Social media has enabled a new type of business to emerge, using the online platforms to communicate directly with their customers and sell during live stream events.
While this new type of selling is more personal and intimate, streamers and social sellers should remember that they are still running a business and need to comply with the same laws and regulations as any other.
This includes keeping appropriate records, declaring income to the tax authorities and adhering to privacy laws.
In addition to this, as social selling businesses scale, they may find themselves needing to comply with health and safety laws to protect their staff, and environmental regulations around packaging or other waste.
At Assent risk management we’ve worked with many start-ups, and even individuals, who need to remain agile in their approach but find themselves needing to comply with standards and legislation.
Social selling brings particular challenges as customers can be anywhere in the world and this may involve local legislation that you are not familiar with.
Here we look at some of the key things that streamers and social sellers should consider in the UK.
Data Protection and Privacy for Social Sellers
Many social sellers use live streams to promote their goods and sell through social media marketplaces.
While, this provides a great and intimate customer experience, social sellers should be careful not to disclose the personal information of their customers to the live stream audience. For example it’s common to film the boxing and posting of a customer’s order, but during this filming it is easy to disclose the customers personal details such as their name and home address on a label.
A disclosure of personal information such as this could expose both the seller and the customer to phishing or other attacks. It could also be considered a data breach and attract fines from the ICO.
If a streamer or social seller is storing or processing any type of personal information such as customer data or staff data they should notify the ICO and appear on the ICO public register.
Assent’s information security and privacy consultants can help you ensure you are compliant with privacy legislation and reduce the risks of disclosing personal information on your live streams and videos, by implementing basic good practices. We can also help you register with the ICO if you haven’t already done so.
Packaging and Sustainability for Social Sellers
While many streamers and social sellers may have an ethical or eco-Approach to their business, they may not be familiar with essential packaging requirements and management of waste as their business grows.
Waste producers have a duty of care to ensure their waste is disposed of properly.
Businesses looking to minimise the impact of their packaging and products might also consider sourcing materials from a sustainable source through a chain-of-custody scheme such as that offered by FSC and PEFC.There are many environmental and sustainability standards out there including ISO 14001 for environmental, ISO 50001 for energy and carbon footprint specific standards which can help businesses manage their impacts. However often these will be excessive for a small streamer or social selling business. Assent’s Environmental Consultants can help you get the benefits of these systems, and promote them to your customers, without causing major disruption to your work. If, as you grow as a business, you require third-party verification through ISO certification we can also support you with this.
Health and Safety Law for Social Sellers
All employers have a duty of care to their staff and anyone else who may be harmed by their activities. If you employ more than five people, you are required to have a documented health and safety policy, risk assessments and other associated arrangements in place.
It’s not unusual for streamers or social sellers to work with friends and family in the early days of their business and therefore the formalities of health and safety may be overlooked but it is important to manage the risks for everyone.
Assent’s health and safety consultants take a pragmatic approach to health and safety. We can help you develop a policy, risk assessments and method statements that are suitable for your small streaming or social selling business and help you manage the risks to remain compliant. We also offer a competent person service for a low monthly fee that will enable you to ask questions about health and safety matters.
Use Your Compliance as a Feature of Your Social Selling Business
Compliance does not have to be a burden. Assent Risk Management takes a practical approach to ensure minimum disruption to your business but maximum protection from fines, prosecution and bad press.
Streamers and social sellers can leverage the protection and benefits of compliance within their content by promoting their positive achievements, for example improving the security of their customers data, using raw materials from a sustainable source or protecting their staff from harm.
Contact our consultants today to talk about how we can make compliance work for you.
