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Is Your Pricing Legally Sound? Build Trust, Set Boundaries, Protect Your Business (Part 1)
Episode 19 • 17th November 2025 • The Pricing Lady • Janene Liston
00:00:00 00:24:09

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Speaker:

In this episode of The Pricing Lady, I

sit down with Vena Vega-Danemar of Legally

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She Can to talk about pricing and legal.

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This is part one of a two part series.

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Please note this conversation

is for information only.

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It's not legal advice and does not

create a lawyer client relationship.

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I had loads of questions for Vena.

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You're going to love this.

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So sit back, relax, and enjoy the episode

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. Janene: Hello and welcome everyone

to The Pricing Lady podcast, where

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smart business owners price with

purpose and profit with clarity.

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Today I'm very excited to have my

guest, Vena Verga-Danemar, from Legally

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She Can here with us on the show.

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Hi Vena.

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Hello there, Janene.

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Hi everyone who's listening today?

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Oh, it's not live is.

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No, it's not.

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But that's okay.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Hello to those of you who are listening.

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Vena, why don't we start with a couple

of quick questions, first of all?

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Sure.

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Where are you calling in from today?

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I am calling from my office that also

doubles as my podcast studio in Zurich,

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also known as the Danemar Household.

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Vena, what would you call your superpower?

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My superpower.

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So I would say there I have two

superpowers the most I think what

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a a lot of people know is I can

simplify complicated legal stuff.

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Mm-hmm.

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My second superpower is, I would say,

based on my scale of being able to speak.

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Two languages fluently.

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And when I say speak two languages, it's

not English or German because mm-hmm.

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My German is so bad, but rather I

can balance, the two languages of

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law and entrepre entrepreneurship.

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Mm-hmm.

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You will always see me sometimes

pushing back on legal advice

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that don't really reflect on the

realities of small business owners.

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Mm-hmm.

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Or at the opposite of the spectrum,

you, you'll see me correcting business

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advice that contradicts legality.

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So I think my superpower is.

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Being able to guide my clients

in a more balanced center path.

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Mm-hmm.

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That has still, that allows them to

be protected and at the same time

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still has the business momentum.

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Right.

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The freedom to operate.

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I love that.

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Exactly.

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I love that.

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What's one interesting thing

you'd like to share with us that

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most people don't know about you?

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Most people knew that I

started my business as a

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product-based business owner.

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Mm-hmm.

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But what.

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A lot of people don't know is that when

I started this, business, I actually

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handmade and hand delivered our products.

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We were doing, um, quiet books for

toddlers, uhhuh, and in the beginning

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I have my child on tool wrap around

me and I was delivering 20 books at

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a time in Zurich and neighboring.

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Contents.

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Mm-hmm.

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So I, I wanted to share this

experience because I wanted people

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to know that, you know, you can

start a business from scratch.

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Mm-hmm.

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And by the time we closed it in 2013,

we were already exporting it to the eu.

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Mm-hmm.

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And this experience, I think

also explains why I have so much.

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Empathy mm-hmm.

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Towards my clients, because when I

say that I understand what they're

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going through, I, I actually

do because I walk their path.

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I love that.

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Excellent.

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We're learning so much about you.

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Mm-hmm.

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Why don't we turn this a little bit

and you can share with us what your

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business currently is and the mm-hmm.

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Kind of value you bring clients.

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Vena: Yes.

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So right now my business

is Legally She Can.

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Mm-hmm.

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And this really started

at the height of COVID.

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As I mentioned a while ago, I

jumped into entrepreneurship

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as a product-based business.

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But during COVID there was a global

delay in transportation of products.

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Mm-hmm.

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And we were heavily dependent

on this one particular felt that

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you can only import in Korea.

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So the problem was because 80% of our

product is made out of this felt, and the

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product is CE marked, meaning you cannot

just change the process and the materials.

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Mm-hmm.

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I found myself having lots of time

because the delivery and the, you know,

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making the products were all delayed.

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Right.

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So, because I had so much time,

I said, you know, why don't

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I do all of these q and as.

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Because I still have a lot of

colleagues who because they knew I was

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a lawyer in my previous life, mm-hmm

ask me about cross border sales.

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My idea was just to give

back to the community.

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Mm-hmm.

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So I hosted Q&As in 2020, by 2021 it grew

to full blown webinars almost monthly.

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Janene: Wow.

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Vena: And then I saw a problem.

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Mm-hmm.

