#Contract
How do I exit a bad supplier contract without getting sued or burning the bridge?
This week, our experts explore how to walk away from a supplier or client agreement without ending up in a legal dispute or burning bridges.
Research: The benefits of using contract staff
Using contract staff is becoming more popular.
ACCC has improved ‘tens of thousands’ of contracts for SMES since November 2016
The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) says its only at the ‘tip of the iceberg’ in terms of its efforts to ensure small businesses are not subject to unfair contract terms. Since 12 November last year, when unfair contract terms laws were extended to small business contracts, the ACCC has taken successful court action […]
Progress made towards a fairer distribution of power between small and big businesses
When small businesses engage with large enterprises, standard form contracts often leave them with no room to negotiate. Small businesses are left with the choice of either accepting terms heavily weighted against them, or terminating a deal that would be valuable for their business. To protect small businesses from backing into a corner, the unfair […]
How to avoid unenforceable contracts
No business operates in complete isolation. Agreements must be made between your business and its customers, as well as with other businesses such as suppliers and distributors. So how do businesses enforce their agreements? The answer is through the formation of legally binding contracts. Unfortunately, many businesses get caught out with unenforceable contracts and, in turn, […]
Government seeking to remove barriers to start-ups wanting to pitch for ICT contracts
The Federal Government’s commitment to open up ICT contracts to ‘smaller players’ has received support from within the start-up community. Yesterday, Assistant Minister for Digital Transformation Angus Taylor called on the tech sector to submit feedback to the Commonwealth’s ICT Procurement Taskforce on how to make government contracts more accessible to start-ups and SMEs. […]
Electronic signatures: what are the benefits?
Reasons a business enter into contract typically include commercial gain. If a signed contract is returned incomplete or late – or worse, a signature has been forged – it could end up costing some or all of the parties involved. According to Brad Newton, vice president of DocuSign ANZ, businesses can avoid these types of […]
Don’t let your staff catch you out as you grow
As your start-up begins to grow and take on more staff, you’ll likely run into a few challenges. It’s much easier to keep everyone ‘on the same page’ when there’s only a handful of people in the business. When your workforce balloons to 20, 100 or more staff, that’s when issues emerge. Due to numerous factors, including background, work history, education and personality, each of […]
5 things to consider if you want to take your small business offshore
For small business owners, the intrigue of taking their products and services off shore can be too exciting to ignore. But among all the hype that international business can bring, there are still numerous risks to assess and manage if you decide international trade is right for you. Perhaps the most important area to consider […]
How to give your business a bigger growth potential
Everybody who launches a small to mid-size business of their own these days hopes to hit the bull’s eye as soon as possible. The problem is there are literally millions of other people aiming at the same target. This produces competition of millions, meaning the risk of failing to stand out is high. Here are […]
Six things you should know about ‘unfair contract’ law
In the vast majority of cases once you enter into a contract you are locked into its terms. However, there is a way out – you may be able to claim the contract is void because it is “unfair”.
When do verbal promises become legally binding?
An agreement does not need to be in writing to be legally binding as enforceable contracts can either be in written or verbal form.
Three key times not to avoid a lawyer
It would be great if you could work with a lawyer every time a minor documentation issue arose, but for many businesses this is simply untenable. Here are the three key times when you shouldn’t avoid working with a lawyer.
What to do before you sign a legal contract
A contract is a legally binding agreement made between two or more parties. As a contract is legally binding, it is critical for you to spend the time to make sure that you get it right.
Loan agreements – 6 key clauses to watch
Businesses enter into loan agreements on a regular basis, but it’s crucial that that you review any loan agreement you sign off on.
Telstra introduces flexible mobile plans
Telstra has announced a new range of mobile plans that don’t require a long-term commitment.
Employers warned about employee contracts’ restraints of trade litigation risk
With the end of the year approaching and many businesses finalising employee remuneration and bonus payouts, employers are urged to use this opportunity to update their employment contracts, particularly provisions applied to confidential information and restraints of trade, which may be either unsatisfactorily drafted, or out of date, according to Harmers Workplace Lawyers.
Employees would rather quit than negotiate on pay
Many employees are not prepared to negotiate their salary and instead believe it is necessary to switch jobs for a pay increase, according to new research released today from Robert Half.
How to get paid what you’re worth
Setting fees is always a difficult proposition for service businesses and pricing an intangible is much harder than pricing a product. Your fee will, however, represent what you and your expertise are worth.