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How can I make sure my clients pay me?
Your company does good work, and you are proud when your completed project makes a client happy. However, nothing can diminish that feeling of pride faster than having to wait and beg for the money a client owes you for the work you did.
Running a small business is challenging enough when some days every dime counts toward keeping things going. Having to wait indefinitely for someone to pay you can make you frustrated and angry. There are steps you can take to improve the chances that a client will pay, but in the end, you may have to make some difficult decisions.
Setting the stage to get paid
Receiving payment for your work seems like something you could take for granted. Sadly, not everyone agrees. You may run into clients who suddenly have financial crises and others who simply do not take you seriously. From the very first meeting with potential clients, you can begin laying the groundwork for receiving the money you deserve, including taking these steps:
Has a corporation board breached its fiduciary duty to you?
Purchasing shares in a company is often a leap of faith, but it is not something you might do blindly. Certainly, you must believe in the company and its product or service. Additionally, you may expect the company to succeed and thus provide you with a sound and profitable investment. You also trust that those who make the decisions for the operations of the company will have your interests in mind and be your voice.
As a shareholder in a corporation, you do not control the way the business runs. Ultimately, the board of directors and the officers of the corporation handle those matters. However, it is their duty to make wise decisions about the direction of the company and the use of its funds since those decisions directly affect your well-being as a shareholder. This responsibility is known as fiduciary duty, and it is a legal obligation.
The board has a duty to protect your interests
Your business may need more contracts than you realize
When you decided to start your own business, you likely knew that there would be a lot of work involved. Even after you got your business operations up and running, you still had to take steps to keep everything in line. You may have created new business relationships, taken on employees, conducted various sales and carried out other related actions.
Because each aspect of your business is important and you want to protect your company, you understand the value of having contracts in place whenever a new relationship or arrangement comes into play. In fact, you may need contracts for certain areas that you may not have considered before.
When do you need a contract?
Contracts are legally binding agreements when created correctly, and they are vital to the protection of company interests. Before you take any action with your business, you may want to determine whether you may need one of the following types of contracts:
- Employment-related contracts, which could include consulting agreements, confidentiality agreements, employment agreements, independent contractor agreements, employment separation agreements and others
Does damage to your company have you considering litigation?
Running a small business takes a lot of work from the moment you decide to start the business. You have undoubtedly gone through mountains of paperwork, made numerous decisions, had to deal with setbacks and felt the stress of starting a business. However, you reached your goal, and your company has been operational for a short time.
Because your company is relatively young, you may not have had any legal issues to face as of yet. You may have anticipated an issue coming sooner or later because so many businesses do face legal claims or face problems that need litigating. You may have reached a point where you feel that going to court over a business matter is necessary, but you may still feel hesitant.
Going to court is serious
You undoubtedly know that taking someone to court is a serious matter. However, you may not fully understand what it entails. The results of any case are not a guarantee. You may think that you have a strong claim against another person or another company due to actions that caused harm to your company, but the chance does exist that the court could not rule in your favor. As a result, you may have spent a lot of time and effort, and not reached the desired outcome.
A partnership agreement can reduce conflicts
Bringing partners into your business or collaborating with someone to start a company is not as easy as shaking hands over a cup of coffee. A partnership includes many legal complexities, and it is important that you and your partners understand what each expects of the others. This is why business advocates highly recommend having a solid partnership agreement that addresses these matters.
A partnership agreement should be as thorough as you can make it, including any contingencies you can think of from the start to the end of the business. Your business and your partnership have their own unique factors, so you will want your partnership agreement to reflect those elements with clarity and precision. Because of this, using an online template for your agreement may not provide the solid security you want for your business.
What should you include?
While you and your partners may hope to share the business equally, you may be unsure what this means until you discuss it as you draft your contract. Will all of you contribute the same amount of cash? Will you share the day-to-day responsibilities equally? These are only the beginning of the decisions to make long before you open your doors or launch your website. Some important factors your partnership agreement can address will answer these and other questions:
Is your small business ready for transition?
