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Payment terms don’t have to be complicated, but they should be very explicit about all of the details. Don’t just say “Bob shall pay Gene $500.” Doing so leaves out too much detail. When is the payment due? Is it refundable? What about expenses? Etc.

Three Ways to Write Payment Terms

April 2, 2022
by
Chris Brown
Small businesses, and especially those are are freelancing, will run into W9s and 1099s all the time. We’ve created this post to help you understand what those are.

What are W9s and 1099s?

April 8, 2022
by
Chris Brown
Most small businesses hate taxes. We get it. They aren’t fun. But to help, here’s a quick post explaining business taxes in a nutshell.

An Intro to How the IRS Taxes Your Business

April 14, 2022
by
Chris Brown
Regardless if your small businesses is big or small, it is important to track your income and expenses properly. In this post, we’ll help small businesses understand the basics.

How to Track Your Income and Expenses for Small Businesses

April 15, 2022
by
Chris Brown
Many small businesses are told they should “create an S-Corp” but are not really told what that means or why they might do that. In reality, there is no such thing as an “S-Corp.” Rather, certain businesses can elect to be taxed as an “S-Corp.”

What is an S-Corp?

May 3, 2022
by
Chris Brown
Many small businesses want to use a name other than their individual name for their business. You can create an LLC or corporation and use that name, or you (or your LLC/corporation) can file for a DBA or Fictitious Name in most states.

What is a DBA/Fictitious Name?

April 21, 2022
by
Chris Brown
Most small businesses who run their own business will consider forming an LLC (limited liability company) or corporation at some point. And for good reason, doing so has many benefits.

When and How to Start an LLC or Corporation

May 5, 2022
by
Chris Brown
Although most small businesses should form an LLC or corporation, many can operate a good small businesses as a sole proprietor (especially creators who are just moonlighting). Below are some considerations for creators who choose to work under their own name as a sole proprietor.

When and How to Operate as a Sole Proprietor

April 3, 2022
by
Chris Brown
For most client relationships, you and your client will protect your confidential information using confidentiality provisions in your client agreement. However, there are also state and federal laws that can be used to trade secrets (a type of confidential information). In this post we will explore some of the critical things creators should know about trade secrets.

What Creators Should Know About Trade Secrets

April 9, 2022
by
Chris Brown
When running a small businesses, it’s important to protect your trademark. It’s also equally important to avoid infringing other trademarks. In this post, we’ll cover some of the most important things creators should know about trademark law.

How to Protect Trademarks

April 10, 2022
by
Chris Brown
Many small businesses (and their clients) would be surprised to learn who actually owns the copyright in works created under a contract. Do you know the answer? Read on to learn more.

Who Owns Your Copyright?

April 11, 2022
by
Chris Brown
Copyright law is critical for small businesses. In this post we will explore some of the most important things about copyright law that you should know.

What Small Businesses Should Know About Copyrights

April 15, 2022
by
Chris Brown
Without a doubt, one of the most valuable assets to most small businesses is their intellectual property. Both the IP they own and the IP they will create for their clients. This post will explore the four main types of intellectual property.

The Four Main Types of Intellectual Property

April 12, 2022
by
Chris Brown
The provisions at the end of the contract are known as the “boilerplate” provisions. They are usually fairly standard, but small businesses can’t ignore them because a small change to any one of them can have major contract-wide implications.

12 “Boilerplate” Contract Provisions You Should Know

April 18, 2022
by
Chris Brown
Many client agreements will contain provisions that allow for (or require) one party to deliver a demand or notice to the other party. The exact date those demands/notices are delivered will usually start some kind of daily countdown.

Why Are Notice Provisions Important?

April 21, 2022
by
Chris Brown
Indemnification is one of the most confusing legal topics for small businesses when they are working on their client agreements. In short, it is a mechanism to allocate risk between two parties.

What Does Indemnification Mean?

April 10, 2022
by
Chris Brown
Every small business’s client agreement should address how, if at all, a party to the contract can terminate the agreement early. We’ll cover three common options below, as well as provide some practical advice.

Three Popular Termination Provisions in Small Businesses

April 23, 2022
by
Chris Brown
Many small businesses use non-solicitation provisions to protect their relationships with their workforce and their clients. But be careful, they are not universally enforceable.

How to Prevent Clients from Stealing your Staff

April 24, 2022
by
Chris Brown
Most well-drafted client agreements will contain some kind of confidentiality provision. Below are four tips to consider when drafting your confidentiality provision.

