Starting a business can be exciting and scary at the same time. Exciting because you are finally pursuing your dream and turning it into reality. Scary because you don’t know what you don’t know, especially the legal side. Kelly Bagla, Esq., the CEO of Go Legal Yourself has made it easy for entrepreneurs to understand the legal requirements of starting a business and what legal documents they need to incorporate their business. For Kelly, “Understanding the legal aspects of a business is essential for any business to succeed, no matter what phase they’re in. With a solid legal foundation for your business, there’s no limit to what you can achieve.” Considering these influential and inspirational aspects of her business persona Insights Success recognizes Kelly Bagla as one of the most successful businesswomen to watch.
“GRAB LIFE BY THE PEARLS. IT’S YOURS FOR THE TAKING.”
Below are highlights from the interview conducted between Kelly and Insights Success:
Give a brief overview of your background and your role in Go Legal Yourself.
I’m an attorney, entrepreneur, author, speaker, podcast host, inventor, TV personality and CEO of Go Legal Yourself, an online legal resource company that empowers people to incorporate their business the right way— without paying law firm fees. Go Legal Yourself provides attorney drafted, client approved, turn-key business start-up documents, including vital agreements, which are designed to protect business owners. Go Legal Yourself helps business owners to start businesses, grow businesses and to protect the owner and the owner’s assets, which is imperative in our incredibly litigious society.
How do you diversify your cutting-edge solutions that appeal to your target audience?
Go Legal Yourself is revolutionizing access to legal tools, offering entrepreneurs the same services provided by a law firm, for a fraction of the cost.
Our audience understands that there is more to starting a business than just buying some legal forms online. But they also don’t want to spend tens of thousands of dollars to have a law firm set up their business. Go Legal Yourself is designed with those people in mind, the cost conscious and time sensitive, where we offer different legal packages that will address the unique needs of savvy entrepreneurs.
For those just getting started, we offer a complete Start Up Essentials Package, which is a customizable package of legal contracts and documents that includes everything a startup company needs to incorporate and protect assets from the beginning, including Founder’s Stock Purchase Agreement, Bylaws, Articles of Incorporation, and much more.
We also offer Contracts Packages, for entrepreneurs who are recently incorporated, but who need essential documents and agreements to keep the business running smoothly and legally. These packages include important documents and contracts that cover everything you could need, from Client Agreements, to Independent Contractor Agreements, Website Terms of Use text and more.
For those looking to grow their business, our Growth Essentials Package provides everything you’ll need as your business booms—from Employee Agreements, to Employee Handbooks, to Nondisclosure Agreements. All of our packages also include a one-hour legal strategy with me.
How necessary is it to align business with technology and what are its outcomes?
In a word, it is vital. The business world is operating at a near breakneck pace and any business geared towards entrepreneurs must deliver sophisticated services online. Entrepreneurs are busy. They need accessible products, and they need them now. They don’t have time to set up an appointment and drive to a law firm for a meeting. They don’t have time to research what they don’t know—and there’s a lot— about protecting themselves as business owners. And they certainly don’t have money to burn, as every penny counts. That’s why Go Legal Yourself is so unique. We don’t just supply legal forms. We are backed by a reputable law firm, our contracts are drafted by attorneys and all businesses are set up the same way they would be by a law firm, but at a fraction of the cost.
What was the past experiences, achievements or lessons that shaped your journey?
As an attorney, I’ve seen clients making the same mistakes over and over again and it is painful to see, especially if they could be easily avoided. It is always due to the fact that there is so much misleading information when it comes to setting up your business and people select the wrong entities and wrong contracts because they don’t know what they don’t know. After seeing so many people lose what they’d worked for because they weren’t properly armed with the protection they need, I had to do something about it. I knew there had to be a better way, so I created it.
I wrote a bestselling book ‘Go Legal Yourself’ and created the Go Legal Yourself tools just to support the dreamers and the visionaries. My passion for helping others had finally reached a point where I knew I had to do something to make a real difference. I’m also an entrepreneur, so I know firsthand just how much work goes into starting a business, let alone make money in it and having the right legal tools from the start can be the difference between being successful or learning how to become successful from being sued.
“THERE IS NO GLASS CEILING, ONLY YOUR ABILITY TO STOP YOURSELF.”
According to you, what is the important ability to develop comprehensive strategies in the role of a leader?
There are various types of leaders who have displayed great qualities, but the leader who has had the most impact on me, is Margaret Thatcher, Britain’s first female prime minister. I was born and grew up in England and have modeled my work ethic using the incredible example Margaret Thatcher set. One of my favorite quotes from her, when it comes to the importance of strategizing and planning as a leader is:
“Disciplining yourself to do what you know is right and important, although difficult, is the highroad to pride, selfesteem, and personal satisfaction.” Likewise, I think that one of the best strategies a business owner can embrace, is to learn their own business from the ground up, by doing the work of the business, alongside any employees they may hire. Steve Jobs put it this way: “The doers are the major thinkers. The people that really create the things that change this industry are both the thinker and doer in one person.”
Describe some of the vital attributes that every businesswoman should possess.
Hands-down, you must have passion for what you are creating. If you’re creating something because you think it will make you money, but you’re not particularly passionate about it, your success is bound to be short lived. Steve Jobs again said it best, when he said, “If you don’t love it, you’re going to fail.” So, passion is the most important.
Hard work is neck and neck with passion, in terms of “must-have” attributes to succeed in business. If you’re not willing to work harder than you’ve ever worked, it’s unlikely that your business will succeed. There’s a reason why upwards of 80% of all businesses fail. The good news about hard work, is that if you’re passionate about what you’re doing, it’s not going to feel like work. Work hard and work smart.
The third attribute that I think is absolutely imperative in order to be a successful businesswoman is confidence. You must believe in yourself. You must be confident to brush aside negative feedback, or otherwise discouraging input from naysayers. Confidence will allow you to be selective in choosing whose opinion or feedback you will take into consideration. People like doing business with confident people.
What were some of the primal challenges and roadblocks that you faced during the initial phase of your journey?
Challenges and roadblocks for me were similar to what I see most entrepreneurs experience. There was uncertainty to overcome earlier in my career, when I chose to launch my own law firm, and leave behind the safety net of working for a large law firm. With both my firm, and with Go Legal Yourself, there were challenges including budgeting, and funding. Of course, there was no shortage of unsolicited advice from people who would say things like “it’s already been done” “you won’t be able to do it” or, “it’s going to take you a long time.” In the end, it all worked out because I had faith and confidence in who I am. John S. Maxwell said it best, “You don’t overcome challenges by making them smaller but by making yourself bigger.”
Where does Go Legal Yourself see itself in the near future and how will you catalyze the change?
Within the next five years, I believe that Go Legal Yourself will be the goto website for people to use to start their businesses. It’s a complete A-Z business startup kit, that goes much further than an online legal document company and has the backing of a law firm. It’s making it completely accessible and affordable for entrepreneurs to properly defend and protect all that they have worked for, from day one.
What is your advice for emerging businesswomen?
Stay true to yourself and be discerning about whose advice you take. Be confident in yourself and be prepared to work for what you believe in. After all, if a woman who made it from nothing can become the first Prime Minister, there’s nothing you can’t accomplish. As Margaret Thatcher so eloquently put it: “I wasn’t lucky. I deserved it.”
Please make sure to watch me on the Emmy and Telly Award winning inspirational reality TV series: Everyday Edisons premiering on Crackle in March 2020. Each episode will feature three inventors competing to have their idea selected by a panel of leading judges.
