As a newbie, I have several questions concerning contracts:

1) Do you have a contract or service agreement signed by each of your
clients?


2) Did you have an attorney look over your contract on did you just use a
template without seeking any legal advice?


3) Is there any specific item you felt was missing from your contract?


Thanks!

Originally Posted by VAbiz

1) Do you have a contract or service agreement signed by each of your clients?

I have a letter of engagement, similar to a contract but not quite as involved. I took a VA agreement I purchased and revised it substantially because people thought it was quite heavy handed; I don't think we are as litigious in Canada as Americans tend to be and some thought it off-putting.

Originally Posted by VAbiz

2) Did you have an attorney look over your contract on did you just use a template without seeking any legal advice?

Yes I did have a lawyer review it.

Originally Posted by VAbiz

3) Is there any specific item you felt was missing from your contract?

Nope, everything I want is in there. My lawyer didn't think anything was missing.

Good luck with your business.

1) Do you have a contract or service agreement signed by each of your
clients?

I use a letter of agreement which is sent via email. When a new client pays their deposit it signifies their agreement with the terms set forth.


2) Did you have an attorney look over your contract on did you just use a
template without seeking any legal advice?

No, I didn't use an attorney and I didn't use a template - although that's definitely not the norm and I would recommend at least having a legal eye look over any paperwork you intend to use as framing a commitment between you and a client. My clients are all on referral (ie - they're all friends and or colleagues and business associates of eachother) - since we don't accept clients outside that circle I haven't had need for something quite as heavy as a contract.

3) Is there any specific item you felt was missing from your contract?

Initially I did not include a late payment policy - this became necessary after we'd been in business about a year. We're quite friendly with all of our clients and while this is great for business also can lead to some relaxation in the invoice due date department even on net 14 Once we instituted late payment penalties it became a non-issue.

Hope that helps!

__________________

Thank you both for your comments.

Have a nice day!

Cindy

Hey there!

1) Do you have a contract or service agreement signed by each of your
clients?

I have a service agreement that I request each of my clients sign before our first job or strategy meeting.

2) Did you have an attorney look over your contract on did you just use a
template without seeking any legal advice?

No, I haven't, but it is my goal to get a business attorney this year and the first thing I'm going to have them do is review my agreement. I have a few things I want to add in, like errors and omissions and something that protects ME if one of my team members (got forbid!) should decide to do something dreadful and sabotage my business or a client.

3) Is there any specific item you felt was missing from your contract?

The two things above and something I've added since my first draft is a definition of what "Time Worked" is. Since I did that clients quit questioning e-mail and chat time.

Create a great day!
Kristen

Having a lawyer look at the contract can be very reassuring although not absolutely necessary.