The colours chosen for a logo significantly influence our subconscious perceptions. When you consider that 93% of purchasing judgments are made on visual perceptions, it’s no surprise that colours can subliminally convince prospective clients that your firm is the best choice out there.

To unpack the psychology behind a firm’s colour scheme of choice, 99designs analysed a range of design projects created on the platform to identify the logo colours and brand traits preferred by legal industry clients. We then compared these against the colours that global industry leaders use to figure out what’s going on behind the scenes of some of the world’s biggest firms. Whether it’s giving off an air of quiet sophistication or promoting power, youth and vitality, here’s what the colour of your logo says about your law firm.

Keeping it simple 

It makes sense that lawyers want to be perceived as professional, discreet and sophisticated, so it’s no surprise that an austere, minimalist aesthetic features heavily in the logos of leading law firms.

These top firms have a preference for logos with a single dominant colour, and either a neutral secondary colour or no secondary colour at all. When secondary colours are used, they’re usually neutral: think black, whites and greys that let the dominant colour do the talking.

Smaller firms are more willing to experiment with wider and wilder colour palettes, branching out in hues of two or more different shades. For younger or more niche firms this could be a way to communicate a more progressive and modern edge.

Modern classics

Often, there is a tug of war that occurs over how law firms perceive themselves, and how they wish to be perceived by potential clients.

Somewhat contradictorily, firms tend to have a preference for coming across as both classical and youthful. This can, in part, be put down to a desire to impart a sense of modernity amid the years of history and tradition that underpins the legal industry.

The colour red

The relative popularity of red in legal logos may be attributed to a desire to inject a sense of vigor into the staid tradition of the legal profession. Almost one-fifth of 99designs clients and legal industry leaders opt for this vibrant hue in their branding. It’s a passionate colour, and one often associated with youth and vitality. It’s also a colour signifying power and carrying connotations of strength and victory: a suitable signifier for the adversarial nature of the legal profession.

Blue is the professional’s choice

Among 99designs’ legal clients, blue comes out as favourite making an appearance in 63% of legal logos. Light blue signifies trust and dark blue represents professionalism, so it’s little wonder that this colour palette is popular with firms looking to add a touch of sophistication and credibility to their operations.

However, blue isn’t just the most popular logo colour choice for legal clients – it is a favourite among all industries.

The below graph compares the most popular law firm logo colours among 99designs’ legal clients, legal industry leaders and across all industries.

Data visualizations designed by MH Designs.

The colour black

Black is another popular choice: present in just under a fifth of legal logos. The colour is sleek, modern and commanding: everything a top-tier firm should be.

The colour green

Green is another popular choice, appearing in over a quarter of legal logos created on 99designs. It’s a versatile colour that is vibrant and youthful, but still signifies growth, rebirth and prosperity.

Choosing the right colour for your firm

So now that you understand the importance that colour plays in the perception of your firm, how will you create a logo that fits with the image you want to portray?

The design and colour scheme of your logo will come down to your firm’s unique personality and brand.

If your brand veers towards masculine rather than feminine, colours like brown and dark blue will reflect this to prospective clients. If you’re looking to hit a serious tone in your branding, consider colours like blue and black to give your firm a sense of gravitas. These colours also project luxury and sophistication. If you’re looking to appeal to a mature market, dark blue is a no brainer.

If you seek to inject a sense of freshness and modernity into your firm’s culture, opt for green hues. However, if you want to stand out from the crowd, a powerful, red will convey power, energy and vitality.

In an industry that favours rationalism and reasoning over impulse and intuition, even the simplest logo has the powerful ability to appeal to the subconscious emotional responses of other legal industry players, as well as future clients. Intentionally or not, your law firm’s logo speaks volumes about how your firm is perceived, and it is a decision that should be made with care.

This June, we caught up with Peter Jidesten, CEO of new tech startup iDefendo, to talk file transfers, blockchain technology, and how his company is helping individuals and businesses to protect their intellectual property rights.

What is iDefendo and how can the platform help individuals or businesses?

“iDefendo is a file transfer service that targets IP intensive and creative businesses.

In addition to just transferring files from sender to recipient, we also create a digital timeline of events that can be used to prove that you really did send a specific file at a specific date and time and that a recipient really did download it at some other specific date and time.

These time stamps are then inserted into a blockchain to make them immutable so that you can use them to prove that what you claim happened really did happen. We call these logged timestamps ‘Digital Witnesses’ because that’s really what they are. They don’t prove anything by themselves, but they corroborate our users’ side of the story, and as an iDefendo user you can access them all in an Evidence Binder that we create automatically for you.

We believe that it’s generally good for business and progress when people dare to share their ideas.

It’s our hope that our system can help generate needed trust by making it transparent to the parties in a transaction that everything is logged and provable, and that our digital witnesses are present as a deterrent for anyone who might otherwise think about behaving badly.”

