The Business Bulletin
Terms & conditions – are they really important? Getting your terms and conditions drafted professionally is never a top priority when starting a new business. Many may steal from competitors, ex-employers or use templated documents instead of getting their own documents drafted, which is dangerous and not effective.
Every business no matter the industry
and easy to understand and of course
inability to be able to complete your
should have a standard set of terms
make sense. If you have copied them
obligations under the contract.
that they use for each transaction.
from another business and you
If they are written correctly they
don’t understand them, the chances
are written with your business in
are your customers won’t either.
mind and the way your business
You do not need to even attach the
operates from start to finish must be
document if you don’t want to – just
considered. No two businesses are
make sure you make reference to
the same: the sales process, the way
them on your proposal.
you invoice, the term of the contract, and what is expected from the other party can all be very different so it is important to mirror all these processes in your terms. I often hear that businesses are
By being transparent with how you work and your business processes, this will promote customer confidence. It reduces the likelihood of long-winded drawn out arguments about what was
When no terms have been applied to the contract, or ineffective terms have been used, many problems can arise. Below I consider what are the absolute minimum terms that must be included.
Parties Seems obvious but be 100% clear on who you are contracting with and whether that individual has the capacity to enter into contracts on behalf of the company. Always ensure
concerned about ‘scaring customers
agreed during the negotiation of
off’ with terms and conditions. It is
the quotation process. You must
actually quite the opposite: having
also state what your customers’
a clear, direct and understandable
obligations are – remember they can
document attached with any
be in breach too. If you do not specify
proposal or quotation will show you
this in your terms and conditions you
Term
off in a professional light rather than
put yourself at risk of uncertainty,
How long is this contract for? Is it
a daunting one. They should be clear
misunderstandings and the
rolling? What happens at the end of
24 | Issue 7 – Operations and Resources
you have full details of the company too, as chasing payment without an address would be very difficult.
