• HOME
  • LAUNCH
  • BUSINESS
  • LEADERSHIP
  • MONEY
  • SUCCESS
  • NEWS
Saturday, 6 March 2021
ExpertHub
  • HOME
  • LAUNCH
  • BUSINESS
  • LEADERSHIP
  • MONEY
  • SUCCESS
  • NEWS
    • All
    • Company Posts
    • ExpertHub Today
    ThinkSales State Of B2b Sales In South Africa 2021 Survey

    The 7 Strategies of SA’s Strongest B2B Sales Performers for 2021

    ThinkSales State Of B2b Sales In South Africa 2021 Survey

    3 Sales Strategies SMEs Can Borrow from SA’s Strongest Performers

    ThinkSales State Of B2b Sales In South Africa 2021 Survey

    SA’s Strongest Salesforces Focus on Value, Not Discounting

    ThinkSales State Of B2b Sales In South Africa 2021 Survey

    ThinkSales State Of B2b Sales In South Africa 2021 Survey

    Devastating Financial Gender Gap Has Grown: Women Are Better Investors, But Retire With 30-40% Less Than Men

    Why SMME’s Need To Think Small

    Devastating Financial Gender Gap Has Grown: Women Are Better Investors, But Retire With 30-40% Less Than Men

    Five Money Management Principles To Start 2021 On The Right Financial Footing

    Trending Tags

    No Result
    View All Result
    • HOME
    • LAUNCH
    • BUSINESS
    • LEADERSHIP
    • MONEY
    • SUCCESS
    • NEWS
      • All
      • Company Posts
      • ExpertHub Today
      ThinkSales State Of B2b Sales In South Africa 2021 Survey

      The 7 Strategies of SA’s Strongest B2B Sales Performers for 2021

      ThinkSales State Of B2b Sales In South Africa 2021 Survey

      3 Sales Strategies SMEs Can Borrow from SA’s Strongest Performers

      ThinkSales State Of B2b Sales In South Africa 2021 Survey

      SA’s Strongest Salesforces Focus on Value, Not Discounting

      ThinkSales State Of B2b Sales In South Africa 2021 Survey

      ThinkSales State Of B2b Sales In South Africa 2021 Survey

      Devastating Financial Gender Gap Has Grown: Women Are Better Investors, But Retire With 30-40% Less Than Men

      Why SMME’s Need To Think Small

      Devastating Financial Gender Gap Has Grown: Women Are Better Investors, But Retire With 30-40% Less Than Men

      Five Money Management Principles To Start 2021 On The Right Financial Footing

      Trending Tags

      No Result
      View All Result
      ExpertHub
      No Result
      View All Result
      Home BUSINESS Doing Business in SA How to Guides

      Protect Yourself: How to Structure Your Consulting Contracts

      ExpertHub Staff by ExpertHub Staff
      Mar 30, 2016
      in How to Guides
      0
      Consulting-contracts
      Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedIn

      RelatedTopics

      Why You Should Consider Renewable Energy To Power Your Business

      How Brigid Prinsloo Made (A Lot Of) Money On Airbnb

      (Podcast) Phone Calls Often Solve Email Problems


      Now that you’ve laid the foundation for your new consulting business, it’s time to think about two important tools you’ll need to be an effective consultant: the consulting contract and the client report.

      A contract is a legal document between two or more parties that involves what attorneys call “an exchange of value.” That is, if something of value (money, goods, services) is provided in return for something else (in your case, consulting services), then the agreement is considered to be a contract. And it doesn’t matter if the task or service you’re performing is quick and easy, or complex and time-consuming.

      You must always protect yourself by creating a contract the client will sign. After all, this is your livelihood at stake, and if something goes wrong, you’ll need solid legal documentation to make sure you get paid.

      Contracts protect both the contractor and the client. To make sure there are no misunderstandings, you must be sure every contract you write is clear, specific and detailed enough to cover all the important points or clauses.

      Your contracts should be written in plain language, which is clear and easily understood prose. This doesn’t mean, however, that you don’t need an attorney to look over your contracts or help you create a template you can reuse.

      In addition to spelling out all the terms of your agreement, a contract can help you avoid what’s often referred to as “project creep,” in which you begin with a specific task that morphs into more work than you agreed to as the project proceeds.

      Having a signed contract that details exactly what you’ve agreed to do will help you rein in projects before they take on a life of their own.

      Contracts can be very simple one-page documents, or they can be 100 pages long, depending on the subject matter and how many complicated issues they cover and in how much depth.

