Let’s get straight to the point. Think of ‘Terms and Conditions’ as the two burly bouncers at the gates of the most exclusive and coolest club in town; that YOU own. They are there to protect you and your business. They come as part of your entourage. Where you go professionally, they go.
When first starting out as a virtual assistant, there can be a seemingly overwhelming truckload of tasks and areas of business that perhaps you hadn’t had to manage yourself previously; if you were in employment, these may have been dealt with by HR or line managers, leaving you to the job at hand. Terms and conditions, contracts, policies, agreements not to mention GDPR. It’s enough to leave you spinning around; and not in a sexy Kylie circa 2000 way.
Now, you could hop online, buy a basic contract template for freelancers and tailor it to your own VA business. You could research other people in the Virtual Assistant world and see what they are doing with their own terms and conditions and tweak as necessary. However, there is a good chance that if you don’t invest some time in your own ‘Terms and Conditions’, making them work for you and your own business needs, you will be simply ‘borrowing’ some other club’s bouncers. When the metaphorical ‘going’ gets tough and ‘Terms and Conditions’ are put to the test to see what they’re really made of; you might find that they are about as much use as a chocolate teapot. Like most things, there are people who are experts in this area of business. Making sure they equip you with the right ‘entourage’ for your business.
KoffeeKlatch is a one-stop shop for VAs, web designers, bookkeepers, trainers and other outsourced businesses to gain clarity in their business legalities and help them protect themselves and their customers. They are definitely the APVA recommended go-to for business contracts and documents, and for advice on complex topics like GDPR and IR35.
But why do I need ‘Terms and Conditions’ for my business?
Terms and Conditions of Business are basically your business’s safety net and gate-keeper. They outline what you will and won’t accept professionally, payment terms including the whats, what-ifs, hows, and whens of all things relating to money and services, confidentiality and legal information. They may also include clauses for termination.
And if you are still confused and all this talk of clubs is making you want to either grab your glad-rags or run a bath and watch some Netflix, then head on over to KoffeeKlatch and hear directly from them about the importance of protecting yourself AND your business AND your customers in these uniquely challenging times.