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The usual problem that is

being faced by my audience.

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They always see legal as very

expensive, overwhelming, complicated.

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Mm-hmm.

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And so the tendency was they would

depend on blind Google search or

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free templates or free generators,

which will always lead to more drama.

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Mm-hmm.

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And so also during this time, we know

that everyone are already online and

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that there was no one source of truth.

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Mm-hmm.

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The blogs that we see online,

they're all dominated by US lawyers.

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Mm-hmm.

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Whose advice are correct, but

it's insufficient once we are

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dealing with EU and Swiss clients.

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Mm-hmm.

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And also there's the problem with

lawyers, traditional lawyers who

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are just using the framework that is

applicable to brick and mortar companies

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and applying it to small businesses

that are doing their business online.

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Mm-hmm.

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Or they would be using a

framework that can only be used

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for multinational companies.

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Right.

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So, of course I cannot blame them

because online business is something

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that is not taught in law school.

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Mm-hmm.

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Mm-hmm.

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So.

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I found myself, actually, you saying

what I've experienced as a, uh, as

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an online business owner myself.

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Mm-hmm.

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And I was trying , to close this

gap mm-hmm through Legally She Can.

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So I focused on legal education,

legal information, and my idea

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was, if I can help you align your

business, it'll be easier for

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your clients to trust you faster.

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The main goal I want for my clients

to reach is legal empowerment.

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Mm-hmm.

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Yeah.

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Because I believe that if you are

clear, you have legal clarity,

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it'll build trust and if you have

trust, then it'll build growth.

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Mm-hmm.

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Yeah.

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Super.

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Janene: I always find when we

talk and we've been, working

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together with each other.

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Yes.

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With Paulina.

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Yes.

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I keep finding so many parallels.

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I keep joking that pricing and legal

aren't considered the sexiest things.

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Vena: No, no, exactly.

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But they are important,

but very important.

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Yes, yes, yes, yes.

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Yeah.

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Yes.

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I actually believe that, you know,

pricing and legal, you should use both

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of these as a way to sift your clients.

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Janene: Yeah.

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Vena: This is how you will protect your

personal and your business boundaries.

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Janene: Mm-hmm.

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, Vena: You become more choosy with the

people that you work with, and this always

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translates to you not having clients

that will just lead to headache later on.

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Janene: Right, right, right.

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Yeah.

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I love that you bring this up.

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Vena: Yes.

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Janene: There were two reasons I

wanted to have you on the show.

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Vena: Yes.

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Janene: One is to raise awareness

of the legal aspects in pricing that

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small businesses tend to overlook.

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Yes.

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And then also to help my

audience understand mm-hmm.

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How to stay compliant in the context of

pricing without feeling that overwhelm.

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Right?

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Yes.

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So pricing's already overwhelming enough.

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Vena: Exactly.

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Janene: I think a lot of people aren't

aware there may be some legal, things

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to consider when it comes to pricing.

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Yes.

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And so I wanted to make sure that we

had the opportunity to talk about that.

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Yes.

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Before we get into that, I have two

questions, maybe three, just to dig into

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your own pricing journey for a moment.

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Becuase that's what I usually talk

about with my guests on the show.

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Mm-hmm.

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When you first had to set a price for that

first product or that first thing that

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you offered, what was that like for you?

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Vena: Oh, I didn't know what to do.

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Because as a lawyer, we were

taught that you should treat it as

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a profession and not a business.

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So it's not a money making venture.

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So when I jumped into entrepreneurship,

I didn't have an idea what to do.

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Because, well, for one, I jumped

into entrepreneurship just thinking

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that since I was advising, business

clients, I would definitely know how

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to price or how to do my pricing right.

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Or do the business.

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But no, it's not.

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When I jumped into entrepreneurship,

I didn't have that, what

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I call pricing muscle.

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Mm-hmm.

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And so my instinct was, of course, like

everyone else, they would look around.

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I looked around and that gave me a

sense of what the market was doing.

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Mm-hmm.

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And how people were

positioning themselves.

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Mm-hmm.

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But at the same time, it was the

fastest way to end up to, you know

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what I call raise to the bottom.

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Yeah.

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Because you are just comparing prices.

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And that is also a way where you

will just look like everyone else.

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Mm-hmm.

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Or that's also the reason

why you would burn out before

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your business actually grow.

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Right.

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Or grew.

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So the shift came a few years in when

I was already starting legally She Can.