How Small Businesses Can Protect Confidential Info

April 30, 2022
by
Chris Brown
For small businesses, the way you address ownership of your work product and intellectual property in your client agreement is absolutely critical. Generally speaking, under U.S. Copyright Law, the creator of an original work will be deemed the owner of the copyright to that work. That’s very good news for creators. But in the real world, you can’t just fall back on that. You should address it in your contract.

Three Ways Businesses Can Draft Intellectual Property Provisions

May 1, 2022
by
Chris Brown
Most small businesses do work that requires them to buy things on behalf of their clients. This may include stock photography, website themes, and more.If you need to do this for your freelance business, you should try to get reimbursed for the expenses.

How Small Businesses Can Get Reimbursed for Expenses

May 7, 2022
by
Chris Brown
In short, the best advice to writing a good scope of work for a client agreement is to be specific. The SOW will describe what the creator is obligated to do. If all you say is “Develop a Website” it will be very ambiguous about what that means. How many pages? What will they look like? Who will write the content? Will there be photos or videos? Etc.

How Small Businesses Can Write a Good Scope of Work

March 8, 2022
by
Chris Brown
When a small business reviews a client agreement provided by their client, it is important to ask for changes if the contract contains errors or simply doesn’t meet expectations. The nine tips below will help you to negotiate the details. But remember, whenever possible, you should use your own client agreement template and our digital contract platform can help. Create your first contract for free »

Nine Contract Negotiation Tips for Small Businesses

March 15, 2022
by
Chris Brown
Whenever possible, small businesses should try to use their own client agreement template with their clients. Doing so will reduce risk and, odds are, the creator’s template probably aligns with the service and payment terms better than the client’s version. When you need to create and sign a client agreement, you should check our digital contract platform for small businesses. Create your first contract for free »

How to Review a Client’s Standard Contract

March 22, 2022
by
Chris Brown
We love e-signatures. Many small businesses think that e-Signatures are better than physical signatures. And we totally agree! Here’s what you should know.

Can I Sign Contracts Digitally?

March 27, 2022
by
Chris Brown
When small businesses sign a contract, it is critical that they sign the contract correctly. One way small and mid-sized businesses can make this easier is to just use a digital contract platform like Rally. Create your first contract for free »

The Right Way to Sign a Contract

March 29, 2022
by
Chris Brown
When small businesses write their own client agreements, it is helpful to follow smart drafting policies. Below are five simple rules you can use.P.s. if you don’t want to worry about all this, you can use a cloud-based contract platform like Rally. Create your first contract for free »

Five Rules to Write Better Contracts

April 5, 2022
by
Chris Brown
Small and mid-sized businesses need to make sure they use the right names in their contracts. It’s actually really easy to mess up, so follow along to learn how to do it right. After reading this post, you should read our post on signing a contract: The right way to sign a contract.

The Right Way to Identify Parties in a Contract

April 12, 2022
by
Chris Brown
Small and mid-sized business owners don’t have time to be dealing with contracts every day. That’s why it is important that they create contract templates for their most common needs.In this post, we’ll look at four ways to do that.

Four Ways to Get a Contract Template

April 12, 2022
by
Chris Brown
Small and mid-sized businesses need a reliable Client Agreement and Contractor Agreement. But they don’t have to be complicated. Using a contract can help reduce the odds of a dispute (because each party will know what is expected of them up front) and if a dispute does arise, the contract can make dispute resolution faster, cheaper, and easier overall.

Two Contracts Every Small Business Needs

April 19, 2022
by
Chris Brown
Most small businesses want to get as much work as they can. One way to make that easier, is to use the MSA/SOW format for your client agreements. Here is a summary of what the MSA/SOW format is, why it is so great, and best practices for your business.

How to Use MSAs and SOWs

April 26, 2022
by
Chris Brown
Many small businesses rely on oral contracts. And guess what, in most cases, those contracts will absolutely be enforceable in court. That’s because you only need three things to create a legally binding agreement and a writing isn’t one of the three things.

Are Oral Agreements Enforceable?

May 3, 2022
by
Chris Brown
Most small businesses don’t realize this, but you really only need three things to create a legally binding contract. And by legally binding, we mean a contract that you can enforce in court if everything falls apart.

What is a Contract?

May 10, 2022
by
Chris Brown


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