I’m trying to get more official with my business, which is basically a glorified freelance operation that’s taken on a life of it’s own.
One element of getting more “official” is getting my clients on a contract.
Up until now everything has been “handshake.” But as I’m putting it out there to clients that I have a contract I’d like them to sign, I’m getting some push back.
One client said they’re not authorized to sign contracts. They’re a middle manager so I guess that kind of makes sense (maybe?). Are there ways I could counter that?
I also am in the process of onboarding a new client. They said they’d have to run the contract by legal but it’s been a week and I haven’t heard back yet. I got a slight undertone in the conversation that they weren’t to excited about running a contract by legal, if they were going to do it at all.
For reference, most my clients are pretty big institutions (universities) but I’m getting the impression that some of my clients within the university are hiring me on the sly. Not necessarily to be sneaky, but to just avoid paperwork.
The contract is one I found online that I just adjusted to my own needs. I’m meeting with a lawyer to get a more official contract drawn up for the work I do next week.
So my questions to y’all are this…
1) Do you have contracts you ask your clients to sign for the business you do?
2) Have you ever experienced push back on contracts like I’m describing above?
Thanks!
One element of getting more “official” is getting my clients on a contract.
Up until now everything has been “handshake.” But as I’m putting it out there to clients that I have a contract I’d like them to sign, I’m getting some push back.
One client said they’re not authorized to sign contracts. They’re a middle manager so I guess that kind of makes sense (maybe?). Are there ways I could counter that?
I also am in the process of onboarding a new client. They said they’d have to run the contract by legal but it’s been a week and I haven’t heard back yet. I got a slight undertone in the conversation that they weren’t to excited about running a contract by legal, if they were going to do it at all.
For reference, most my clients are pretty big institutions (universities) but I’m getting the impression that some of my clients within the university are hiring me on the sly. Not necessarily to be sneaky, but to just avoid paperwork.
The contract is one I found online that I just adjusted to my own needs. I’m meeting with a lawyer to get a more official contract drawn up for the work I do next week.
So my questions to y’all are this…
1) Do you have contracts you ask your clients to sign for the business you do?
2) Have you ever experienced push back on contracts like I’m describing above?
Thanks!