Do freelancers need legal contracts?
Short answer is yes… if you want to legitimately protect yourself and your beautiful work!
When I started out in my small business a few years back, I was under the impression I’d be ok without instating a service agreement contract to clients. Mainly because most of my clients were friends, doing small ‘mates rates’ jobs here and there, plus we had good understandings on what was required.
However, as time went on with my workload and client referrals, I was coming across new clients who I didn’t have that underlying friendship and trust with just yet, and they were starting to pay considerably higher. I would wonder “If something went pear-shaped like a misunderstanding with a payment deadline, I’d be in a pickle. How can I ensure they’ll pay by the due date and not stuff me around?” I need something in black and white so we’re both 100% on the same page.” Then I would wonder the following statements…
“Is a free contract I’ve found on the internet enough to cover me?”
“What needs to be covered to make a contract legally sound anyway?”
“Is a verbal contract ok? I trust this client, they don’t seem like they’d backstab me… surely that’s enough?”
Thankfully, I crossed paths with Foundd Legal at a women’s networking event back in 2020 who offer legal contract templates for small biz folks like myself. Being female founded and super down to earth, I knew right away they had my back, especially in providing contracts that were easy to understand. At the time, my art practice Lisa Dot Design was very much a side hustle, so when I was ready to focus on my business full-time in 2022, I knew exactly who to turn to when I had questions and finding a freelancing contract that suited me.
I looked into purchasing their Essential Legal Kit for Graphic Designers, which covers a services agreement (the main thing I was after) but also includes website terms and conditions and a privacy policy, which are also essential to display on my website. Who would have thought?
Being new to the freelancing life, I baulked at the price - spending money up front on something like a contract wasn’t my cup of tea when I was trying to juggle all my other urgent business expenses in my first year.
But as time went on, I realised I couldn’t afford to not instate contracts with every project. The idea of potential late payments would worry me, especially if I didn’t have it in writing. But with a contract in place, potential headaches like payment issues, disputes, intellectual property misunderstandings and scope creep were eliminated because I was clearly communicating to my clients what I needed from them, up front. So I saved up for my legal kit (and even managed to score a discount, which made me feel a little better, lol)
Once having the legal kit, I was able to edit and customise it to my services, including adding in terms and conditions about my murals (e.g. mural delays with weather, murals not appearing 100% exact from digital renders, colour discrepancies, etc.) Besides having piece of mind to confidently accept projects, I also felt very snazzy when sending their contract to review and digitally sign! ;)
The feedback was also very encouraging as I had clients tell me how professional and streamlined the whole on-boarding process was, which in turn built their trust in me for future projects.
If you’re reading this and finding yourself in a similiar situation as a small biz operating in Australia, I highly recommend checking out what Foundd Legal offers. I’ve currently got an affiliate code with them for 15% off under the code LISADOTDESIGN, which is guaranteed to save you a little bit of moolah!
*Disclaimer - The advice on this blog post is a personal reflection and does not take into account your unique objectives, financial situation or needs. You should consider whether the advice is suitable for you and your personal and business circumstances. This blog posts also provides an affiliate link and discount code, where I receive a little kickback from. If you’d like to chat with a legal professional (and live/operate your business in Australia), I recommend reaching out to the team over at Foundd Legal for a chat.