How to did you come up with the idea for iDefendo and what made you decide to use blockchain technology for file transfers?

“We, the founders of iDefendo, have a background as content creators and buyers and sellers of publishing and usage rights. In that space, creators have a very real fear of getting their music, images or ideas stolen. We also talked to inventors, innovators, and entrepreneurs and found the exact same worries in those spaces.

It became clear to us that the point in time when people feel the most unprotected is when they send out their content without a contract in place, so we designed iDefendo to be the tool that you use at that exact point.

Making use of blockchain technology was really almost unavoidable; trust-between-parties-who-don’t-know-each-other is more or less what blockchains are all about, with their distributed ledgers that can be verified by all parties.”

Blockchain technology has been around for a while. What is iDefendo’s key point of difference?

“Indeed, blockchains are not new anymore, and the hype around them is slowly starting to fade. Personally, I welcome that as I think it will make it easier for people to see where blockchains really are the better solution instead of just the hottest buzzword. I’ve seen more than a few implementations where blockchains were shoehorned into solutions where virtually any other data storage technology would have made more sense.

That said, in the right place a blockchain database that can be verified by all stakeholders can create the trust that acts as the grease that makes business run smoother.

But blockchains are highly technical and not necessarily easy to wrap one’s head around. That’s what we hope iDefendo will change by making blockchains useful to all and greasing the wheels of whatever business they are in.”

Being able to prove authorship of documents, when documents were sent and downloaded (and by who) can be critical to a favourable outcome in litigation, particularly in an intellectual property dispute. Has iDefendo experienced much traction in the legal sector and was this something you anticipated before launching?

“When we set out to build iDefendo, our primary target was people in our own backyard – freelancers of all kinds, photographers, songwriters, designers and software developers among others. But when, in preparation for the launch, we spoke to several different lawyers, it soon became clear that legal professionals not only very quickly grasped what we were trying to achieve, they also saw the use for it within their own areas of expertise. Because it’s exactly as you say: being able to prove something is often key. Sure, as a creator of something you generally own the copyright to that something, but how do you prove that? If the something happens to be sensitive or secret, you can’t really register it anywhere. And it’s not always clear from the outset what will be valuable in the future, so even if you could register it you might not be aware that you should until it’s too late.

iDefendo addresses both these problems. First, our digital witnesses are based on cryptographic hashes of whatever content they represent. That means that we don’t have to know anything about the content, or even see the file itself. All we need is the hash – the fingerprint – of the content. And secondly, we automatically log everything so that our users don’t have to worry about forgetting to log something that later will prove to be important.”

In the light of the recent Facebook privacy scandals involving Huawei and Cambridge Analytica, many users are concerned about sending information, particularly commercially sensitive information, using online services. How does iDefendo address these concerns?

“Information security is extremely important to us, for obvious reasons. We’ve built the system using best practices in all areas, with industrial strength end-to-end encryption both while files are in transit and when they are ‘at rest’ within our system. As soon as we don’t need the files anymore because the share has expired, they are securely wiped from our system.

We keep only the files we must keep in order to fulfill the file transfers. And as I mentioned earlier, for highly sensitive information that should never leave the security of the computer or local network, our digital witnesses can still be used without our servers ever seeing the content at all. All we need is a cryptographic hash, and that hash can be created locally within the user’s browser. Cryptographic hashes are the result of one-way hash functions, meaning that they can’t be ‘decrypted’ or leak any information about the content they represent.”

How much does it cost to use iDefendo?

“We have a subscription-based fixed per-seat-per-month pricing that allows virtually unlimited use of the service.

So there are no per-instance fees, once you’re a subscriber you’re free to use the system as much as you want. A subscription costs $120 per user and year, or $12 per month and also includes all necessary storage of the files you send. There is a free tier as well, where we offer much of the same service but that doesn’t include the blockchain-based Digital Witnesses that are automatically created for our paying customers.”

You mention that iDefendo logs everything. How is this compatible with companies’ data retention policies?

“Blockchain records are, as you probably know, immutable. That’s a core feature of the technology, and it’s the primary reason why we use them in iDefendo.

But the immutability might be a problem when you need to clean out something, for compliance or any other reason. To counter that, we’ve built technology that lets users invalidate records that should no longer point back to their owner. By doing so the records are effectively rendered unreadable, and only the owner can re-validate them later as long as they retain the key.

So basically, to remove a record, the user only needs to throw away the validation key in a manner that is consistent with their retention policies. iDefendo does not store these keys in our system at all, so we cannot be called upon to divulge them even if we are subpoenaed.”

Further Information

To learn more, visit iDefendo.

However, several recent international court decisions indicate that linking to certain content online may actually infringe copyright laws.

So how are you potentially exposing your startup to legal risk online?

Balancing access to creative works vs intellectual property rights of creators

Ongoing public policy debate attempts to balance the need to provide community access to creative material and artistic works while also protecting the intellectual property rights of content creators.

