Bulletproof contract templates for Freelancers & Small Business owners
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DISCLAIMER: Before we dive in, please note that I am not an attorney & this post does not contain legal advice. This content is for educational purposes only!
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One of the scariest things about going out on your own is NOT having a contract –but it’s not because you’re afraid of the lack of a legal agreement, it’s because you’re afraid of things like:
clients not paying for your services & taking the designs
ghosting you when the project starts & it’s too late to fill the spot
hating what you created for the them & refusing to pay or requesting a refund
😳 – I get it!
Those are all GREAT reasons to have a contract in place.
I'll be the first to admit that I didn’t use a contract in the early days of my business ––mostly because I didn’t know I could, because my 9-5s never used them with their clients, which I worked with, …for them–– but those kinds of ‘what-ifs’ were frying my nerves!
You always run the risk of not winning a dispute when there’s no legal agreement in place, but those larger companies can take a hit, if that happened, way better than we can as a solopreneur!
If you’re a product-based business or an education-based business, then you don’t need a service agreement, you need Terms & Conditions specific to the types of ‘offers’ you have (ie: products, or memberships, or courses, etc), in addition to the Terms & Conditions for your website.
If you're a service-based business, you should also have a service agreement, and one that the clients co-signs with you!
But where can you get one?
Who can you trust?
How do you edit these templates?
Can’t you just find one for free on Google?
We’ll tackle all of that in this post! So let’s dig in.
Why do I need a service agreement or contract?
Your contract is there for a few reasons, but primarily
to be the ‘bad guy’ by providing a set of terms you (& your client) can fall back on, IF needed. It’s one of those things that’s better to have & not need, ––than to need & not have.
to establish expectations for both parties, for different scenarios within a set timeframe that you & your client will be working together.
It should state what you will & won't do in every conceivable situation, or at least provide an avenue for many common situations. This will cover your ass for situations like:
non-payment or late payments
refund requests
rescheduled projects
revision terms & delinquent feedback
failure to meet deadlines
what happens in unpredictable events (like your computer crashing, or flood/fire damage that ruins your computer)
who gets the rights to the work produced for the project and how they can use it
what the payment schedule will be
the scope of work that will be included during the project
and so much more!
Without a contract in place, you have nothing legally binding to refer back to and a good contract litigator can poke all kinds of holes in your arguments because there’s nothing to hold up & block those arguments in court or during a dispute.
Once you have a legal agreement, you can use the contract as the 'bad guy' if you need to, with problem clients or bad situations.
Have you ever contacted support and had the response like, “It’s our policy not to…” –you can do that too, IF you have a good contract to back it up. 😉
Is a service agreement (contract) different than Terms & Conditions or Terms of Service?
YES. Great question!
Terms & Conditions, as you commonly hear about them, are for the use of a website or app, etc. These don’t require a physical signing or agreement; the agreement is entered into as soon as you use the website, software, app, etc –if it exists.
Terms & Conditions for websites, are there to set the law of the land for how YOU want people to use your website. It tells people what they can & can’t do with your content, how they engage or interact on the site, etc.
While these T&Cs, as they’re often referred to, are not “legally mandatory” or required, they are HIGHLY recommended for anyone with a website, because without one, you have no legal leg to stand on if you ever run into an issue. And the fact is, that the online space can easily become full of issues, so having T&Cs for your website, your service, your products, your education/courses, etc will only provide help when you need it most!
This is DIFFERENT than a Privacy Policy for websites; these ARE legally required for all websites and don’t dictate how you want people to use your content or your website, but how you use THEIR information when they come & use it. Such as the information you collect in analytics, or lead inquiry forms, or sign-up forms, etc. There are many laws here in the U.S. to comply with, and many others in other countries as well, making this a difficult piece to navigate.
Where do I get Terms & Conditions &/or a Privacy Policy for my website?
Another great question! You’re so on top of it! 🙌🏻
I personally chose to get my website, products & courses T&Cs from Creative Law Shop, primarily because Paige is a trademark & copyright lawyer and I feel like that gives her an edge in how those legal agreements would handle the allowed usage of my content.
But then I decided to use a subscription service, Termageddon*, to provide AND help me maintain my website’s Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy and website disclaimer, because they embed (the policies) on my website and help me keep them updated withough needing a ton of manual labor to edit them as the laws continue to change, sometimes every month or quarter.
Privacy laws are skyrocketing in number, and it’s just too hard for me to keep up with those changes & be confident in my compliance with those changes, if I have to manually make time to handle those edits on my own with no legalese skills. 😂
Where can I get a good contract, service agreement, or legal template?
“I can't afford a lawyer, yet!”
Most lawyers are WAY out of a new business owner's price range. I’ve spoken with other successful web designers that have hired an attorney to write a custom drafted contract for this or that service and it’ll be in the multiple thousand-dollar range, like $3-5k or more, easily.
But you can get a great templated contract and customize it for your business, ––without spending thousands upon thousands!