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I found myself still working 60

hours a week, like I was in a

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law firm trading time for money.

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I thought that, you know, I'm giving so

much value to my clients and they kept on

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telling me, you should raise your prices.

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And that hit the, you know, the, that

was the point that I realized I need

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to increase my prices, right and let

the value that I bring be my guide.

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Mm-hmm.

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Mm-hmm.

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And as I've mentioned a while ago,

pricing became a boundary to me.

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I realized that those people who really

wants to work with you, they will pay.

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Yeah, and I actually equate this

with having contracts, for example.

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Because everyone, or most of my clients

who would go to me, they would say,

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please don't make a contract that is so

long because it'll scare my clients away.

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But no, your pricing, your legalities,

they actually do the opposite thing.

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Mm-hmm.

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They attract serious clients because

they know that you are serious.

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Right.

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And that's the way they

will value you more.

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Right.

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Yeah.

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Let your prices, your

pricing, sift your clients.

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Janene: I love that.

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Using it as a filter.

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Vena: Yeah.

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Yes, exactly.

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Exactly.

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Janene: Absolutely.

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Absolutely.

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And what would you say was

your biggest learning over

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the years about pricing then?

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Vena: If you have a pricing that

reflects the value that you give mm-hmm.

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You will have more time and

energy to deliver your services.

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And that is actually the goal here.

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To have a sustainable growth, to be in

a place where you can sustainably grow.

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Mm-hmm.

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And you can achieve this through

better pricing that reflect your value.

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Janene: Mm-hmm.

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Love it.

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Excellent.

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Okay.

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Vena: We have so much parallels.

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Janene: There are, there really are

boundaries and all of these things.

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Exactly.

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It's really quite, it's

really quite interesting.

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I agree.

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Trust.

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So now let's shift a little bit, 'cause

I'd like to get into some of these

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legal and pricing related questions.

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Yes.

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My first question is around jurisdiction.

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So if you're here in Switzerland

and you have clients in the EU or in

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the or in the US, what rules apply?

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Mm-hmm.

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Where, you know, what's the general

rule of thumb for understanding that?

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Or if you're in the US and you

have clients over here mm-hmm.

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What, what applies and what doesn't

or what do you need to be aware of?

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Yeah.

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Vena: So yeah, that's a very good

question because it will frame,

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I think, our whole conversation.

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Exactly.

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So yeah, first things first.

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I'd like to put it out there.

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Mm-hmm.

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That people always find legal overwhelming

because they think that these are

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just random rules applied randomly.

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So I would always say to my clients

and to the, to the audience.

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Mm-hmm.

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That you should understand

the why behind the rules.

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If you understand the why, it'll

be easier for you to remember this.

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So when it comes to pricing,

there are three things.

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Mm-hmm.

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I would say that I want people

to remember first is you have to

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differentiate if you are working with.

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Clients that are consumers and

clients that are businesses.

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Okay.

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B2C and B2B.

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Mm-hmm.

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Because when you are dealing with

consumers, there are laws that we call

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consumer protection, laws consumer loss.

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Mm-hmm.

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And these are the rules that you

need to follow because the laws

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wants to protect the consumers.

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Which are usually the weaker party mm-hmm.

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In this relationship.

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Mm-hmm.

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And these rules do not apply usually

if you are dealing with B2B or

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business to business scenario.

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Right.

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Wherein there is more flexibility,

you could agree on the terms that

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will govern your relationship.

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Mm-hmm.

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So that is the reason why people

are confused, because they're

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also confusing the relationship.

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Is it B2C or B2B?

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That's number one.

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The second thing, which you

asked a while ago was, mm-hmm.

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If we are talking about consumer

rules, consumer protection laws mm-hmm.

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You have to take into account not only

the rules where you are located, but also

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the rules where the consumer is located.

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Mm-hmm.

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Because otherwise it'll defeat the laws.

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You know, you have a US business

saying that I will not follow the

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consumer rules in the EU, even if

they have EU clients or Swiss clients.

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Mm-hmm.

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Because they're not in the eu.

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So it defeats the purpose, isn't it?

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Right.

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The purpose of, uh, consumer laws is

to protect the consumer, so you follow

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the rules where your clients are.

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Mm-hmm.

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Which also means that if you

are in Switzerland mm-hmm.

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You have EU clients, you need to

follow consumer laws in the EU.

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Okay.

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So that is a B2C.

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Mm-hmm.

