Making contracts in business is something that all business owners, no matter what the size of their company or what industry they might be working in, should be aware of.
In the past, it might have been enough to shake on a deal and for that to be binding, but this is no longer the case; if you want to run a successful, trustworthy, responsible business, you will need to create and understand contracts and ensure that all parties stick to the terms. Read on to find out exactly why business contracts are so important.
You’ll Understand the Law Better
The law can be extremely complicated. There are many different regulations and caveats, and unless these are all specifically written down and noted, you might find that you are doing work you’re not being paid for, or that you’re expecting something from a third party that’s never going to come.
When you have a good contract, ideally something written by a law expert rather than a template that can be downloaded and completed yourself, you’ll be able to have a better understanding of the law.
This can be crucial as unless you have this knowledge, it will be hard to tell whether anyone in the contract is doing the wrong thing, or whether you need help from a breach of lease expert like Segal Commercial Firm, for example. Knowledge is definitely power when it comes to business and business contracts.
You’ll Have Certainty
As we’ve said above, a contract is not necessarily mandatory. Some people do prefer to have a verbal agreement, and some will take a written email as being set in stone, but in law, no matter what you might think personally, unless there is a real signed and agree upon contract, you could find yourself in difficulty if something were to go wrong.
When you have a contract, not only will you and your business be protected – more protected than without one, at least – but you will also have a lot more certainty.
With a contract you can specify dates and expectations, you can outline exactly what should happen in a job or with a delivery.
Once both parties agree to these terms, you can have peace of mind that this is what will happen, and if it doesn’t, you have legal avenues to go down to ensure that things will be rectified.
You Can Give Good Customer Service
If any of your customers has an issue with something they have bought from you, whether it’s a product or a service, having a contract means they know exactly what their rights are and – importantly – how to deal with any problems they might have.
The contract will detail the returns process, for example, and will talk about when refunds are and are not possible. They can even be information about warranties and repairs, should the need be there for that.
In other words, the contract between you and your customers is a great tool when it comes to customer service, as long as it is worded correctly and is more helpful than not.
Be careful when creating this kind of contract; if it is too harsh or doesn’t help the customer as much as it helps you (it should be a good balance), they may not want to sign it, and that could jeopardize the whole sale.
