290 - You need to have multiple contracts
Today on the podcast I'm sharing what contracts you need and why you need to have more than one type of contract in your business.
Contracts are important for keeping your business legally protected which is why I'm re-airing episode 185 to cover the different kinds of contracts you need to legally protect you and your business.
We often think about our Client Service Agreement as the main type of contract for our business but there are other contracts you may need. For downloadable contract templates, visit notavglaw.com/club
1. Client Service Agreement. This is the most common, and most important, contract we sign with our clients. Typically, we need a different Client Service Agreement for each service we offer and one for each package tier. I recommend having one template for each inside your CRM like Honeybook or Dubsado.
2. Contractor Agreement. You'll need this if you're hiring a contractor, like a graphic designer, to help with your business. If it's something project-based that the graphic designer offers other people, ideally the designer should send you a Client Service Agreement because you are their client. If you are hiring someone on a monthly basis to do a variety of hourly work then you would have them sign your contractor agreement in addition to their Client Service Agreement if they have one. Contractor agreements are also common when you are subcontracting work, for example a second shooter for a photographer. Contractor agreements are not used only on contractors.
3. Wind-up Contracts. These are contracts you'll need any time you have a hiccup with a client (head back to episode 184), you're wrapping up with a client or you're postponing your services. The other option is an addendum, though I don't typically recommend this over a whole new contract unless it's just a small tweak or added little paragraph.
4. Website Contracts. The U.S. has a lot of privacy policies about what you can do with people's information when you're collecting it on your website. Your website needs to have a privacy policy, especially if you're collecting email addresses. These are pretty formulaic, there's not a lot you can change up in a privacy policy. You also need a Web Terms of Service if you're selling something on your website. This covers returns, warranties, shipping costs, etc. and this also applies to online digital contracts.
5. Intellectual Property Contracts. This includes Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) which are useful when someone needs to poke around your website or something with sensitive business information that they need better insight to before they can start on a project. An NDA comes before a full client service contract or contractor agreement. Another IP contract example is a licensing agreement, for example if you are going to license your content to someone else or provide another business with educational content they are going to provide to their members.
6. Guest Speaker/Podcast Contracts. These are for any time you're going to be a guest speaker, especially if there is payment involved.
7. Affiliate Agreement. This is not a partnership agreement, those are for people going into business together and splitting income and opening a joint bank account and getting an EIN. Oftentimes when people say partnership they mean affiliate, which is when you are teaming up to create a digital product together or one project or I'm going to help them sell something they're offering.
8. Partnership and Operating Agreements. These are like corporate bylaws. Whether you have a single member or multi-member LLC you need to have an operating agreement. This is a required corporate formality when forming an LLC and will protect you in a lawsuit from someone trying to pierce the corporate veil.
Get access to templates for all the contracts you need as part of the Contract Club. Get lifetime access to the club for just $30 at notavglaw.com/club
