Business Contracts
“We had a verbal agreement. You committed to painting my house. The paint is here. The banisters have been scraped. Where are you?”
We have all experienced situations where someone committed to perform and failed to do so. It is a terrible feeling, especially when we have paid money and are on a tight timeframe. The situation is even more challenging when the person who you were depending on was hired because of the uniqueness of services that can solely be performed by that person.
When you are running a business, you may provide services to others, companies may provide services to you, you may need to purchase products from a company, and you may need to engage others to support you as you run your company.
Unfortunately, a “gentleman’s” handshake is simply not “best practices” in today’s business world. Even though there are some verbal contracts that are enforceable, put it in writing! By it, the reference is “the contract.” The simplest form of a contract is . . . an offer, and acceptance, and consideration. It is an agreement where two or more parties have voluntarily entered into an agreement that has these three components.
Once you establish your LLC, consider having contracts in place for all of the services you provide. The following are examples, and are not intended to be comprehensive. If you provide professional services, consider presenting clients with a scope of work/fee agreement prior to engaging in any work. If you provide services such as maintenance, graphic design, painting, or care giving consider having a services agreement in place before commencing work. If you sell or purchase products, consider using a contract for the sale of goods or vendor contract in place. If your company engages the services of independent contractors, using a contract that covers the expectations of the independent contractors and your company is wise.
The encouragement is, when you participate in the marketplace, reduce your exposure to risk. Control the expectations from the forefront, which will minimize your liabilities in the long run.
To learn more about the Estate Law Center, PLLC, and how we can help negotiate, draft, review and enforce business contracts call 540-827-4395. Alternatively, you can also get in touch with us online by submitting a contact form.