Showstoppers are
A clause or term that could bring negotiations or your contract to a juddering halt
Over the past 9 months, my newsletters have proposed a series of tips, tools and techniques to spot and solve showstoppers.
What should you do?
- Do you work with or for your clients? Rather than negotiate a bad contract, offer yours as a starting point
- Get the knowledge skill and experience you need to be the ‘fearless person in speedos’ when it comes to contracts
- Once you’ve spotted a showstopper, decide whether to shrug or hug
- Design a process for reviewing contracts to safeguard your business
- Query/reject clauses which do not support your intentions
- Be aware of implied terms which can change your contract
- Decide your showstoppers before you start negotiating
- When you meet a potential showstopper, reassess your strategy (learn from your mistakes)
- Don’t bet your business on one bad clause
- If you spot a clause you cannot comply with, get it removed
My top tip is to delete showstoppers and jargon from your contract so you know what you are signing up to; and I advised you not to ignore clauses.
Clauses we have covered include:
- Joke clauses ie owning your immortal soul
- Procedural clauses like conditions precedent or set off
- Challenging issues such as intellectual property rights, confidentiality and cancellation
- Legal jargon like entire agreement, time of the essence
- One-sided clauses like indemnities not tempered by limits on liability
But if there is was one tip I want you to remember it is this:
don’t bet your business on one client and one bad clause
If you want more details, you can read all these back issues of the Dotted Line in my archive.