      They also can take the form of a letter of agreement, which is shorter and less formal but is just as binding as a formal contract.

      Contract-ideas

      Here’s a short list of what should be included in every consulting contract:

      1. Full names and titles of the people with whom you’re doing business. Be sure they’re all spelled correctly.
      2. Project objectives. Making a list will help you achieve the project goals and figure out when the job is done and you can stop. (“Project creep” can go both ways.)
      3. Detailed description of the project. Write a global description that specifies every aspect of the task you’ve been asked to do.
      4. List of responsibilities. Record exactly what you’ll be expected to do or the major steps you’ll take to complete the project. It can be helpful to create a list of checkpoints you can refer to as you work. You might also want to have the client sign off on each phase of the project to ensure his/her satisfaction with the work as it progresses. If so, the sign-off process should be included as an item on your list of responsibilities.
      5. Fees. In addition to mentioning the agreed-on fee, you can include a payment structure.
      6. Timeline. Specify the start and end date of the project, and indicate any pertinent dates in between (including those dates on which you wish to have the client sign off on your work in progress and/or payment dates).
      7. Page numbers. This might sound basic, but the idea is to keep the client – or you, for that matter – from adding pages to the contract that not everyone has agreed upon.

      This is not an all-inclusive list. Your attorney may recommend including other information, such as legal definitions, legal recourse in the event of nonpayment, nonperformance clause (as in what will happen if either party reneges on his or her obligations), and so on.

      This is just one more reason why it’s a good idea to have your legal eagle draw up your contracts or give the ones you write the once-over before they’re presented to clients.

      In addition to the details discussed above, every contract has three key elements that must be present for the contract to be valid:

      • The contract must contain an offer. An offer is simply something proposed by a person or business. For example, an offer for one of John Riddle’s fundraising clients may include language like this: “. . . JR will act on behalf of the XYZ nonprofit organisation as a fundraising consultant to raise the necessary funds required for . . .”
      • Each contract must contain acceptance. Acceptance is when one party accepts the terms offered in the contract. It’s usually a good idea to put a time limit on any contract or letter of agreement you offer a client. For example, you might state that the offer will expire in a set number of days unless it is signed and accepted.
      • Each contract must contain consideration. This is the amount you’ll be paid. For example, the contract language could say something like “. . . in exchange for a monthly payment of R50 000.”
      ShareTweetShare
      ExpertHub Staff

      ExpertHub Staff

      ExpertHub’s award-winning team of Staff Writers deliver unique, insightful and curated content from successful business leaders, authors and subject matter experts. This highly-experienced team understands the information that business readers are looking for, what’s unique and impactful, and how to distil key ideas into actionable insights.

      Quick Links

      • Business Plan Advice
      • Business Plan Format Guide
      • Business Plan Format
      • Sample Business Plans

