By Hazel Napier, BEB Contract & Legal Services
If you’ve ever found you’re chasing long-overdue invoices, struggling with last-minute cancellations or working out how to deal with extra work you’ve been asked to do for no extra pay, then you’re not alone.
As an expert witness, dealing with legal professionals puts your business at a greater risk than many other industries so it’s crucial to ensure your contracts are as watertight as possible.
That’s why the Expert Witness Institute has teamed up with BEB Contract & Legal Services, who have come up with the following top tips to make sure your business is protected:
1. Don’t copy your terms and conditions from another business - or worse, the internet
Many start-ups and SMEs go into business as experts in their field but not necessary experts in running companies. They will often take terms and conditions from a previous employer or worse, they’ll find a set online that vaguely fit. Bear in mind, no two businesses are the same. Your offering may be similar but the way you quote, take payment, communicate with clients, provide your services (and much more) is likely to be different. Copying them from another business is so dangerous – you won’t know if they were professionally drafted in the first place, you could be pursued for copyright issues and they may not actually be any good! It is far better to start from scratch and make them bespoke to you.
2. Think about your worst ever client and work backwards
The best way to start writing your own terms and conditions is to use the client journey to make up the headings. Start with how you quote – how long is it valid for? How can the client accept it and what happens next? Then onto payment – do you take deposits or any money upfront? How do you deal with disbursements? When are invoices payable? When providing the services, think about timescales and changes to the arrangements. Finally consider how you’ll handle it when something goes wrong – what do you expect in terms of cancellation notice? How can you limit what you’ll be liable for in the event of a problem? Don’t forget the legalese – they may seem irrelevant but clauses such as which law and jurisdiction applies to the contract are crucial. You don’t always have to enforce the clauses you include, but make sure they’re there if you need them. Think about your most awkward client, and the worst events that could happen, and consider how you would respond to that.
3. Beware of hidden terms in engagement letters
You’ve been asked to proceed with your quote and that’s great. However, if you then get issued with an engagement letter or purchase order, beware. These will often specify somewhere within the document that it’s subject to the client’s own terms and conditions, which are likely to be completely irrelevant to the work you’ll be doing. If you’ve got your own terms and conditions, then just thank the client for the confirmation but state that it’ll be done under your own terms – it’s generally whoever says it last that wins.
4. Make sure your terms are clear and easy to read
Although you’re often dealing with lawyers, it’s worth still keeping your terms and conditions in plain English. Not least because if you don’t understand your own terms, it can be a little embarrassing. Most importantly, it’s likely to speed up the whole process of getting your quote accepted, as it won’t have to pass through several departments to get signed off. The relationship is far less likely to end in a dispute if both parties understand what they’re responsible for under the contract.
5. Review and update them regularly
Consider not just changes in the law, but also changes in your business – whether that’s a change to your services or how you deliver them. Cases have been won and lost in court on the basis that a company’s terms and conditions did not match their actual processes. We also recommend getting any staff members involved with this – they’re the ones on the frontline dealing with everyday issues so why not make sure you’ve covered those issues in your Ts & Cs.
6. Don’t forget about other contractual risks
Any business relationship, not just that between you and your clients, will have its own risks. Whether your business has more than one director or shareholder, or whether you’re working with freelancers or sub-contractors, make sure you’ve got everything written down in a contract. We speak with companies every day where one owner has fallen out with another or where someone has died and they didn’t have a shareholder agreement in place to agree what they wanted to happen. It inevitably results in an expensive legal battle that could easily have been avoided. When working with sub-contractors, consider that your client won’t have a direct contractual route to them if they don’t show up or if they do a bad job – they’ll have to come through you. Having a written agreement in place with your freelancers will make them take your work more seriously and it’s a tick in the right box for HMRC if they ever investigate whether they’re employed or not. Think about what could be at stake – your professional indemnity insurance, your intellectual property, your materials, your reputation – and don’t take all this for granted.
If you’re unsure where to start, then get in touch.
At BEB, we’re passionate about protecting businesses with robust contracts – typically terms & conditions, sub-contractor agreements, shareholder agreements, GDPR policies, supplier agreements, and much more. We can also review any contracts you get sent to make sure you understand any risks and to help you get a fairer deal.
Everything we do is for an affordable fixed price – and what’s more, as an EWI member, you’ll get a 10% discount.
info@bebconsultancy.co.uk / 01604 217365
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