VA business Terms? Nobody ever wants to talk about their business terms and conditions – until there’s a problem. We get it. They’re a bit boring and probably one of least exciting parts of your business. You buy them, put them on your site and forget about them. After all, wouldn’t you rather spend a couple of hours attracting clients than be bothered about your legal documents?
The problem is that weak VA business terms can mean that you lose clients and money. Have you ever been in a position where someone asked you for a refund or wanted to cancel a retainer? Were you confident about what they could do? What about someone expecting you to do more work than you had agreed – for free? That dreaded “I thought that it was included” conversation. That ‘ oh it’s a just a tiny job’, add ons which mount up and it’s you providing the work for free.
When we write your business terms we make sure your terms deal with all those situations and more. We think you deserve to have business terms that make it easier for you to get sales and keep clients. Terms that make things clear to you and your clients, so everyone knows where they stand.
5 things you need in your VA business terms
(1) Payments
We work to get paid. If you don’t get paid you are not running a business. Decide how and when you want to get paid and include it in your terms. Every month? By bank transfer? What works for you?
That way if someone asks you if they can pay by cheque or PayPal you can politely refuse and refer them to your business terms.
What happens if someone is late paying? Can you charge interest? If so, what can you charge? All things you can include in your business terms.
(2) Work included
You need to be clear about exactly what’s included. Are your clients paying for each hour? Does that include the time it takes them to tell you what they need you to do? For example, reading through a 20 page document to before doing some research or a spreadsheet?
Have you given a price for a job? If so, exactly what’s included in that job?
Start by making this clear in your business terms and/or an accompanying document like a job sheet. Next, explain what’s included. That way, when the client asks for something that’s not included you can show your terms. Then let them know how much extra that work will cost.
(3) Cancellation Terms
Every business hates it when a client cancels. If your client has a retainer you may have given them a cheaper hourly rate for volume work. For example, £5 an hour reduction because they have 30 hours a month for a minimum of 12 months.
So what happens when they cancel at month 6? Make your cancellation terms clear. You can’t stop someone cancelling but you can make sure that they either have to pay you for the full 12 months. Perhaps you prefer to invoice them an additional amount for every hour they had a reduction for?
(4) Rescheduling
If you’re selling your services, you’re selling your time. What happens if you have agreed to put aside a day for a client and they cancel the day before? You may have already put off other work so that’s a day unpaid.
We all understand that clients need to occasionally reschedule – perhaps they’re ill or have childcare problems. But what about someone who’s cancelled 6 times in the last 3 weeks? Can you still charge them even though you didn’t do the work? What about a cancellation fee?
You have to draw a line on what’s acceptable and you can do that in your business Terms. That way everyone knows what they can and can’t do.
Making things clear in your business terms saves you time and money. It also helps you build strong working relationships with your clients. The way you work is transparent and there are no surprises. What could be better?
Build great relationships with your clients
Your VA business is constantly evolving.
We can help you nail your business terms for your VA business. We designed this document by working with VAs like you to produce an easy to use template document. It comes with video guidance which walks you through every section of the terms. You can easily adapt it so it suits the needs of your business and all your clients.
They are budget friendly (under £100) and will give you the confidence to move your business forward.
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