One of the primary objectives of copyright law is to incentivise the creation and dissemination of knowledge and creative works by providing a creator with exclusive rights in their work. Due to hyper-interconnectivity and the widespread dissemination of content online, the internet presents a big challenge to content creators when it comes to protecting their creative works and intellectual property rights online.

A recent decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union, however, has the potential to change underlying assumptions about the way information is shared by websites through hyperlinks.

The missing, and possibly infringing, link

In GS Media BV v Sanoma Media, the Court of Justice of the European Union considered whether a publication that linked to private images of a female model through File Factory and ImageShack constituted a copyright infringement.

While visitors to GS Media’s website could access the images by clicking on a hyperlink in its article, the photos were also freely and publicly available online. Internet users were able to download the photos by visiting ImageShack directly.

Sanoma operated an ‘adult entertainment’ business that owned the rights to the images. Sanoma had requested that GS Media stop linking its users to the images, however, GS Media repeatedly ignored these requests. The court ruled that GS Media was in breach of Sanoma’s copyright since
GS Media had profited from inserting the hyperlink to the images on its own website. The issue was that GS Media had made these pictures publicly available through a communication to the public and had profited from that link, while Sanoma had not authorised publication of the images.

The court found that GS Media had knowingly provided a gateway for internet users to acquire files that they could otherwise access free of charge with no barriers.

Elsewhere, in the factually similar United States case of Intellectual Reserve v Utah Lighthouse Ministry, linking and contributory infringement of copyright were at issue. In that case, one party had linked internet users to material that the other party did not wish to be viewed. The court found that there had been a copyright infringement.

Linking this to an Australian context

In 2006, the Federal Court ruled on the interaction between hyperlinks and copyright in the case ‘MP3s4FREE.’ The website’s content almost exclusively provided visitors with links to external websites that stored music files.

Users were able to scroll through the MP3s4FREE website, select and download music for free in spite of protests from record companies and copyright holders. Mr Cooper, the owner of MP3s4FREE, was found to have infringed the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth), as he had considerable power to prevent the download and copy of copyrighted sound recordings as well as the communication of this copyrighted material to the public. While the Federal Court reached a similar conclusion to international decisions, judicial reasoning, in this case, focused largely on Mr Cooper’s ability to prevent the copyright infringement.

You are the weakest link, goodbye

While this area of copyright law has not been thoroughly tested in court in Australia, there are other aspects to hyperlinking that may infringe Australian copyright.

Hyperlinks that contain logos or symbols of the linked website that are sufficiently substantial parts of a copyrighted document may, for example, infringe copyright legislation.

The most obvious example is linking to copyrighted music or a video where the hyperlink contains a ‘preview’ of the audio or video file. Similarly, there may be ramifications for infringing trademark law with this practice.

O, link twice

The above cases are just a few recent examples of the courts wading further into the murky waters of the internet.

If you own a website, whether privately or for your startup, hyperlinking to illegal and copyright-infringing content is a risky practice. Courts around the world are ready to attribute liability to linking websites, even if you are not actually hosting the copyright-infringing content. Merely acting as an online gateway that refers your site visitors to copyright protected material can be sufficient so be cautious when it comes to inserting external links to your pages.

The main point to take away from the cases is that even though judicial reasoning across various jurisdictions has certainly varied, courts are attributing a significant amount of responsibility to websites that provide a gateway to copyright-infringing content.

So, before you create links to all and sundry on your website, think twice and ensure that you connect your customers or visitors to authorised content in an authorised way, or you may be found to have a rather heavy linking problem.

What do you think about copyright infringement and hyperlinking? Let us know in the comments!

“Becoming a leader is synonymous with becoming yourself. It is precisely that simple, and it is also that difficult.” – Warren G Bennis.

Effective leadership can take many forms.

Many of us associate strong leadership with giants like Nelson Mandela and Barack Obama, CEOs, politicians, thought leaders or people who make important scientific breakthroughs. But great leaders are also people who have the capacity to create ripples of positive change – and they can be found anywhere. These people make conscious choices – whether in their personal or business lives – to do the right thing when making small and seemingly insignificant decisions every day.

Leadership everyday

Leaders don’t think less of themselves, they think of themselves less.

Rather than remaining silent, for example, everyday leaders choose to speak up to support a female colleague whose opinions or projects might be overlooked by management in team meetings; rather than stand by and watch a potentially dangerous incident unfold (which could escalate to endanger others), leaders step up to diffuse the situation; rather than look on in passive silence, leaders take action and run to the aid of someone being attacked or abused in the street; rather than follow the social ridicule of another, leaders break the cycle and stop situations where others are suffering public humiliation.

Choosing to do the right thing is the hard thing. It is also the hallmark of someone with integrity and the potential to become a respected and powerful leader in their personal and professional lives.

