I first came across lame clauses in 1995 when I read the back of a bungee jump ‘certificate’ and realised participants had effectively signed their lives away! More recently, my teenage sons signed up for an unexpected engineering task when they agreed to the safety rules for the mountain carts
A wide variety of global corporates are creating simpler contracts – to speed up transactions and to enable them to do business with SMEs. Many start-ups, innovators and niche specialists simply cannot afford the time/energy/money to review long complex contracts. The problem Many of the issues related to complex contracts are
Back in 2021, I worked in a team to simplify the terms and conditions for a global corporate. The principles agreed with the client include: using digits not words for numbers conversational tone ie ‘you’ as provider and ‘we’ as client must or will, instead of shall (due to its
Have you ever accidentally bought something online, or forgotten to cancel an automatic renewal, or found yourself stuck with goods you simply don’t want? Making a contract is so easy we can almost do it in our sleep! But are you making it easy for your clients and suppliers? I
Simplifying contracts is not just a matter of taking each clause and making it plainer language. We really need to understand the precise jargon used and whether it is even appropriate for this type of contract. Time is an essential condition Back in 2015, when I started to revise the
Simplifying contracts is not just a matter of taking each clause and making it plainer language. Our task is also to ensure all the contracting documents fit together neatly. Our goal is seamless sales… from start to finish! Coffee on the go We were asked to help a coffee business
Trust-enhancing contracts Trust, according to the Speed of Trust by Stephen MR Covey, is a function of two things: character and competence. Character includes your integrity, your motive, your intent with people. Competence includes your capabilities, your skills, your results, your track record. When I read that book, I was
Have you ever asked directions from a stranger, only to find that you forgot the very first item by the end of their explanation? Have you ever asked someone to give you a recipe, and then wish you’d written it down? Some things are better kept simple and broken into
Although it is a book primarily about building a business, Rework (by Fried and Heinemeier Hansson, the founders of 37 Signals), has some tips which are equally applicable to doing deals. Focus on diving in When starting a business relationship, they say: Your priorities are out of whack if you’re thinking about getting
Deals will be simpler to agree if the buyer doesn’t rely on their commercial power – they hold the purse strings – to create one-sided agreement terms. Here are my top 10 nasties to avoid: One-sided flexibility: Wide rights for the buyer to end the contract at any time for any