When you set up your business, you need to immediately get your house in order. First, you need to work out what type of business you have so that you can register it correctly and arrange the right contracts.
Are you a:
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- Sole proprietorship
A business that is essentially one person – the owner. Income and losses are taxed on that one person’s personal income tax return. - Partnership
A business run by two or more or people together, with a view to making a profit - Limited Liability
A business whose owners are only legally responsible for its debts up to the amount of capital that they invested into the company - Corporation
A large company or group of companies authorized to act as a single entity and recognized as such in law.Once you have that figured out and have registered the name of your company, it’s time to look at contracts for business. These have to suit the industry that you operate in; whatever your line of business is, you’ll need a certain set of contracts to ensure everything works as it should.
- Sole proprietorship
Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
A Privacy Policy contract is something you must have as it is required by law. It relates to data or information that you collect from your clients, customers or users, and specifies what kind of information you will collect, and what you do with it.
A Terms of Use contract (also known as Terms and Conditions) is the legal contract between a service provider (your business) and the person who wants to use your services or products (your client/customer).
A Terms of Use contract is not required by law, unlike a Privacy Policy, but it’s highly recommended that you have one as it can enable you to prevent abusive actions against your business, website, or mobile app, while limiting your own liability as to the owner of the online/offline business.
Now here’s where things get a little trickier! Every business is different from one another, and likewise every industry is too. Each industry has its own set of rules and regulations, and therefore its own set of contractual requirements and specifications.
If you have an e-commerce business, i.e. one that trades online via a website, you may also need a sales representative agreement and a wholesale agreement. Or, if you’re a coach and deliver tuition or mentoring of some kind, you will most like need a course terms contract, a 1:1 coaching contract, or a group coaching contract. And, if you’re a marketer and provide marketing services, you may also need a social media manager contract, or a marketing contractor agreement.
So as you can see, the types of business contract required vary from industry to industry. Getting the right contracts in place from the outset is vital, as it protects your business and ensures everything is being done legally.
When you start a business, it is important to be proactive and do everything you can to ensure sure that you are legally protected. At Legal Paar, we have years of experience in business and intellectual property law, and can provide expert guidance when it comes to arranging the right contracts for you.
If you’d like to know more, then we’d be only too happy to help. Give us a call on +34 93 548 43 32 or email info@legalpaar.com.