How to be an industry leader

Leaders in their professional fields are often described as ‘key persons of influence.’

These people have an intimate understanding of their strengths and weaknesses and are unafraid to take calculated business risks when the right opportunities present themselves.

In his best-selling book, “Become A Key Person of Influence (KPI)”, Daniel Priestley writes:

Whether you are chasing a promotion in your current role or looking to establish yourself or your business with a strong personal brand over the next 12-months, effective leadership skills are about being flexible, adaptable, bucking the norm and being able to influence those around you.

With persistence, passion for your industry and a clear strategy, becoming a key person of influence is something that you can achieve this year. According to Priestley:

Want the book? It’s yours – FREE!

To help you achieve your professional and business goals this year, in collaboration with Dent Global, we’re giving away Daniel Priestley’s book “Become A Key Person Of Influence” for FREE.

Receive your free hard copy by clicking here and filling out your details.

About Dent Global:

Dent Global is an international world-leading business accelerator for small, entrepreneurial, service-based businesses, with offices in the UK, USA, Singapore and Australia.

Founded in 2010, Dent is powering the entrepreneur revolution in Australia. Dent specialises in accelerator programs and events, facilitated through their partnerships with celebrated entrepreneurs and leaders who mentor the participants. Dent has helped more than 2000 companies of all shapes and sizes grow and achieve their goals through their accelerator programs: Threshold, Key Person of influence, Campaign Driven Enterprise and 24 Assets. They have also launched three best-selling books on business, won major awards and raised more than $500,000 to charities around the globe.

With Australia’s small business sector buoyant and healthy, Dent Global’s message is fine-tuned for the current climate where there’s no better time to be an entrepreneur than now.

Hashtags have proven to be very valuable tools for businesses, with Facebook, Twitter and Instagram posts that include hashtags returning twice the engagement rate of those without one. While hashtags are too short to be afforded copyright protection (they hardly constitute ‘literary works’, now, do they?) and don’t qualify for patent protection because they are not an invention, it is possible to register a hashtag as a trade mark for your business.

#MakeItYourOwn: Hashtags As Intellectual Property (IP)

Trade marks help with brand recognition and differentiating your business from your competitors.

To qualify for trade mark protection, a hashtag must be something most consumers consider to be synonymous with your business (a brand identifier) and not merely a social media tool. In other words, if most people in the general public associate a hashtag with your product or service, it likely qualifies for trade mark registration. Think #sayitwithpepsi, which was registered as a trade mark by PEPSICO last year, or Twisties’ #lifesprettystraight hashtag.

In most cases, the “#” symbol itself is not considered the registerable part of the trade mark, rather, what follows the hashtag (for example, the unique word or phrase) that is checked against the requirements for trade mark protection.

What Is A Trade Mark And How Do I Get One?

Put simply, a trade mark is a unique descriptor – a logo, word, phrase, sound, smell, shape, picture, movement, aspect of packaging, letter, number, or a combination of these – that helps consumers distinguish between your goods and services and those of other businesses.

Unlike copyright protection, a trade mark does not automatically protect your intellectual property. Trade marks need to be registered with the relevant government authority, IP Australia.

Successfully registering your hashtag as a trade mark gives you exclusive rights to that trade mark for 10 years. If another business infringes those rights by using your hashtag without your permission, you can sue them for damages.

Trade mark protection is, however, subject to some qualifications. You must continue to use your trade mark (if you cease using it for three years you risk having it taken from the register), and it must continue to be regarded as a trade mark. This means that if your hashtag becomes a common name to describe goods or services, it is possible for someone else to seek to have your trade mark cancelled through the courts.

What Value Can A Hashtag Provide Your Business?

As a powerful content indexing tool, hashtags are incredibly valuable particularly given their potential to go viral.

Hashtags are recognised by brands as a low-cost marketing technique that, when used correctly, can be a fast, highly-effective and lucrative way to #jointheconversation and drastically increase audience engagement and sales. When used in conjunction with social media influencer marketing, the potential for growth is enormous.

Some of the most popular campaigns in recent memory have even gained traction with mainstream media outlets, leading to even more market exposure (think about the #MyCalvins campaign).

Increasingly businesses are seeking to not only stake their claim on their plot of digital real estate but also to protect themselves against other businesses who seek to cash in on their popularity. For example, where a competing enterprise piggybacks on the success of your social media stream by using a hashtag you created to promote their marketing agenda.

As the digital landscape becomes more and more crowded, businesses are looking to add value to their social media marketing strategy in more novel and distinctive ways. It seems that trade marking hashtags is a growing trend that is likely to gain much more momentum in the future as it becomes an integral part of brand strategy.

So, how will you differentiate your business from the rest of the digital crowd in 2017?

