YOUR BUSINESS TERMS AND CONDITIONS – WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU?
We know that terms and conditions are not the most exciting things you can read about. As businesses we spend any amount of time and effort paying for and perfecting our logos, website and other exciting business assets whilst begrudging even spending 1 penny or 5 minutes of our time on our boring terms and conditions. We have a sneaking suspicion we probably don’t need them anyway.
Terms and Conditions Can Save a Business
Despite the fact that they are made to wait patiently in the background, the humble and overlooked terms and conditions suddenly become very important, taking centre stage when something goes wrong. Then they are expected to work hard to save the business.
So when
- a customer has a problem/complaint or doesn’t pay or
- there’s a chargeback for products and/or services delivered or
- we’re on the end of a complaint that we didn’t provide the information required by law before a sale
or almost anything else goes wrong, we expect the humble terms and conditions to rise to the occasion and offer the protection that our business needs. Suddenly we pour over the terms and conditions documents as if our very lives depended on them, fully expecting them to contain just what we need, despite the fact that we’ve never even read them before.
The Big Template -v-Bespoke Debate
The fact is, you get out of life what you put in and the same goes for your terms and conditions documents. “Borrow” terms and conditions from another website that may do the job or scratch together something which “seems as if it’s OK” and what you’ll get are totally unreliable documents. As you lose the charge back money, pay the fine because you didn’t comply with the law or spend hours arguing with a customer who leaves you a rotten review even when they have had a refund, you start to realise that there is something to be said for having decent terms and conditions in place. So – will a template do the job?
Yes, template legal work has improved drastically over the years and having a good template in place you have adapted to reflect your business is miles better than nothing. They are more generic and will cover the basics – ours cover a lot more than that and are updated regularly. That is why you don’t get a bazillion documents in each of our folders, we focus on the best and most needed ones for you. Our advice is if you are starting out or its a low risk, low cost service you offer then kick off with the template and revisit them when the business is making more money or things change and your risk increases.
So what does your business get from having a decent set of terms and conditions?
The short answer is peace of mind. That’s because:-
You comply with your legal obligations.
For example, you need to tell consumers (non-business purchases) certain information before a sale – don’t and you will face paying a fine and losing cash.
You know where you stand.
Every business has problems, even if there something you couldn’t avoid. After all, nobody invites a fraudulent client/customer but it sure helps to argue why you should be paid if the protection is there in writing and agreed before the sale.
Your client/customer knows where they stand.
Your website may say how much you care about your client/customer and their business – why not show them? Straightforward terms and conditions mean that your client/customer can find the essential information about your business and how it operates. It makes for a better relationship and much easier to tackle any problems too. B2B customers and clients will raise an eyebrow if there are poor terms or no terms in place as you get the sale – massive red face if you fail to sign someone up due to a pesky old legal document being missing.
Your terms and conditions of business don’t have to break the bank either. Our new range of terms means that for most business we can provide terms and conditions for a fixed fee so you are clear about what costs are involved. These will ensure you comply with your legal obligations, have protection when something goes wrong and generally give you peace of mind. We also deliver a brilliant template service – even if we do say so ourselves!
We offer a range of legal documents which you can use to make sure that you comply with the law and protect your business – our services cater for most budgets. Email documents@lawhound.co.uk for more information or complete the form below.