      NEWSLETTER SIGN-UP

      Sign-up for Weekly ExpertHub Updates

      * indicates required





      EXPERT INSIGHTS

      https://vimeo.com/311685299?loop=0

      Browse by Category

      • Academic & Alumni Networks
      • Accounting & Payroll
      • Accounting & Payroll
      • Advertising
      • Advice
      • Angel Investors
      • Are You Suited to Entrepreneurship
      • Are You Suited to Franchising
      • Arts & Crafts
      • Attracting Investors
      • Auto & Transportation
      • Automotive, Travel & Transportation
      • Bank Finance
      • Banks
      • BEE
      • Bootstrap Financing
      • Branding
      • Budgeting
      • BUSINESS
      • Business Advice for Women Entrepreneurs
      • Business Ideas
      • Business Ideas Directory
      • Business Landscape
      • Business Leadership
      • Business Leadership Q&As
      • Business Model
      • Business Plan Advice
      • Business Plan Format
      • Business Plan Research & Preparation
      • Business Plan Template
      • Business Plans Q&As
      • Business Services
      • Business Survival
      • Case Studies
      • Cash Flow
      • Celebrity Businesses
      • Change Management
      • Checklists
      • Children
      • Children & Education
      • Company Posts
      • Compete to Win
      • Compliance
      • Computers & Internet
      • Construction & Engineering
      • Consulting
      • Cool Offices
      • Direct & Email Marketing
      • Doing Business in Africa
      • Doing Business in SA
      • Doing Business in SA Q&As
      • Doing Good
      • Eastern Cape
      • Education & Instruction
      • Entertainment & Events
      • Entrepreneur Competitions/Awards
      • Entrepreneur Daily
      • Entrepreneur Profiles
      • Expansion Finance
      • ExpertHub Today
      • Financial Management
      • Financial Management Q&As
      • Financial Reporting
      • Food and Farming
      • Franchise & Biz Ops Spotlight
      • Franchise Finance
      • Franchise Listings
      • Franchise News
      • Franchise Your Business
      • Franchisee Advice
      • Franchising
      • Franchisors
      • Free Mentorship Services
      • Free State
      • Funding
      • Funding Q&As
      • Funky Marketing
      • Gauteng
      • General Business Networks
      • Get Organised
      • Government Funding
      • Government Funding
      • Government Grants
      • Growing a Business
      • Growing a Business Q&As
      • Health and Beauty
      • Hip Retail Spaces
      • Hiring & Managing Staff Q&As
      • Hiring Employees
      • Home Products & Services
      • Hotels & Hospitality
      • How to Guides
      • How to Guides
      • How to Guides
      • How to Guides
      • How to Guides
      • How to Guides
      • How to Guides
      • How to Guides
      • How to Guides
      • How to Guides
      • How to Guides
      • Import Export
      • Import Export Q&As
      • Import/Export
      • Increase Profitability
      • Increasing Productivity
      • Innovation
      • Intellectual Property
      • International
      • Investing
      • KwaZulu Natal
      • Labour Complexity
      • Labour Law
      • LAUNCH
      • LEADERSHIP
      • Leading
      • Legal Assistance
      • Legal Contracts
      • Lessons Learnt
      • Limpopo
      • Long Term Courses
      • Managing Staff
      • Manufacturing
      • Manufacturing
      • Marketing
      • Marketing Q&As
      • Marketing Tactics
      • Medical & Health Care
      • MONEY
      • Mpumalanga
      • National
      • Networking
      • Non-Profit Organisations
      • Northern Cape
      • Ongoing Learning
      • Ongoing Learning
      • Online Business Plans
      • Online Businesses
      • Online Marketing
      • Online Mentorship Services
      • Online Networks
      • Partnerships
      • Performance & Growth
      • Performance Monitoring
      • Personal Finance
      • Personal Improvement
      • Personal Improvement
      • Personal Improvement Q&As
      • Personal Services
      • Personal Wealth Q&As
      • Pets & Animal Services
      • Podcasts
      • PR & Publicity
      • Presenting
      • Private Equity
      • Professional Mentorship Services
      • Professional Services
      • Property Investment
      • Publishing and Media
      • Ready to Launch
      • Real Estate
      • Real Estate
      • Recreation
      • Referrals
      • Researching a Franchise
      • Restaurants & Bars
      • Retail
      • Retail Business
      • Risk Management
      • Sales
      • Sales Confidence
      • Sales Prospecting
      • Sales Q&As
      • Sales Strategy & Management
      • Sample Business Plans
      • Sample Business Plans
      • Santam for Business
      • Sector Focus
      • Self Development
      • Services Businesses
      • Setting & Achieving Goals
      • Setting Up Systems
      • Short Term Courses
      • Small Business
      • SME Incubators
      • Snapshots
      • Special Interest Business Networks
      • Sports, Outdoors & Fitness
      • Staff
      • Start Up Tools & Infrastructure
      • Start-up Advice
      • Start-up Guide
      • Start-up Industry Specific Q&As
      • Starting a Business
      • Starting a Business Q&As
      • Starting an Export Business
      • Starting an Import Business
      • Strategy
      • SUCCESS
      • Success Stories
      • Support for Women Entrepreneurs
      • Tax
      • Techniques
      • Technology
      • Technology
      • Tools
      • Types of Businesses to Start
      • Uncategorized
      • Upstarts
      • Venture Capital
      • Western Cape
      • Women Entrepreneur Competitions
      • Women Entrepreneur Successes
      • Women Entrepreneurs
      • Women's Business Networks
      • Women's Funds
      • Work Life Balance
      • Worksheets
      • About Us
      • Write for Us
      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms & Conditions
      • Sitemap
      • Contact Us

      Copyright © 2021 ExpertHub.info

      No Result
      View All Result
      • HOME
      • LAUNCH
      • BUSINESS
      • LEADERSHIP
      • MONEY
      • SUCCESS
      • NEWS

      Copyright © 2021 ExpertHub.info

      Login to your account below

      Forgotten Password?

      Fill the forms bellow to register

      All fields are required. Log In

      Retrieve your password

      Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

      Log In