Further Information

For more guidance on the status of hashtags under trade mark provisions in Australia visit:

• IP Australia – What do hashtags mean for trade marks

To make an application to register your hashtag for trade mark protection visit:

• IP Australia – Hot to apply for a trade mark

Remember, you can change your structure as your business develops but take care when you decide on a particular structure because there are costs and obligations that might affect the choice you make.

Getting your startup’s legal structure right from the beginning is critical as it can impact your expenses, tax consequences, extent of ownership and your overall legal liability. Confused? Let’s go back to basics. In Australia, there are four common legal structures to consider: sole trader, partnership, company and a trust. Each structure has its pros and cons, so let’s go through each one to help you decide which option may be best for you.

Going Solo – Sole Trader Structure

A sole trader is the most common and the simplest legal structure. If you are setting up a low cost small business with limited expected growth, then this may be the structure for you.

Although a sole trader may employ staff, you trade on your own and the business is owned and operated exclusively by you. This means you can make your own decisions, you have no one to answer to and, most importantly, everything belongs to you.

Setting yourself up as a sole trader involves minimal cost, few tax formalities and any assets and profits of the business are included in your personal tax return.

Sole traders are not a separate legal entity so while you reap all profits and benefits, you also personally take on all liabilities and business risks. This means that you personally owe any outstanding amounts to employees, contractors or suppliers. It also means that if someone decides to sue you, legal action is initiated against you personally.

Most importantly, if the business fails it falls solely on you.

Partners In Crime – Partnership Structure

A partnership can be formed when two or more people decide to run a business together with a view to making a profit. It involves an agreement between two or more people to enter a legally binding relationship.

To avoid disputes, a formal partnership agreement should be made setting out, for example, each partner’s responsibilities and share in the profits as well as what is to happen if the partnership is dissolved.

There are different requirements for various types of partnership, depending on which Australian jurisdiction you are setting up your business. In NSW, there are three types of partnership: a normal partnership, a limited partnership and an incorporated limited partnership.

1. A normal partnership is one where all partners are equally responsible and involved in the day-to-day management of the business, and each partner has unlimited liability for both the profits and losses. This type of partnership does not need to be registered under the Partnership Act, but the two other types of partnership must be registered.

2. A limited partnership must be registered through the Australian Business Licence and Information Service (ABLIS),but this type of partnership is more flexible than a normal partnership.

It must consist of at least one general partner, whose liability is unlimited, and at least one limited partner, whose liability is limited to the extent they have invested in the business. A limited partner is more like a passive partner who usually does not contribute to the management of the business. Raising funds in a limited partnership is less complicated. This type of partnership is ideal for a prospective partner who simply wants to invest in the business without being involved in the day to day management and and without accepting liability for the risks associated with general partners.

This type of structure may be suitable for a small to medium business seeking to raise funds in an uncomplicated way without the formalities and requirements of a registered company.

3. An incorporated limited partnership may be the right fit for you if you intend to be engaged in a partnership for venture capital investment purposes. You will need to register as an incorporated limited partnership (ILP).

Partnerships share many of the same advantages as sole traders in their simplicity and inexpensive nature. However, the downside is that a partnership is not a separate legal entity and, consequently, normal partners are jointly responsible for debts and liabilities owed by the business, regardless of who actually incurred the loss.

In Good Company – Company Structure

This structure is better suited to medium to large business enterprises. Unlike a sole trader or partnership structure, a company is a separate legal entity.

A company has the same rights as a person, meaning that it can incur debt, sue and be sued. A company’s owners (shareholders) can limit their personal liability and are generally not liable for company debts.

A company structure is a more expensive and complex legal structure to set up and has higher administrative costs. It must be registered with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and comply with reporting requirements, including initial establishment, regulatory and compliance costs. Company officers and directors must comply with legal obligations under the Corporations Act 2001.

Tax requirements for a company are very different to sole trader and partnership structures. A company pays income tax on its profits at the company tax rate and there is no tax-free threshold.

It may sound like a lot of work but if you need a flexible legal structure which allows you to grow, attract investors, and limit personal liability for company debts, a company can be the most attractive option.

Ready To Commit – Trust

A trust is an entity that holds property or income for the benefit of others. A trustee can be an individual or a company who is obliged to hold and deal with property and assets (business assets) for the benefit of beneficiaries. These can be business partners or family members, for example.

A trust can be expensive to establish and maintain. You will need to create a formal trust deed that sets out the terms of the trust and how the trust is to operate.  There are annual administrative tasks that must be undertaken and, if you operate your business as a trust, the trustee is responsible for its operations. A trust does not need to be registered with ASIC.

Some asset protection is available to the trust if the trustee is a company.

Final Remarks:

• Know your business – Consider how much control you want to have, the future growth of your business, the possibility of needing investors and employees, the amount of risk involved and any assets you may want to protect.
• Uncertain about the future? – Don’t fret. You can change your legal structure throughout the life of your business. As your business grows or changes, you can change its structure.
• Don’t be afraid to ask for help – Setting up a business can be a very complex and confusing process, especially if you decide to set up a company or a trust. Consulting with a professional lawyer or accountant gives you peace of mind knowing that your new venture has been set up correctly from the outset.

