Most businesses run on a surprisingly small number of commercial documents. The contract you trade on, the terms behind your website, the agreement with the people who supply you or sell on your behalf. Get them right and they work quietly in the background for years. Get them wrong, or never put them in place at all, and they tend to surface at the worst possible moment.

I help founders and established businesses put the everyday commercial paperwork on a sound footing, and sort it out when something has gone wrong. Below are the main areas I cover. Each one leads to the guidance and document types within it.

  • Terms and conditions. The backbone of how you sell. Your terms decide who carries the risk when something goes wrong, when you get paid, and where you stand if a customer walks away.
  • Website terms. The terms of use, sale and privacy that sit behind a site, whether you are selling online or simply have a presence.
  • Freelancer contracts. Agreements for taking on self-employed help, and for the freelancers, consultants and sole traders who work with you.
  • IR35 and company contracts. Contracting through a personal service company, and getting the status questions right before they become a problem.
  • Service agreements. Standard service agreements, service level agreements and terms of business for the work you do.
  • Data protection. The policies, notices and agreements that keep you on the right side of the UK GDPR, and what to do when a request or a breach lands.
  • E-commerce and websites. Design, hosting, advertising and the agreements behind selling and operating online.
  • Commercial agreements. The wider commercial relationships: agency, distribution, sponsorship, joint ventures, heads of terms and the clauses that hold a deal together.
  • Sale and supply of goods. Selling, supplying and distributing goods, including sale or return and the terms that govern it.
  • Construction contracts. Sub-contracts and consultant terms for the construction industry, structured around how and when payment is made.
  • IT and software. Software licences, development and support agreements, and the contracts behind the technology your business depends on.
  • Business compliance. Anti-bribery, business continuity and the policies that show your business takes its obligations seriously.
  • IP and confidentiality. Protecting what you have created and own, from copyright and trade marks to confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements.
  • Business forms and letters. The everyday forms and letters that keep trade moving, from purchase orders and invoices to trade credit checks.
  • Debt recovery. Getting paid when a customer will not, from the first reminder through to court action.

If you are not sure which of these you need, or you are dealing with something that cuts across several, tell me what you are working on and I will point you in the right direction.