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If it's B2B, as I've mentioned a

while ago, you can agree on the terms.

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Mm-hmm.

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Which also means you can agree on what

laws will apply in your relationship.

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Ah, that's the difference.

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Okay.

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And the third thing that I would

like the listeners to really

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remember is the word transparency.

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It will.

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It's the why to all of this

that we are talking about.

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You are required to be transparent

in your dealings with your clients.

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May it be consumers or business owners.

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Yeah.

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Okay.

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So I hope that you know that that

summary that helps and makes you

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really understand what will apply

to me or what loss will I follow.

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Janene: Yeah, I admit,

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I never thought about about it,

the difference between B2C and B2B.

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Yes.

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But that makes absolute sense.

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Yes.

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That's really interesting.

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And when it comes to transparency, we

used to always kind of joke in my former

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lives that you, you know, the laws were

to be as transparent as possible with

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your customer's yes and as intransparent

as possible towards your competition.

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Vena: Yes.

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I mean, of course you don't want them to

just look at you and what you're doing.

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Janene: Which trying to do those

two things at the same time, yes.

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In the public form are quite challenging.

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Vena: There's a balance.

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Okay.

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And that balance is something

that we cannot just teach.

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It's something that you

learn through experience.

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Janene: Right, right, right.

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I mean, and some things also, I would

guess depend on the type of business or

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the size of the business, the amount of

market share you have so on and so forth.

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Yes.

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But if we're talking about

small businesses mm-hmm.

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We probably don't have to worry so much

about market share and things like that.

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Mm-hmm.

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My next questions are around, especially

here in in Europe where you have, VAT.

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Mm-hmm.

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And there are some rules

about displaying prices.

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You know, funnily enough, one of the

most often asked questions I get is,

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should I put prices on my website?

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But no one's actually asked me what

they should put on their website

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Exactly in terms of they should

ask how to display it, right?

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Yes.

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So when are businesses legally

required to show a price.

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Mm-hmm.

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And when does VAT come?

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When do they have to

include it or not include?

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Or do they have to?

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Mm-hmm.

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Vena: Yeah.

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Alright, so let's talk about

VAT because it'll connect later

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on to your other question,

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Uhhuh.

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So we have to ground this VAT.

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Also, during my webinars, I'm always

asked, you know, should I put VAT?

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My next question is,

are you even registered?

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Why are you talking about

VAT if you're not registered?

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Because VAT, it's a tax on

consumption, meaning it is the

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end user, it is your client, the

end user who actually pays for it.

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You as a business owner, all you have

to do is to charge it, collect it, and

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then remit it to the tax authorities.

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Mm-hmm.

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And because that is your only

role in this, relationship.

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You can only show and charge

VAT if you are VAT registered.

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That's the number one rule.

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Mm-hmm.

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The next question is, when

do you need to register?

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Well, it depends on several

scenarios and we don't have time

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to go through all of them today.

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Maybe I can give you a link

to one of my masterclass.

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Mm-hmm.

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But yeah, there are several scenarios.

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Mm-hmm.

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But.

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If we look at Switzerland,

what is the rule?

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It is easy to follow the

rule in Switzerland because

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it is quite straightforward.

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Mm-hmm.

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In Switzerland, if you have Swiss

clients, if you are earning more

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than a hundred thousand francs,

then you need to register.

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Mm-hmm.

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But you need to plan early.

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Do not wait until you reach that amount.

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Why?

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Mm-hmm.

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Because you might find yourself

having to charge that retroactively

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or to reissue invoices.

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Mm-hmm.

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Or worse, pay the VAT yourself

from out of your pocket.

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And that will be very painful, right?

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So you have to think of VAT.

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Early on, I'm not saying that you should

register, but you have to think about it.

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Mm-hmm.

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And then later on you will

also see that thinking about

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VAT will affect how you price.

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Yes.

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Okay.

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My my tip is talk to your accountant

and see if it, it really makes sense

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for you to register for VAT early on.

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Mm-hmm.

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The next thing that I want people

to know is that Swiss vat in EU vat,

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they're completely different animals.

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Yeah.

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Do not confuse them.

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Yeah.

447

:

So it's possible that in Switzerland

you still don't have to register.

448

:

Mm-hmm.

449

:

But in the EU, you already need

to register because mm-hmm.

450

:

For example one of your offers are,

is a digital product in the EU.

451

:

You need to register from the first

sale if you have a, a digital product.

452

:

Mm-hmm.

