The subject of terms and conditions traditionally for Creatives is usually the last issue on their mind. It’s also common for Creatives to acquire someone else’s terms and conditions or write their own contracts. Unfortunately the credibility of these contracts is only tested in times of dispute; so contracts drafted in bullet points format or acquired from an unreliable source generally don’t contain the correct enforceable clauses to assist the business to resolve issues that arise.
Similarly, those many companies who choose to do business on a handshake, as honourable as that sounds, find the frailty of the contract is exposed when a dispute arises, as there is no real legal detail or proper fall back position to solve disputes. Writing down the details of how you’d like to do business is a simple idea and best captured in a contract that is tailored to the relevant business sector and business type.
There seems to be a natural resistance to formality and detail, yet during times of disagreement it’s often the details that will protect a business.
Terms and conditions can be for many Creative businesses a way for outlining ‘how they want their customer to engage with their services, from quotation to completion of the work.
Colin Hardie, Director at Ubisan a web commercialisation business commented, ” Create Ts and Cs listened and managed to distill the more specific elements of my business into a coherent and highly professional set of bespoke terms and conditions…. something that would have been impossible to achieve with an“off the shelf” alternative”.
This also means, outlining your payment terms, the IP ownership and managing scope creep through effective ‘sign off’ processes captured in the Terms and Conditions. All these issues are central to ensuring you get the work done on time and in-line with your Creative business strategy while getting paid, which can assist cashflow and promote sustainablity within the business.
David Atkinson, Director at design agency CO2 Design, said,” Before we got a bespoke set of Ts and Cs, we like many others got a set from the web or looked at others, now we have a ratified contract that communicates clearly with our clients. Also, we’ve managed to reduce the amount of debt within our business to a level we can manage, which has helped the business”.
Its also common for some potential clients to request a set of Terms and Conditions prior to doing business, if you don’t have a relevant set of Ts and Cs, then you’ll simply accept the terms offered by the client or in some cases run the risk of signing up to a contract which is packed with clauses no one knows the consequences of signing up to! Meaning you get paid and agree to the terms according to the clients terms and conditions.
David McCullough, MD of Urban Niche, a social media marketing business based in Edinburgh commented, “Urban Niche contracted Create Ts and Cs to draft a bespoke set of Terms and Conditions to support our bid for NHS business, I am delighted to say we won the business and believe Create Ts and Cs contributed greatly to our bid and ensured we had the correct commercial contract; helping us to present our business professionally and prepare appropriately for our negotiations”
Having a relevant, sector focused contract in-line with the Creative business is one way of avoiding unnecessary disputes and allows the Creative business owner to concentrate on doing the work they enjoy doing .
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