In the business world, contracts are meant to form a clear breakdown of the agreements between you and your clients. Despite this though, there are instances where these can be disputed, which needless to say, can be quite challenging and difficult to deal with.
Examples of Disputes
The nature of these can be quite varied, but to give you a clearer idea, here are a few examples:
- If you or the other party is deemed to have not fulfilled your side of the agreement
- Whether your product and/or service is not what was initially promised
- If you are not fully briefed on the full terms of the contract
- If certain dates or deadlines are missed
- If someone wants to leave the contract early before it is fulfilled
What to do to Avoid These
Thankfully, there are relatively easy ways to avoid the above scenarios from affecting your business. You can always:
Make sure you have a written contract – a lot of contracts may begin verbally, but this in itself can just lead to problems. A written contract is an absolute must as this will provide visibility and clarity on everything you have agreed; what’s more it can be referred back to at a later time.
Include any exemptions and break clauses – when you’re writing up your contract, it’s also a good idea to include things like exemptions and break clauses. These are pre-emptive measures that can make things easier should you or your client want to leave the contract. In turn, this limits the amount of hassle caused with a dispute.
Make a record of everything you do – Another preventative measure to help stop long and drawn-out legal processes, is to keep a record of everything you do. Whether this is providing a service or receiving goods, by making a list of what has happened and been provided since the contract started, you know exactly whether or not there is anything to dispute.
Seek professional advice – another good idea with all of this is to seek professional advice around your contractual agreements, especially if you are challenged by another party. A firm like Withers for example would be able to provide such advice and help you avoid contractual problems.
So, make sure you take on board this useful advice and help make any contracts you agree the solid, clear bond they should be. At the same time, you can rid yourself of any worry of a potential dispute or challenge – leaving you to focus on your business.