Thinking 'I'm Too Small for Compliance'
Type: warning
Stage: Stage 8: Terms / Trust Proof
Difficulty: beginner
Small products still collect data, use cookies, and process payments. Waiting until enterprise buyers ask for compliance docs is the most expensive possible time to start.
Overview
Small products still collect data. Small products still use cookies. Small products still process payments. Small products can still be rejected by ad platforms, app stores, marketplaces, or B2B buyers.
Avoid when
You wait until enterprise buyers ask for privacy, terms, or security docs before building them. At that point you are negotiating under pressure, often losing the deal while you scramble. Compliance also takes time — a policy generated today still needs to be reviewed, approved, and published before it counts.
Better signal
A basic trust page — privacy policy, terms, security overview, contact — exists before the buyer asks. The cost of setting this up for a small product is a few hours with Termly or iubenda. The cost of not having it when a buyer asks is the deal.