Thanks for all of the clause ideas and tips. Great safeguards.

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Leslie Sansone Williams
LeslieSansoneWilliams.com

I'm loving all of this info on clauses! Thank you so much!

Thanks for all the great tips included in this thread. I am working on my contracts so this was very helpful.

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Genovia
Genwil Business Solutions

Thank you for the tips - they are greatly appreciated!

A L,

My clients are primarily for web design.

The web design process involves a lengthy consultation and then client pays 50% as a down payment with remaining due on completion. The fee is only applied to the last 50%. "Completion" is met by making sure all items, listed in detail in the contract, are finished AND the client has signed off on it.
Not really a situation where buyers remorse can happen.

Other services offered by VA's wouldn't necessarily work with my contract stipulations. I came up with this wording after 2 years in business and experiencing many different client situations.

All contracts should be customized for YOUR business & clients.

~C

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~Christina
New Branding coming soon- watch out!

Clauses which have been important to my business:

• 30 day termination clause from both the client and for myself.
• Contract quoted is good for 30 days and then a new contract has to be drawn up.
• The deposit is not refundable.
• Minimum amount of time required to work per week is 2 hours so the minimum amount of time a client must contract with me is 8 hours per month.
• Project work requires a one month deposit. (Some VAs have it set up to receive 50% with balance due at the end.)
• One month deposit due at signing of contract and one month in advance due as well. I hold the deposit for the life of the contract and apply the deposit to the last month's work.
• Unused time does not roll over to the next month. Use it or lose it.

Janine

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Hi Janine,

Have you had trouble with the no roll over time? I had one client that fought me tooth and nail about me not rolling over his time not used. In the end though I had to let him go. His turnaround time on projects became unrealistic.

Teri

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Teri Williams
SideKick Assistants

Originally Posted by Your Virtual Wizard

30 day termination clause from both the client and for myself.

Janine

I'm glad I'm re-reading this thread because it reminded me of a question I've been forgetting.

Why do you allow for such a lengthy termination time? I would think the quicker some clients were out of one's business, the better. Can a fired client not find another VA or someone else to do their work in a shorter period of time, i.e., 14 calendar days?

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A L Camien
Manager Member

I wanted to chime in and say although I haven't had my first client yet, I know that the top three for most people that I know would be:

1. Down payment
2. Unused hours
3. Late fee

I have definitely taken the time to input these into my contract, and hope to have no issues with them...we shall see.

Thanks for posting!

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Teri,

I have had no problem with 'no rollover'. If we are getting close to the end of the month and I have more time available and am holding more prepaid retainer money than expected, I tell the client that I am 3 weeks into the contract, for example and I have X amount of time remaining. It is up to them to use the time or lose it. It is in my contract so there is no refuting that.

I have had situations where a client had an unusual circumstance, such as going into surgery and I have extended the contract to accommodate the circumstances another week. But in that case, we discuss what work can be done while the client is 'out' ahead of time so that situation is quite rare.

The 'no roll over' clause has been instrumental in my business. It keeps a steady flow of work coming in and it helps me to maintain a revenue stream. Before not having the 'no roll over' clause, clients could drag a contact on for weeks at a time, never sending work and/or using 1 hour a week or so when it is not worth my time to work for 1 hour per week. I can't really partner with a client working 1 hour per week.

And it takes time from my day to keep following up and 'begging' for work, which I just won't do. Either they want to work with me or they do not.

Janine

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