What should I consider including in my contracts?
– Who the contract covers. Details of the parties covered by the contract, in this case your business and your client.
– Background. Who you are and what you promise to deliver.
– Definitions. If you want to refer to everyone covered in the contract as the “parties” then you state that in the definitions for example. If you don’t want to keep writing your business name you might instead refer to yourself as “the service provider” for example again the definition of service provider needs to go here.
– Specification of services provided. What exactly do you offer and does the contract cover? Moreover, this can also state which team members are covered and authorised to work.
– Location. Where you plan to carry out these services.
– Clients obligations. Your expectations for what you need from your client, also how you want them to co-operate with you.
– Ownership and Intellectual Property / copyright. Important if you are providing an output from your service that you want to stay in control of, advice, reports, guides, photographs, or things in the same vein. Most importantly, it stops people being able to use or claim as their own.
– Confidentiality. What you do with info and data held about the client and what you do or don’t want to be shared publicly. Secondly, it can also cover use of images, etc for social media marketing and promotion.
– Competition . In short, this can cover you from clients / students learning everything they can from you and then starting up a similar business next door.
– Warranties and Liabilities. This is the important bit to cover you if something goes wrong. Make sure to clarify and really spell out what you will not be held liable for. The contract equally doesn’t protect you from the normal laws if causing death or serious injury to the client due to your own negligence. For instance knowingly using faulty equipment, but failing to repair.
– Termination. This can state what happens if the contract is cancelled, or if the client doesn’t show up. Additionally it excuses you from future liabilities.
– General section. What happens if there is an “act of God”, for example. If a clients want to change the agreements,
– Law and jurisdiction. A statement of under the laws of what country this contract is based.
– Third party. Saying basically the contract only applies to the service provider and the person signing the contract. That is to say, it can’t be enforced by an overly enthusiastic mother-in-law who isn’t party to the contract.
Can Savvy do contracts?
Yes! In Savvy you can have unlimited different contracts & waivers and those contracts are date and time stamped when signed by the client. The are easy to use, can be sent via email or opened on a phone or tablet, and signed with your finger in person. It’s super easy.
We do provide example contracts in the Savvy systems. These are guides, but we would always recommend writing your own contract with the guidance of a lawyer. Join the Savvy Community on facebook and find examples of other shared contracts from other Savvy users to give you some inspiration and a starting point.
Book a Demo
Want to find out how to use the contracts in Savvy? I’d recommend booking a 1:1 chat with a member of the customer support team. We’ll be happy to give you a guided tour of contracts in Savvy.