Further Information

For more information on starting your own business and choosing the right legal structure for your startup visit:

• Business.gov.au
• Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)
• Fair Trading (NSW)
• Australian Tax Office

To get in touch with a legal professional specialising in startup law, contact:

• General Standards

1. Be nice
2. Practise respect
3. Be genuinely interested in the other person
4. Show gratitude

Generally, extending basic courtesies to others will result in those same decencies being mirrored back two fold. In other words, the type of energy you project in your interactions (positive or negative) tends to attract like energy to you.

Engaging in unethical business practices, being unkind to your competitors, disrespecting business partners, stakeholders, colleagues and staff or even failing to be considerate of the needs and interests of others is the fastest way to permanently damage your business relationships and compromise the success of your organisation.

Have you recently launched your startup, and find that you are scratching your head daily about why you cannot seem to make any headway with certain stakeholders? Maybe you are finding it difficult to form strong and lasting relationships with partners, colleagues or staff.

The answer could lie in taking a good hard look in the mirror and reflecting on your interpersonal skills.

Don’t Be That Guy  

What many business owners do not place enough emphasis on is the principle in life that kindness often gets you further than force.

Many CEOs, managing directors, founders, startup owners and leaders of industry spend years labouring under the misapprehension that their degree of brusqueness is directly correlated with their level of success. They are quick to temper, pace around the office frenetically, type franticly, voice views loudly and aggressively, express themselves at meetings with impatience and frustration, fail to respond to emails and do not set aside time to listen to colleagues or employee concerns.

The idea is that by cultivating a discourteous business culture, others will assume these leaders are wildly successful and avoid disturbing their workflow unless absolutely necessary. But this strategy exposes more about the personalities of individuals than anyone would like to think, as the root cause of bad behaviour always reveals its true nature:

Behavioural inflation in the form of rude or aggressive mannerisms, putting others down, having unrealistic expectations of business partners, staff or colleagues and being ‘too busy to be polite’ are all symptoms of poorly-developed interpersonal skills, low emotional intelligence and deep-seated insecurities. These traits are often the hallmarks of people who are not coping in their business or personal life. 

Unfortunately, many new entrepreneurs and startup owners believe that imitating the bad habits of successful leaders, through hostile behaviour, manipulation and tough business negotiation, will garner automatic respect among their peers and professional networks. In reality, this is an instant formula for failure.

Given their vastly different leadership and interpersonal styles, for example, would you rather collaborate with Richard Branson or Donald Trump?

Rather than solidifying your status as a negotiation ninja, your reputation for being abrasive and disingenuous will solidify the resolve of key stakeholders never to deal with you. Being quietly convincing,  genuinely respectful, polite and adding real value, on the other hand, wins lasting and mutually beneficial business relationships.

Some Hard & Fast Rules For Keeping Your Business Bridges Un-Burned 

Successful startups are built on the back of strong networks.

When it comes to establishing good business practice and genuine business relationships – it’s all in the detail. If you recognise any of the above leadership qualities in your current business interactions, the good news is that it is possible to instantly improve the way others respond to you, and your business, with some small behavioural tweaks.

1. Never inconvenience others by imposing a short deadline

Wherever possible, try not to impose tight deadlines.

Instead ask that the action to be completed “at a time that is convenient to” the person you are making the request of. It shows you respect their ability to prioritise your request, your awareness of their existing workload as well as your appreciation of their limited time and resources.

While this approach typically requires less from others, it demands more from you. The onus is on you to exercise leadership by closely managing business timeframes so that more buffer time is factored into project deadlines.

When a looming deadline is genuinely critical, and may require turnaround within the hour or COB, that person will be happy to help you by prioritising your task over their BAU work.

2. Never impose false deadlines

A false deadline occurs when you tell someone that a particular item is extremely urgent, and requires their immediate attention, but in reality that urgency does not exist.

Putting people under pressure to perform, particularly in instances where no real urgency exists, is a surefire way to build resentment and destroy productive working relationships. This is compounded in situations where you may have imposed the tight timeframe deliberately to allow yourself more time to look over the finished product before sending it off.

Always give someone (whether they are a business partner, peer or staff member) as much time as possible to complete a task. If you must impose a deadline, make sure it is a real one.

If priorities change during the day, you should let that person know that the urgency has dropped away from their task. This allows them to take a breath, ease their foot off the accelerator, and do a more thorough job.

3. Look with your eyes and not your mouth

When arranging a meeting, avoid wasting the time of invitees.

Everyone hates being required to exchange dozens of emails to set up a convenient time and date, especially if the date must be re-negotiated several times before being set. This approach is unnecessarily disorganised and frustrating for everyone involved. Importantly, it leaves people external to your organisation with the distinct impression that meeting you is more trouble than it is worth.

