Review your contract for every new product or service

When you’re a small business, reviewing or writing specific terms is probably not top of your to-do list, but I bet having a healthy cash flow is definitely a number one priority.

If your business sells a range of products or services, your contract with your customer needs to be tailored to cover every eventuality and possible outcome.

Your contract with your customer and cash flow are directly connected. A bespoke contract, written for a specific product, service or event will protect you and your business and make sure you get paid on time.

Your business is unique and so are your customers. Using a “one size fits all” contract template is taking a big risk. A bespoke contract, written for a specific product, service or event protects you and your business from every eventuality so review your terms for every new customer and each time you start a new project.

Your contract doesn’t have to be wordy, long and complicated. It just needs to have the precise detail that clearly sets out the responsibilities and expectations of both parties, leaving no margin for misunderstanding.

How having the right contract in place helps you sleep

Terms and conditions for training workshops

You are an expert in your field, and you’ve been invited to run a workshop as part of a larger conference.

Who markets your talk? Will you be paid in advance? All of this should be in your contract.

• You will want to be clear what happens in the event of cancellation?

• Who pays for expenses?

• hen and how you will be paid?

• Will you include a time reservation fee?

You may want to be clear about how your workshop be promoted to ensure maximum attendance and if so, is there a cost involved?

Proposal for website development

Your business makes websites, and you’ve been asked to create a simple five-page site by the end of the month.

• What do you need to agree?

• It may be things like who is responsible for hosting and what type of package?

• If your client suddenly wants to have lots of videos, will the hosting package support that?

• What does complete look like?

• Who will provide the content and by when, who signs it off, who is responsible for future maintenance?

• How many edits can they have and most importantly, what is the payment schedule?

• Is it you or your customer that is in control of when you can raise that final invoice?

A true story from Rachael’s Case Book

Coaching and consulting

You have a diverse set of clients, all with differing coaching needs.

• How will you handle last minute cancellations?

• How far will you travel for face-to-face coaching?

• What if the person has a deeper problem that you can’t solve?

• What will you do if your client divulges something which is unlawful?

• What are your duties and how will you protect your business?

Your contracts and cash flow are directly connected

Look at every possible scenario when setting out your terms. It’s not about being picky, it all boils down to making sure you get paid.

My advice would be to look at each situation, write down everything you want out of it and write down everything that could go wrong.

Don’t leave any vague areas in your contract means everything is up for questioning and negotiation after the event which is not what a business needs.

“Rachael is awesome – she sorted out all our contracts. If you need help, you need to get in touch with Rachael.”

Sam Pratt – Director of Captive North

If you have a question or need help, call me today. I can advise and help you get the right contact and terms in place.

Join my Cash Flow College

I’ll make sure your cash flow accelerates. Let’s speed it up together. I’ll help you become confident enough to get paid up front and save time chasing invoices.

The Cashflow College is your access to Rachael’s over 20 years’ experience in getting paid on time, the processes and procedures you need in place to help this happen and the techniques needed to empower you to do this every time you raise an invoice.