Whether your Texas business is just starting out or you have worked for decades to build a strong reputation in your industry, you likely have great plans for the future. Perhaps you have ideas for expansion, or you may simply want to establish a successful company that will support your family and provide something you can pass on to your children.
If creating a legacy from your business is in your plans, you should know that this does not happen automatically. In fact, it might behoove you to understand exactly what may happen to your small business if you should become incapacitated or pass away before you have a transition plan in place.
Don't leave a mess behind
A sole proprietorship is a business that has a single owner. You own your business and oversee its daily operations. You may have employees, but the ownership of the operation rests solely on your shoulders. In fact, in many respects, you are the business. If you should die, your business may die with you. If this is not your wish, it is not too early to take steps to protect the future of your company by creating a succession plan. Failing to do this may leave your loved ones with the following challenges:
Could your company benefit from a liability release form?
Owning and operating a business comes with many risks for being liable for certain outcomes. For instance, if a person participates in an activity on a company's premises and suffers injuries, the company could be liable for those injuries. Unfortunately, facing liability for such incidents could be detrimental to your company in various ways.
As a business owner, you undoubtedly know the importance of protecting your company as best as possible. If you know that certain elements of your business operations could put clients or customers at a certain amount of risk for harm in the event that something goes wrong, you may want to consider having a liability release form.
What is the purpose of this form?
In general terms, a release form indicates that a person using your company's product or service assumes the risk of injury and that your company's liability for any resulting injuries is limited. Having this form and having clients or customers sign it could help keep a company from facing lawsuits. However, that does not necessarily mean that one could never sue your company. If the injury-causing incident resulted from negligence or recklessness on the part of the company, a form may not protect you.
Having a client list is important to growing a business
Whether you have just started your business or have been in operation for years, you undoubtedly want to ensure that you provide a quality product or service. You understand that having happy clients and customers can ensure that your company sees further success in the future.
Building a customer or client base is an important aspect of running a business. Keeping up with these individuals through email or other forms of contact could provide you with useful information that you could use for a variety of purposes, including expanding your operations, ensuring customer satisfaction and providing new information to those who have already utilized your company.
Why stay on top of your client list?
Staying on top of your client and customer list can help you more than you initially realize. Some benefits of periodically reaching out to individuals on this contact list include the following:
Does your contract have all the right stuff?
You may think of your small business as something very personal to you. Your employees and customers are like family, and you enjoy the comfortable, informal relationships you have with them. However, business is business, and at the heart of many successful business deals is a solid contract.
While you may not be ready to ask your employees to sign a non-compete clause, you are losing some critical protections if you are not using contracts with your clients. A contract may not prevent a lawsuit, but a well-written agreement can provide you with solid ground on which to stand if a dispute should arise with one of your clients.
Contract terms
Contracts simply outline what each party expects from the other. Having these terms in writing and reviewing them with your customer before agreeing to work together gives both sides a chance to discuss, negotiate and fully understand what you promise to do. Some important elements of a contract include the following:
Is a merger or acquisition best for your company?
Like most business owners, you are probably always on the lookout for ways to improve or expand your company. No matter how long you have been in business, you understand that the world can move quickly around you, and standing still can mean becoming obsolete. This is what motivates you to keep current with the trends of your industry and stay alert for new opportunities.
If you have learned that the fate of another Texas business is on the line, you may wonder if this is the right opportunity for you. The other business may be struggling to remain solvent, seeking to sell or looking for a company to partner with, among other circumstances. It is possible that this could be just the chance for you to grow your business, but you must first gain as much information as possible about your options.
Understanding the difference
The two alternatives you may be considering are a merger or an acquisition. With a merger, you and the owner of the other company agree to join forces to form a completely new entity. You may change your name to combine the two business names, and you may work as a partner with the owner of the other business.
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508 N Ridgeway Dr., Cleburne, TX 76033|
817-645-1717