A better approach is to look at your calendar and determine when you are, and when you are not, available before sending out the invite. Let the other participant know your availability either via calendar invite, email or over the phone.

If they have all relevant information they are in a better position to fit in with you and, in one or two exchanges, the time and date can be locked in.

4. Never ask someone to repeat themselves

Never ask for information to be repeated, or an email to be re-sent, if you already have that information somewhere where you can readily access it. For example, requesting contact details or a phone number, if that person has already sent it to you in a prior exchange.

Everyone hates repeating themselves. It is an unequivocal waste of time, especially at high-levels. It sends a strong message that you are unreliable, disorganised and do not pay attention to detail – qualities that smart people in business shy away from.

Accept that your time is no more precious than anyone else’s.

If you need to spend 5-10 minutes looking through your emails, or sorting papers on your desk, rather than eating into someone else’s day by requesting that the information be re-sent, then do it! 

5. Hold up your end of the deal!

If you commit to something in a business transaction, stick to your side of the bargain.

Do not assume that the other person will forget what you have agreed. If they have fulfilled their obligations, fulfil yours without an attempt to underhandedly change the goal posts.

Doing anything less than what was agreed leaves a bad taste in everyone’s mouth and people will be reluctant to do business with you in the future.

6. Drop the attitude of expectation and be humble

If someone does you a favour, let them know you appreciate it.

For example, if they have introduced you to an important business contact, agreed to partner with your business, or even agreed to write a guest post for your business blog. Always ensure you recognise the time, effort and value that person has added to your business by showing your appreciation.

If someone’s actions have produced a particularly positive outcome for you, make sure you let them know! This generates feelings of goodwill and mutual support and they will be more likely to collaborate with you again. Failing to do so breeds bitterness and mistrust – they will wonder why you kept them in the dark by not passing on the good news they played an important role in achieving.

One of the quickest and easiest ways to make yourself a likeable person in business is to go above and beyond what people expect of you. It can be as simple as a short but meaningful email saying thank you and mentioning how much you value their input, time and support.

Positive emotions form strong foundations for lasting working relationships.

At The End Of The Day

There is no excuse for being discourteous to others.

A fledgling startup cannot afford to alienate potential business partners with a leader who does not value good business practices and basic professional etiquette. Experienced business owners and entrepreneurs associate these habits with unexperienced leaders who are masking inner vulnerabilities, a lack of subject-matter knowledge and an inability to cope in complex business or social situations.

Rather than moving you forward in your startup journey, poor professional behaviour always has a way of holding you, and your business, back.

So who do you want to be in business? A dealmaker of a dealbreaker?

What personal or professional qualities have you come across in your startup journey that you admire? Which ones do you dislike? Let us know in the comments section below! 

Like your stomach is yanked through your mouth while all the oxygen is simultaneously sucked from the room. You feel overwhelmed, helpless and foolish for making one of the classic blunders and trusting the wrong person with your information.

It may have happened in the workplace where a colleague passes off one of your ideas as their own to beat you to a promotion. It may have occurred in a confidential environment, such as a job interview, where an original idea shared to establish your credibility, originality and employability, is misused to that employer’s personal benefit. Worst of all, your idea for a new entrepreneurial or business venture may be stolen by a competitor. This can happen either through information you share directly with that person before launching, or through copycat behaviour once your business is established.

Both scenarios can have a serious negative impact on your personal wellbeing and that of your business.  At the end of the day, nobody enjoys sitting in a reflective mood humming a sad rendition of Sufjan Stevens’ “Should Have Known Better.” 

When someone steals your business idea, you have a few options:

1) take the higher ground and do nothing; or

2) learn from what a lawyer in your position would do and find a mechanism to protect yourself and your business the right way.

A Long History of Idea Thieves 

As human beings, we are hard-wired to share. We love to spread word of our achievements and success.

In the case of an exciting new business or entrepreneurial venture, our propensity to share a new idea can often mean taking a risk and revealing sensitive information.

This split-second decision to exercise trust over caution has defined the careers of many experienced business owners and entrepreneurs. Some of the most famous business ideas in history, for example, were ripped off from someone else. Think Facebook, Twitter, Hulu and Paypal.

These successful enterprises were built on the back of someone else’s idea.

In Australia, a few options are available to you if someone rips off your business idea.

Working Smart: Is It Legally Possible To Protect A Business Idea?

When someone uses your business idea without your permission, your chosen course of action will depend on your specific circumstances and the outcome you seek.

In Australia, protecting an idea under Copyright laws is extremely difficult.

Jamie White, Solicitor Director & Owner of Pod Legal, explains:

It is very difficult to protect a business idea or concept in Australia. Copyright law most certainly won’t protect an idea itself, it will only protect an expression of an idea.

For example, if you have an idea for a new home delivery service, then copyright would only protect your written documents, diagrams or manuals relating to, or describing, the idea.

