A Self Guru Empowers Small Businesses with Legal Compliance in the Digital Age

TL; DR: In a world where eCommerce reigns supreme, have you ever wondered what it takes to ensure your business stays on the right side of the law as you build your brand? You’re not alone. A Self Guru, founded and run by lawyer Amira Irfan, provides the expert compass you need to navigate the legal intricacies of the digital age. With her up-to-date templates and expert guidance, you can focus on growing your business — without the legal headaches.

If you have an eCommerce business, then you probably know you should also have a privacy policy, terms and conditions, a cookie policy, and a copyright policy, just to name a few.

But let’s be honest: Small business owners often find themselves in uncharted waters when tackling issues that range from the intricacies of data privacy to the evolving realm of digital law. It’s not unheard of for business owners to copy and paste prewritten policies onto their websites and then check it off the to-do list.

Unfortunately, it’s not that simple.

Amira Irfan, Founder of A Self Guru, knows this all too well. As a lawyer, Amira started A Self Guru to coach, educate, and connect with entrepreneurs who may not understand the intricacies of US and international law.

Her journey — like that of her father — began with a lesson learned.

“I saw a huge gap in business owners not starting their business legally and making all kinds of legal mistakes, and I knew I could make a real difference for these entrepreneurs,” she said.

Today, Amira aims to bridge the knowledge gap by providing guidance and resources to entrepreneurs who need help understanding local laws and ensuring compliance in the rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Amira didn’t just jump into law school and begin blogging overnight; she came from a modest upbringing where she started out as a teacher as her father began running his own business.

Her father started with a $100,000 loan, which is substantial for anybody, no matter the business. But in his second year of entrepreneurship, he was sued for a devastating $90,000 by a friend who agreed to do freelance work for the company.

A difficult year later and an entire year’s salary gone, the lawsuit had finally ended. The lawsuit had come and gone all because her father didn’t enter into this contract with that freelancer.

It was then that Amira realized she had to help other entrepreneurs stay compliant with their small businesses — and the rest is history.

That is, until a few years ago.

“I worked for more than a decade as a lawyer, but I felt my growth was limited. When you’re working one-on-one as a lawyer, you can only help so many people at a time,” Amira said. “I wanted to take my legal and business expertise into the online space to make a bigger impact, reach more people, and, more importantly, help more entrepreneurs.”

This was when Amira decided to start A Self Guru, a blog and coaching platform where Amira educates current or aspiring business owners on the legal compliance and laws that come with owning a small business.

“I saw a huge gap in business owners not starting their business legally and making all kinds of legal mistakes, and I knew I could make a real difference for these entrepreneurs.”
— Amira Irfan, Founder of A Self Guru

“In the online space, you can create digital products and programs to reach many more people within the same time frame,” Amira explained. “This was the big reason I wanted to bring my expertise to the online world.”

Amira offers business tools and a few free resources, but her program also includes contract templates, one-on-one coaching, legal audits, and contract review and drafting.

Amira said there are four common issues she sees time and time again in terms of legal challenges that most small businesses face on the internet. Here’s her advice:

1. Website compliance issues and privacy laws: You have to consider how to make your website legal because you may not even be aware you’re breaking some laws, such as privacy laws. There are local and international privacy laws, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), that you may have heard of but don’t know how to comply with.
2. Social media liability and risk: Always have disclaimers and legal documents for anything you post on the internet or social media. Amira also suggests having additional legal documents on your website to protect yourself as the creator and business owner.
3. Terms and conditions for selling products: You should always have terms and conditions for any product or service you sell. Many business owners aren’t aware of how essential these can be until there’s a chargeback or refund situation. They’re easy fixes that can be avoided with the proper policies and templates.
4. Copyright violations for images and content: Amira warns that just because it’s easy to hit “copy and paste” doesn’t mean you should. Sometimes, people are unaware of copyright laws when copying an image or content. The next thing they know, they’re hearing from an attorney for violating their client’s terms or copyrighted content.

Amira emphasized that simply displaying terms and conditions on your site isn’t enough: You also need consent from your customers to be legally bound by them, which is why many websites will ask you to agree to the terms and conditions before using a service.

Another pressing issue many business owners may not have yet considered is the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools and large-language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT for content creation.

Using generative AI for content creation is increasingly common — with around 36% of employees relying on it to generate content for their work. But that comes with certain challenges and considerations.

“People often assume they can use an AI tool to do a lot of things, but the truth is that the tool’s terms probably will prevent you from doing what you want,” Amira said. “Before you use a tool like this, make sure you fully understand those terms or, at the very least, consult with a lawyer to learn what you can and can’t use.”

For example, ChatGPT’s terms read: “You may not represent that output from the Services was human-generated when it is not.”

ChatGPT is the most widely used generative AI tool, so it’s no surprise that by 2026, as much as 90% of online content is expected to be AI-generated. Business owners need to understand the legal implications and ethical considerations of this transformative trend, with common issues being copyright infringement and data privacy violations.

And, of course, that’s just one of the scenarios where A Self Guru can help.

Legal compliance got a whole lot more complicated once businesses began going online. There’s a higher urgency to protect customer/user data and ensure compliance in the ever-evolving technology landscape.

In fact, nobody’s immune.

“Even major corporations like Google and Facebook have faced lawsuits for privacy breaches. These laws are continually evolving and becoming more strict because of these issues,” Amira said. “So you just want to ensure you do your due diligence and follow those compliance procedures.”

Here’s a rundown of the essential checklist that every startup should complete:

Watch on

But even lawyers need to stay on top of their game. Amira said the law isn’t always black and white, and there’s often a lot of gray area to sift through to make sense of what legal documents should contain.

But staying compliant and ahead in a rapidly changing market is not just a matter of following the rules; it’s a strategic imperative for the success and longevity of your business. That’s one of the benefits of working with someone like Amira.

With A Self Guru, you get free lifetime updates on templates or coaching whenever a law pertaining to your business changes. She does the hard work of reviewing statute revisions and updates for free so her customers don’t have to figure out what’s changed or may be missing in their legal documents. She’ll also educate you on those changes and why they were made so you can stay in the loop.

“As a lawyer and online business owner, I get it — all of this stuff can be very overwhelming, frustrating, and time-consuming,” Amira said. “I tried to make things super easy for business owners who purchased from me, so it’s at least one headache that they don’t have to worry about. And they can focus on growing their business instead.”

Amira also rewards her customers through her generous affiliate program. Check out Amira’s website, A Self Guru, for more information about what she can do to help your business stay compliant and safe in the complex legal landscape of the digital age.