Legal Protection: A well-written business contract helps protect your business from legal disputes and lawsuits by defining your relationship with customers, suppliers and partners.
Setting Expectations: A typical contract contains project deliverables, deadlines, and payment schedules. In doing so, it outlines the expectations and responsibilities of all parties involved.
Business Clarity: Verbal agreements are often misinterpreted, leading to misunderstandings and disagreements. A written contract leaves no room for ambiguity and ensures that everyone is on the same page.
Communication Tool: A business contract is a tool for communicating the terms of the agreement in writing. It allows everyone involved to understand their roles and what is expected of them.
Dispute Resolution: In case of conflict, you can use a commercial contract as a reference facebook data to resolve the dispute quickly and efficiently.
Tips for setting up your first business contract
You do not need to have formal training as a lawyer or paralegal to draft a contract. However, contracts must cover all the bases for business clarity, legal protection, and dispute resolution.
Here are seven expert tips for setting up your first business deal.
Infographic illustrating the six elements of a contract: Contractual offer, Acceptance, Consideration, Legality, Capacity, and Mutuality.
To be legally binding, a commercial contract must meet several requirements. First, the parties involved must have legal capacity and be of legal age. Likewise, a contract should include accurate legal names of all parties involved. Before signing any agreement, if you are unsure, find out the legal name of the other party. Each party must also sign a contract of their own free will, not because someone forced them to do so.
Secondly, the terms and conditions must be specific and unambiguous. A contract should contain a complete breakdown of the responsibilities and rights of each party. This is especially important when you are hiring a part-time virtual administrative assistant . In such a case, you should mention their working hours on specific days of the week. Next, you should write the scope of duties. In this, you should outline the respective expectations and obligations of the parties.