In some circumstances, a patent may be granted for business methods, processes or products. However, minimum thresholds must be met in terms of inventiveness and innovativeness.”

This means that if someone acts on information that you express to them during a casual conversation, there is very little you can do to protect that original idea, or prevent that person from acting on your information and launching a competing business.

Taking On The Big Bad Fox: What Are Your Legal Rights If Someone Uses Your Business Idea Without Your Permission?

An understanding of your basic rights puts you in a solid position to protect yourself against opportunistic idea thieves.

If you’re not careful, people with their eyes and ears open to fresh opportunities can easily shoot your business out of the water before you even start.

If you have an idea for a business you have not yet launched, or an idea for a new project for your existing venture, plan a watertight strategy to protect yourself and your business from imitators.

When it comes to protecting your business ideas in Australia:

It is very difficult to prevent a person from using or copying your business idea.

Therefore, it is very important to ensure that a good strategy is implemented when launching a new business idea. For example, it may be very useful to keep plans around the new business idea confidential until such time that the idea is launched. This may be achieved via the use of confidentiality agreements and can increase the lead time before any imitators launch their offerings. Also, a strong distinctive brand name for a new offering can be of big benefit, ensuring that consumers are aware of the source of a new product or service and it is not confused with any imitators.

Finally, hitting the ground running with a new idea – this can assist to ensure that you enjoy exclusivity for a longer period of time” explains Jamie White.

Trust No One: What If Your Business Idea Is Communicated In A Confidential Environment? 

In certain situations, it is easy to be lulled into a false sense of security about the level of detail you share about your business ideas.

In environments such as employment interviews, nerves are rife. One targeted question from the selection panel about your past experience, interests or hobbies can easily send you down the path of no return. In this situation, you may unknowingly reveal confidential details about your business venture to impress a potential employer, to demonstrate your ambition and creative vision or to highlight your overall employability.

If someone from your interview panel subsequently makes unauthorised use of this information without your permission:

Action may be taken for breach of confidentiality in these circumstances.

It is always best if the obligation of confidentiality is documented by way of written agreement, as this will assist a court to determine what the confidential information actually comprises of and for what purpose the confidential information was disclosed” says Jamie White.

With Experience Comes Wisdom: What Strategies Are Available To You To Protect Your Business Ideas In The Future?

In the business and startup world, trusting others with information about your business ideas, business model, marketing strategy or business plans, can be a poisoned chalice.

Always be conscious that your competitors may be listening.

If you must share your business ideas with a third party, wherever possible, use a confidentiality agreement (also known as a non-disclosure agreement). This legal contract protects your information and acts as a deterrent against someone disclosing, or acting on, your information without your permission.

In the eyes of the law, confidentiality agreements put matters beyond doubt as to who has breached a legal obligation. This makes it much easier for a court to determine what has been agreed, to what extent someone has breached that agreement and, therefore, what remedies you are entitled to.

O-Rule: Only reveal sensitive information to others, including friends, family and those working within your organisation, on a need to know basis.

What Outcome Or Remedy Can You Expect?

Without written evidence of a breach of confidence, it is difficult to prove that someone has breached an obligation to you.

It would be up to a court to determine whether there has been a breach of an obligation to maintain confidence in relation to your business idea, and whether you should be awarded a remedy. Without documentation to support your claims, litigation can be drawn out, costly and rapidly devolve into a ‘he said she said’ scenario.

If you lose your case, you are responsible not only for paying your own legal fees, but also the legal fees of the person you are bringing an action against.

For small business owners, this option is often unfeasible.

Prepare your business strategy early to avoid nasty surprises.

Always ensure your business ideas are protected with a confidentiality agreement. This way, if someone breaches an obligation to maintain that confidence, you will be in a sound position to prove this in a clearly documented agreement.

Jamie White says:

“In the event that a person threatens or actually breaches an obligation to maintain confidence with respect to a new business idea (or anything else), then remedies may include injunctions and damages.”

Conclusion

While people are biologically pre-programmed to share new ideas and information, we are also predisposed towards opportunistic behaviour, particularly in the business world.

In the right circumstances, everyone (even lawyers) can be drawn in and manipulated into making a decision, or taking action, that is against their better judgement. When it comes to sharing a good idea with others, the best defence is a good offence.

Always exercise hyper-vigilance in your dealings with others and, wherever possible, use confidentiality agreements when you must share sensitive information.

Work smart and take the fight to your competitors the right way by preventing a potential legal conflict before it arises.

Have you had a similar experience in the startup or business world? What did you do about it? Let us know in the comments section below!

Further Information

To get in touch with a legal professional specialising in intellectual property, social media law or technology law, contact:

• Pod Legal (VIC, QLD)
• Phone: 1800 POD LEGAL (1800 763 534)

For more information about patents, contact:

• IP Australia