at the time, but I knew I wanted to use my business and legal knowledge to make a difference and help entrepreneurs legally.
So, while working full-time as a lawyer, I founded A Self Guru, an online business dedicated to helping bloggers and entrepreneurs scale their businesses legally. I started it as a blogging business because it allowed me to work on it during my spare time while continuing with my lawyer job during the day.
I'm so glad I started A Self Guru as my side hustle because I made $210,000 in my first year, which allowed me to pay off my law school student loans and still have money left over to reinvest in my business's growth!
What would you tell a new entrepreneur opening up a handmade business for encouragement in building their business?
Give away a lot of value for free. It could be through a blog where you post useful content, a freebie that you give away to anyone who visits your website, or useful content that you share on social media, among other things.
The key is to be consistent with your free content and to impress your audience with it. As a result, because they have already seen how amazing your free content is, purchasing from you becomes a no-brainer for them.
Also, don’t be afraid of failures. They will become your best lessons in business and life. You will experience highs and lows while building your business. Some days you will feel very accomplished and on top of the world, while others you will be down and working in the trenches, but never lose sight of your WHY - why you started your business and what impact you hope to make.
This will keep you motivated and inspired to keep going when things get tough!
What is one thing you wish that people knew about blogging legally and protecting your business?
Great question! No matter what kind of online business you start, you will need to legally protect it. After all, we put our blood, sweat, and tears into building our dream business, so you should legally protect it.
One of the most common mistakes I see entrepreneurs make is failing to protect their business legally from the start, such as failing to make their website legally compliant, failing to have proper legal pages on their site, failing to use proper contracts when working with others, and so on.
Making your business legal should be a priority, and these mistakes are easily avoidable by working with a lawyer to ensure all your legal ducks are in a row, or if you don’t want to hire a lawyer then grab legal templates written by a lawyer (such as mine here), which offer you the same legal protections without the hefty prices.
What is something you are passionate about and why?
Because I watched my father's business being sued for $90,000, leaving us financially and emotionally devastated, I am extremely passionate about helping other entrepreneurs in avoiding such costly legal mistakes. My dad’s business was sued because he did not use a proper legal contract with the freelancer he hired.
This big lawsuit altered the course of my life and inspired me to become a business lawyer so that I could assist other entrepreneurs.
While working as a lawyer for more than 10 years, I’ve seen so many other entrepreneurs (both new and experienced) make similar legal mistakes that could have been avoided with proper legal contracts in place.
But I also understand that hiring a lawyer can be costly at times. That's why, when I started my online business, I wanted to make the legal stuff not only EASY but also VERY AFFORDABLE! That is why my legal templates have helped over 30,000 entrepreneurs sleep soundly at night, and they are far less expensive than hiring a lawyer and spending thousands of dollars.
Thousands of my customers promote my legal templates for free because they simply loved them and our customer service. They are always surprised by the number of bonuses they receive with our legal templates that they didn’t expect. Those extra bonuses alone are worth the cost of our legal templates.
That’s why we have over 100’s of 5-star reviews and customers who always send us love notes like, “your legal templates are a lifesaver,” or “your legal bundle was the best investment for my business that didn’t break my wallet,” or “thanks to your templates, I am able to sleep better at night knowing that my business is now protected.”
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How has COVID changed or impacted your vision/strategy?
COVID has shown an increase in online learning since more people are at home. Every day, we see a slew of new online businesses spring up. So, because I had my online business before COVID, my strategy hasn't changed much. My focus is still on creating valuable online content and videos to connect with my audience and help solve their legal and business problems.
What is something that has helped you get through during this global pandemic? Something encouraging or positive?
Two things: Gratitude and a supportive Facebook community
Gratitude- I am always grateful for what I have in life and choose to see things in a positive light even when things do not go my way. This, I believe, has contributed to my success.
As entrepreneurs, we often focus on what we DON'T have, but we must shift our attention to what we DO have! I noticed that when I began to be grateful for what I had accomplished, I began to receive more abundance in return.
Build a supportive community – Entrepreneurship can be a lonely experience, and you will need support from others to stay positive. For example, whenever I'm feeling down or simply need help, I turn to my Facebook community of entrepreneurs and friends for advice and support.
This is the same community that helped me recover from an unexpected major surgery earlier this year, during COVID! And it was their loving support and encouragement that helped me recover and return to work.
Fun question – if you could meet one person in history or present, who would it be and why?
Tony Robbins. I love his personality and boundless energy. How he turned adversity into a blessing in disguise. When I'm in a difficult situation, I know it's a lesson I need to learn, and things will get better! His books and teachings taught me to believe in myself and to see the bright side of life. I now consider the glass to be half full rather than half empty.
Is there anything (message or topic) you would like to talk about that we did not ask about?
In the United States, 85 percent of employed people want to own their own businesses and have the flexibility and freedom to work from anywhere in the world. They are unsure, however, of how to break free from their 9 to 5 routine.
Blogging is an excellent option because it allows you to work from home, set your own hours, and eventually quit your 9 to 5 job. I made $78,000 in a single month with my blog, which allowed me to quit my 9 to 5 job as a lawyer, and now I help others do the same!
If you need personalized help to get started with your online business, I’d love for you to book a coaching call with me here, so I can share my insider secrets and tricks to help you become your own boss as well!
What is your dream for A Self Guru to be (where do you see A Self Guru in 5+ years)?
I started this business with three main products - website legal page templates that I knew all entrepreneurs needed. But my business has grown significantly since then, and I now have over 25 different legal templates in my store! All of this occurred in just two years, as my audience began to request various products and services from me.
So my goal is to keep creating useful legal templates and products for my audience while maintaining a healthy work-life balance. I'd like to outsource more so that I can work more efficiently.
How can I and other small business owners/bloggers help you with your dream for A Self Guru?
Thank you for asking! The best way to support me and A Self Guru is by connecting with me through my website here or Facebook group where you can easily reach me and meet thousands of other incredible entrepreneurs.
You can follow me on social media everywhere @ aselfguru.
Finally, you can sign up for my free legal guide here and learn about the three legal mistakes I see entrepreneurs make and how to avoid them.
Thank you for joining us for this awesome interview with Amira of A Self Guru!! And thank you to Amira for taking the time to complete this interview with us. It was insightful and wonderful to hear from her more about her business, recommendations on how to keep your business legal and so much more! If you have any of Amira’s templates, we’d love to hear from you about it or if you have a recommendation for someone to interview, a topic to delve into or a maker to highlight, please comment below or send me an email. Take care and have a safe day my friend!
Hello my friend, I would like to introduce you to a new artwork I am working on creating Crochet Painting. In many ways it is similar to mixed media artwork but uses crochet as a base. I’m excited to share this with you and show you more about my artists journey. :). Below, I have done the who, what, where, when, why, how of Crochet Painting and would love to hear any questions you have about it. I’ve also included several pictures of one of my works in progress.