A lot of people think contracts are scary, boring, or so filled with legalese that you don’t know what you’re signing. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Signing my options over to Fips. by igb from Flickr (Creative Commons License)
To have a valid contract, you only need three simple things. Yes, I said three – offer, acceptance, and a legal term called “consideration.” That’s it! And your contract doesn’t have to be long, complicated, or filled with legalese to be valid. In fact, I tell people not to sign anything that they don’t understand. Also, don’t assume that you have to sign form contracts as written – I change them all the time! I look at them as more of a jumping off point to start negotiations, or sometimes they let me get away with changing it as I see fit.
Contracts are the documentation of your relationships – and you can write them however you want (as long as the provisions are legal). One of my giddiest moments as a young attorney was being able to incorporate the phrase “sexy bitch” into a contract.
This talk will break contracts down into layman’s terms. We’ll talk about the types of provisions you want to have in every contracts, important questions to ask before you sign anything, how to get out of a contract, and why you always want your contracts in writing – even when you’re dealing with friends and family. I’ll even share some tips on using online templates – they’re not a bad place to start.
This is a great talk for new entrepreneurs, business incubators, co-working spaces, and start-up events. My goal is to set you up to enter business negotiations with confidence.
Please contact me if you’re interested in having me speak at your event on how to have kick ass contracts.