New Members Raise Awareness to How Easily your small business could be sued!
Whatever you need for business we promise to do our best to know the answer or find it for you.
In last months networking event one member needed advice about Intellectual Property. Our Founder and host Mandie Holgate pointed out that the infromation this Insider had was worth money and needed protecting.
We didn’t have the correct legal expert on the Insiders so in true Insiders style, we found one!
We are so happy to welcome on board Kirsty Gibbons and Kate Bunn’s from K&K Legal Consulting Ltd. Within hours our Insider had a contract in place and was able to make over £18,000 from their IP! They’d not even know they could charge for this!
Here Kate writes for Startups. about the very real risks small businesses open themselves to every day.
It’s a scary read, but essential for every small business owner!
From organising your launch party to onboarding your team, starting a new business is often a busy, exciting time.
Every day poses a new opportunity, with much of your headspace occupied with bringing your vision alive. It’s little wonder that legals can be overlooked or drop down your to-do list – especially when everything feels so shiny and optimistic.
But without a well-structured, industry-specific contract in place, you are only ever one project away from being sued.
Getting the legals right in the beginning is key
While we would all like to think that businesses play fair, that sadly isn’t always the case. A handshake agreement simply isn’t enough.
Sometimes, even the most amicable relationships can sour due to unclear terms or a misunderstanding in the deliverables. Elements such as timelines, ownership, payments, intellectual property rights and quality play a large factor in disputes.
No business owner wants to think about their business being dragged into litigation. But, a contract can ease that process. Having no contract at all means that it simply comes down to “she said/they said” – making it a harder job for you to put the evidence together. More costs become an inevitability.
It’s not just about having any contract
It’s about having a well-drafted industry-specific contract. That doesn’t mean to say a template won’t work for you, but it needs to be the right template.
Copying from other businesses without any adaptation or using contracts designed for other industries and from other jurisdictions are common pitfalls.
Laws change from country to country, so using an American contract in England, for example, has led to disastrous consequences for some businesses.
A well-drafted contract should include:
- A clear, concise description of what the deliverables are
- A timeline in which the deliverables will be achieved, and what happens if there are any changes
- Concrete clauses around payment – including when payment is due, interest, bank charges and more
- Definitions of ownership for products, services or both
- Clarification that you are not responsible for third-party software, goods or services, and
- Details of how and where disputes are dealt with
Having these elements in your contract, along with some standardised clauses, will reduce the likelihood of disputes. If problems do arise, you’ll be in a much better position to defend any claim.
To read the full story and explore documents, templates, contracts and more click here.
K&K Legal Consulting Ltd was founded in 2018 by Kirsty Gibbons and Kate Bunn. With 30 years of combined legal expertise, Kirsty and Kate offer legal services to small businesses and entrepreneurs without the constraints of a traditional nine-to-five law firm.
Founded by Kirsty and Kate, K&K Legal Consulting is driven by a shared passion for providing accessible and flexible legal services to small businesses. With a combined wealth of legal expertise spanning 30 years and a deep understanding of the challenges faced by entrepreneurs, Kirsty and Kate bring a unique perspective to the legal landscape.
So whether it’s GDPR advice, a legal document you need drafting, a legal document review and advice, commercial lease advice or something else you are in good hands.
Kirsty and Kate pride themselves on offering legal advice in a clear and concise way. They are also approachable, believe no question is too small and love nothing more than hearing about your business journey.
Kate couldn’t join us this month at our networking event so get your 60 seconds fix of K and K here. If you would like to support this small business, please like and share this article and give K and K Legal Consulting Ltd a like on social media. If you work with them, please do let them know how you found them.
And can you can access their expertise on the Insiders any day of the week. Just tag them for a personal response on your legal needs.
