A long time ago, business dealings and transactions were easy. The parties doing business agreed to make a trade and honored their word. However, in the 21st century, it is important to have a contract when doing business type or illustration work.
Nowadays, professionals are all too aware of the long history of lawsuits and deal-breaking that have taken place around them. There have been a few lessons learned and improvements done to conduct business even better.
Sure, it may appear a bit daunting for a small enterprise or beginner to delve into legalese, but contracts don’t have to be scary. They can be as straightforward as a plain-language document outlining the general business between a client and business owner.
Contracts are important in business because they outline both parties’ expectations, protect the parties if the expectations aren’t met, and lock in the services’ price. Contracts let everyone know what and when they’re supposed to do, making it easy to resolve disputes.
Formal written agreements make a better option than oral promises. They protect your interests, payments and limit the signing party’s legal obligations. Let’s check out what’s a legal contract:
What is a Legal Contract?
A legal contract can be defined as a formal, lawfully enforceable agreement between two or more signing parties. It’s an agreement listing all parties’ binding duties involved in doing business to ensure work gets done on time, smoothly, and without any hassle.
When signed, a legal contract ensures signing parties abide by their listed responsibilities and that all payments are made according to the terms defined in the agreement. Legal agreements can protect you in cases of unfortunate circumstances among signing parties.
The internet and smart technology have made it effortless to find readymade and easy-to-customize contract templates. Sites like CocoSign host a collection of contract templates that people choose from to fulfill their documentation needs.
You can download templates, modify them to add your terms, edit the language, embed an e-sign, and share it with other signatories. Once completed, download its PDF and reserve it for the contract duration or future reference without stepping out from the comfort of your office.
Why Do Businesses Need to Use Contracts?
Written contracts play a vital role in conducting business. Besides making a legally binding agreement between concerned parties, contracts can serve as part of business policies and proof in the event of misunderstandings or complaints needing litigation proceedings.
With these contract formats online, you won’t just save you precious time to draft one but are also legally admissible in the court. For any small or large company, firm, organization, and business, time is money.
If you lose time requesting individuals and waiting for them to complete work as desired, you need a formal legal contract to improve efficiency. Working with a legally binding contract will ensure service providers provide the required services in time and within your budget.
Besides, formal contracts can protect a business from court cases and disputes that may arise later. Getting work done through a legal written agreement can help a company protect its sensitive business information, data, property, and other interests.
Promises are just promising, and like it is in life, a business can’t run on promises alone. Thus, it is significant to look for contract templates that best define your business and sign them for your peace of mind.
Let’s look at a few of the key elements of why contracts are an important focus for businesses to keep everything legal and clear between signing parties:
- They serve as an official record of commitment for concerned parties.
At their very core, legally binding contracts are a visual representation of relationships holding each signing party to their original agreement. Two or more people agree to work together and forge a connection that can become beneficial and last years if fostered well.
- They prevent conflicts and mitigate risks.
Before signing a contract, concerned parties go through a negotiation process to ensure they get the best deal possible. Good negotiations lead to mutually successful outcomes preventing conflict and setting the foundation for a strong partnership.
- They help in maintaining compliance and serve as a communication, collaboration tool.
Having a contract management process helps the signing parties to stay compliant and provide security and peace of mind.
From their very creation, contracts are naturally relational and collaborative. Parties can work together to determine their needs through agreements, healthy communication, and collaborations.
- They increase operational efficiency.
Companies can work more efficiently by looking at their contract procedures and evaluating the greatest needs for improvement. Using the right tools will lead to working smarter and faster.
- They help in revenue generation.
In simple terms, we can say a contract is a binding agreement saying one party will deliver services and the other make payments. Having contracts processed efficiently with the right terms and conditions can help a business generate more revenue.
- They extend the value of a company or brand.
The use of contracts to conduct business transactions symbolizes that a company cares about having a detailed record of a partnership they commit to. Everything in the contract gives each party an idea of how the other functions.
Is a Lawyer Needed to Write a Contract?
It is important to consult or have a lawyer to create a business contract though it isn’t mandatory. Thanks to platforms like CocoSign, you no longer have to pay heft fees to lawyers to write a contract on your behalf.
The software has carefully drafted contract templates available in a variety of domains from legal experts. All you should do is download one, add your information, insert your digital sign and send it to other parties to seal the deal.
Conclusion
Contracts play a crucial role in building relationships and completing transactions. If you want to run a start-up business or are about to enter into any agreement with another person or company and wish to keep things legal and clear, it’s time to use contracts.