In fact, time and again, I’ve heard the recommendation –from various attorneys– to START with a reputable legal template, and then when you can afford it, take that to a lawyer where you live and ask them to look it over and make sure it’d correctly edited to stand up in court. This is SO MUCH cheaper than asking an attorney to draft a custom contract for you!
But where do you actually get a template?
I personally use & love the agreements from Paige Hulse, of Creative Law Shop because her shop has 90+ legal templates and they ALL come with LIFETIME updates for free, included in the cost of your purchase.
Use my affiliate code LAUNCH10 during checkout to get 10% OFF any time, –even on top sale prices!
Why Paige? Because, yes, I have bought or reviewed contracts from other shops before too.
She has practiced law for years, is based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and has her own law firm, Paige Hulse Law. She’s practiced both contract litigation for large companies and trademark law, the latter of which is what she specializes in now.
She also sells legal templates in her online shop at the Creative Law Shop, because she’s a 4x business owner (has 4 different businesses) and has first-hand knowledge of what it’s like to start a creative business (a calligraphy business) and need a service-agreement, among the many other legal agreements or templates you’ll need when you start most businesses.
What you get
The templates from Creative Law Shop typically download as an editable Word document, where she has highlighted all the fields in yellow that you should edit, in order to customize the agreement for your business.
You also get a basic pdf guide to walk you through how to properly edit any of their templates, and a login to go check for updates to the templates you’ve purchased. All updated templates will have the current year &/or quarter they were last updated in the file name, inside the portal where you can download your purchases.
All the legal jargon you want is there, well organized, and in the right order. You just go in & change all the parts with [YOUR BUSINESS NAME HERE], the pronouns, dates, etc. to fit your business.
Easy peasy! –Especially if you use a CRM like Dubsado*, because it can help you set up your copy of the agreement to be templated for each client, so you don’t have to manually edit the agreement for each potential project. 🙌🏻
What makes them legally sound
The 90+ contracts in the shop are all peer-reviewed by someone in each type of profession they are intended to be used in, so you know each contract is detailed and well-written, not just for “service-based businesses” in general, but specifically for whichever profession they’re titled as, such as web-designers specifically.
Why does that matter? Because Web Designers will have different agreement needs than a Yoga Instructor, for example. The projects for a designer will look a lot different than classes for yoga students, right?
The devil is in the details, as they say!
The Creative Law Shop has contracts, and other resources for the following types of businesses:
Calligraphers & Stationers
Conferences & Workshops
Consultants & Business Coaches
Copywriters
Digital Marketers
Health & Beauty
Interior Designers & Organizers
Miscellaneous
Photographers & Videographers
Website Designers
Wedding Professionals
If your business falls into one of those categories, then Paige probably has something in her shop, blog, or other resources that will be a good fit!
Are there other options out there?
Yes, of course! These are shops I've personally also purchased contracts from in the past, though they’re no longer my own personal preference:
There are definitely plenty of other resources I’ve heard of before, but never “purchased” from myself, like:
The TLC Source (a past web design client),
Could I just start with a free template?
Yes… you could… but I highly recommend that you DON’T. 😬
This is one of those cases where free templates are free for a reason. Most likely, a contract litigator didn’t write that ‘free’ contract and you can tell this because these free ones are typically very short and simple, and they’re missing VERY important sections that every paid template I’ve ever purchased always has. ––That most “good” contracts always have, when they’re being written by a good contract attorney.
You could decide to use, for example, a contract that comes with a software like Dubsado or Bonsai, etc, ––BUT those free contracts are not going to be a detailed, bulletproof contract that will actually protect your business in a real dispute.
These free contracts are typically way too short. Every contract I’ve ever seen from a shop like Creative Law Shop, The Contract Shop, The TLC Source, or Powerhouse Legal –they’re all 6+ pages long and they really can’t be shorter than that or they won’t be doing their job for you (or your client, because it’s ultimately there to protect you both from hurting each other, TBH). 😂
Along the same line, DO NOT write your own contract either, for all the same reasons I listed above.
Writing your own contract, or using a free one is basically akin to just not having one at all, and could potentially do more harm than good.
Choosing ‘the right’ legal template shop & editing your template
Honestly, my advice is to be resourceful. “Check up on” the shop you choose & do your own due diligence regarding their reputation.
Remember that when you find something that seems “too good to be true,” it probably is. If you can't tell or don't know if they seem legit, do some research & ask yourself questions like:
How long ago was the information published?
Does the blog post have a date?
Is this company/person keeping up with their site, or has it been forgotten?
look at their footer; does it still say "Copyright 2009" or something like that?
Is this a reputable source?
has anyone else been singing their praises?
Are they featured by any other reputable sources?
If not, do other reputable sources have similar published information?
Start with a template from a reputable shop and then when you can afford to, take that template to an attorney near you to check that your edits are legally sound. That will ALWAYS be way more affordable than hiring an attorney to draft a contract from scratch.
Where can I learn more about this?
If you’re in the Club, Basic or VIP members have access to a 90min guest interview replay with me and Paige Hulse, among other exclusive resources!
You can also visit the Creative Law Shop and peruse their blog, their free resources and their affordable business basics courses.
Click to see the full list of everything we talked about in that interview!