453

:

Eh, so that's one of the things

that you need to remember.

454

:

Do not always think that only

the Swiss rules apply to you.

455

:

It always depends on the

products that you are selling.

456

:

So let's go to your question

on how to display it.

457

:

Mm-hmm.

458

:

So when you are VAT registered,

let's assume you registered

459

:

in Switzerland or the EU.

460

:

We have to look at different laws

in Switzerland, we look at the

461

:

Swiss price ordinance, the PBV,

and my, I know I'm gonna butcher

462

:

this Preisbekanntgabeverordnung.

463

:

So you have to look at this

if you have Swiss clients.

464

:

If you have EU clients, you have to

look at consumer protection directives.

465

:

Mm-hmm.

466

:

Basically these laws, these ordinances.

467

:

Have the same spirit.

468

:

Mm-hmm.

469

:

And the spirit of this law says

that you need to show a price to a

470

:

consumer and that price should be the

amount that they will actually pay.

471

:

Right.

472

:

Okay.

473

:

That is the line.

474

:

So what does it mean?

475

:

Mm-hmm.

476

:

It means that if you have consumers, as

your clients, you need to have a price.

477

:

What is the price?

478

:

That price should be the, the

amount that they should pay.

479

:

Mm-hmm.

480

:

Which means that the VAT is included

if you are registered for VA vat

481

:

and also all the mandatory charges.

482

:

Mm-hmm.

483

:

Mm-hmm.

484

:

So that is the rule.

485

:

If you have B2C clients.

486

:

Yeah.

487

:

So what are we trying to avoid here?

488

:

Mm-hmm.

489

:

You, we are avoiding.

490

:

Surprise platform or processing fees.

491

:

Mm-hmm.

492

:

That sometimes you only see it, you

know, during the checkout or worse,

493

:

you only see it that, that crazy.

494

:

Yes.

495

:

You only see it in your

credit card statements.

496

:

Right.

497

:

Yeah.

498

:

So that is what we're

trying to avoid here.

499

:

Mm-hmm.

500

:

So in case of doubt, you

should always be transparent.

501

:

Again, we go back to transparency, right.

502

:

Rule is very simple.

503

:

Mm-hmm.

504

:

B2C show the prices, the

price should be all inclusive.

505

:

Okay.

506

:

Right.

507

:

Right.

508

:

Now there are instances I can

think of, at least three instances

509

:

where you can separate the VAT.

510

:

Mm-hmm.

511

:

The first instance is, of

course, when you are working with

512

:

businesses in a B2B situation.

513

:

Mm-hmm.

514

:

In the B2B situation, again the pricing,

the consumer loss does not apply.

515

:

So you can have a price

and say, excluding what?

516

:

So that's one scenario.

517

:

The second scenario is

you are creating invoices.

518

:

Because in invoices you have to

separate the net amount from the vat.

519

:

Mm-hmm.

520

:

And this is more because it is easier

to do accounting that way, isn't it?

521

:

Right.

522

:

So it's easy to remember this

because there is a reason for it.

523

:

Right.

524

:

And the third exception mm-hmm,

applies if you have EU clients

525

:

only, not if you have Swiss clients.

526

:

Right.

527

:

So in the EU, if the VAT, you

genuinely cannot know it beforehand.

528

:

Because say the client still has to

select the delivery country, then

529

:

you can say that the VAT will be

calculated based on the delivery

530

:

country or shown before you pay.

531

:

That's one of the exceptions where

you can actually separate the vat.

532

:

Right.

533

:

Okay.

534

:

Because you cannot know it

before and it applies in the eu.

535

:

Why?

536

:

Because in the EU they

have different vats there.

537

:

Right?

538

:

In Switzerland we have one standard.

539

:

So what's, what's the reason of separating

it if you are already VAT registered?

540

:

Right.

541

:

Right.

542

:

Yeah.

543

:

Janene: Okay.

544

:

Excellent.

545

:

Wow, thank you.

546

:

Learnings a few things here myself.

547

:

I love it.

548

:

That's where we'll pause for now.

549

:

We've covered a lot already

and we've just gotten started.

550

:

In part two Vena and I tackle the

trickier stuff, discounts, currency

551

:

rules, and how Geoblocking can land

you in hot water if you're not careful.

552

:

Hit follow now so you don't miss out.

553

:

Have a great day.

554

:

I'll see you next time.

555

:

And as always, enjoy Pricing.

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