Written to be used
Notes on the agreements, checks and decisions that come up most often, in plain language. General information, not advice on your situation.
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Why good businesses lose tenders on paperwork
Most tender submissions are rejected before anyone reads the price. The documents to have ready now, and the mistakes that get a bid thrown out on a technicality.
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When you need a consultant and when you need a legal practitioner
The two roles are often confused, so people pay for the wrong one or go without either. Here is the practical line between them, and how to tell which you need.
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Before you agree to longer payment terms
A big customer asking for 60 or 90 days is asking you to lend them money. Here is how to work out what that loan costs you, and what to ask for in return.
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What due diligence actually checks before you buy a business
Due diligence is not an audit and it is not a formality. It is the work of confirming that what you have been told is true, before your money moves and becomes someone else's.
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Six clauses to read twice before you sign a commercial lease
A commercial lease is usually the largest fixed commitment a small business makes. These are the clauses that decide what it really costs and how hard it is to leave.
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How to prepare for a negotiation in one afternoon
Negotiations are lost in preparation, not at the table. This is the work that fits in an afternoon and changes how the conversation goes.
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Going into business together without writing anything down
Partnerships are formed on trust and tested on disagreement. The questions worth settling at the start, while everyone is still friendly and nothing is at stake.
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Five terms that decide whether you actually get paid
Most supply agreements are read for the price and signed. These are the five terms that decide whether that price ever reaches your bank account, and when.
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What a personal surety actually commits you to
It is the shortest clause in the agreement and the one that follows you home. Here is what signing as surety does, and what can be negotiated before you do.
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Can the person signing actually bind the company?
Authority is not the same as seniority, and a confident signature is not proof of either. The checks that take an hour and save a deal from being unenforceable.
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Busy all month, no money at the end of it
When a business is working hard and still short, the cause is usually one of five things. Here is how to find out which, using figures you already have.
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Building a compliance calendar that actually gets used
Compliance obligations are usually noticed only once they have been missed. A morning's work turns that into a list with dates and names against it.
Have a document in front of you right now?
Send it over and we will tell you what it commits you to, in plain language, before the deadline rather than after it.