Terms of Business
Create certainty and reduce litigation risk by tailoring your venture’s terms of business.
Putting in place considered, bespoke terms of business will not only reduce the risk of disputes and potential litigation but will also limit your liability, create certainty, and enhance your business’ reputation. Take advantage of these benefits by utilising our commercial contract specialists’ business acumen and technical knowledge.
Comprehensive, enforceable, bespoke terms of business
Our team of commercial solicitors can support you with:
- Advice on specific terms of business for your venture.
- Amending or varying standardised terms of business for specific transactions or projects.
- Compliance with any applicable generic or industry-specific legislation or regulations.
- Dispute resolution in the event of disagreement with a third party.
- Drafting standardised terms of business for use with third parties.
- Enforceability of your terms of business.
- Fairness of terms to reduce the risk of future disputes.
- Harmonisation between terms of business and other commercial contracts, such as supply or distribution agreements.
- Interpretation of terms of business for compliance purposes.
- Negotiating specific amendments or variations required for particular transactions or projects.
- Preventing substitution of third parties’ terms of business.
- Reviewing terms of business provided by third parties and summarising key terms and obligations.
- Suggesting relevant updates to your terms of business as your business evolves.
What our clients say
We pride ourselves on delivering an excellent service for clients, but don’t just take our word for it.
Excellent communication and all correspondence answered very quickly. Very attentive to detail, gave sound advice and secured a good deal in a short time frame.
…very efficient and helpful, especially given that it was difficult logistically with most of the directors away!
It's very cost efficient and fast. I have enjoyed talking to everyone in the company as they are not only knowledgeable but can also relate to the situations that I need assistance with. Very happy!
9/10 Great communication and speed
What attracted me to Harper James was the pricing model they have in place. It means we get access to top legal professionals at prices we can afford. In our most recent funding round, the support we received was vital.
Our scale of growth would not have happened without the support of Harper James.
As a University spin-out getting the right team of lawyers to support our emerging business was fundamental and the team are always available to provide us with the invaluable guidance and support we require.
We rely on Harper James to provide us with support across a full range of service areas, from commercial contracts and employment issues to fundraisings and investments. The team at Harper James are always available to provide us with cost effective, pragmatic and commercially focused advice.
The on-demand service we get from Harper James allows us to combine their expertise with that of our own in-house counsel. It means we can get quick and trustworthy legal advice from specialists in every legal area, as and when we need it. There are no hidden extras and the service we have received has always demonstrated an awareness of our fast-moving commercial requirements.
Harper James have been incredibly professional and responsive. They immediately understood the challenges we have. Not only those of any small business, but those relating to building a piece of complex tech, and they have been able to help us navigate that from a legal perspective.
Harper James removes the stress for us. I know that we can get advice quickly, without some sort of golden clock being turned on when you pick up the phone. This means we can focus on running the business.
The value for money and the service is 1st class and professional.
We initially turned to Harper James for help in one part of our business but quickly realised we could benefit from their support in other areas too. The level of service has been impressive. What I like about Harper James is they seem to take a proactive approach to legal services provision. They’ve looked at our business and made suggestions as to areas where they can best focus their support and expertise. It is reassuring to have a legal services provider like that working alongside you.
It's been a breath of fresh air to work with Harper James Solicitors. It's like having my own in-house counsel, but at a fraction of the cost. It's an invaluable service for any small business.
Harper James are our trusted legal adviser and having them by our side at key moments in our business growth, knowing we are protected, is immensely reassuring.
Sarah was incredibly responsive to my e-mails and was accurate with rough timelines for completion. She was also very approachable and down to earth on an agreement that contains a lot of jargon and isn't that user friendly for people from a non legal background. She also took the time to get to know the purpose the document will be used for to make it accurate and legally binding.
This is a key stage of ANB Sensors’ growth as an SME, because it saw us transferring from a research and development company to a commercial entity. It’s a major milestone for us. Having Harper James by our side is reassuring, as they’ve helped us ensure all our documentation and sales terms are both fair and reasonable and led us through the sales process.
Harper James has been invaluable. They drafted the relevant agreements and gave us sound legal advice in an area that we did not have prior experience in. As a start-up, having advice and feedback from an organisation that specialises in early-stage enterprises was instrumental in us having the confidence to push forward with our product
Ensure your terms of business work specifically for you
Having the correct terms of business in place is critical and investing in them at an early stage can save you time, money, and stress in the future. Standardising your terms of business and ensuring that they work for your specific venture creates certainty both for you and the third parties with who you are contracting. It also limits your liability, preserves cashflow and increases your business’ efficiency.
Businesses which recycle other organisations’ terms of business rather than creating their own, run the risk of entering into contracts which don’t adequately reflect their way of dealing, fail to provide proper protection or aren’t legally enforceable. Taking legal advice will eradicate these risks and result in terms of business which work for you and your venture.
Terms of business require careful consideration and may throw up unexpected questions or issues. Factors include:
- Product or service description
- Logistics and practicalities
- Boilerplate clauses
- Payment terms
- Termination events
- Liability limitations
- Guarantees, warranties and indemnities
- Intellectual property protections
- Confidentiality terms
- Assignment
- Implications of Brexit
What are the benefits of putting terms of business in place?
Protect your business |
Future-proof your business from disputes and legal claims by including enforceable protections and limiting your liability in your terms of business.
Standardising your contracting terms |
Ensure certainty across all your third-party contractual relationships by creating standard terms of business.
Increase business efficiencies |
By having standard terms of business in place, your business can create streamlined and efficient processes which reflect those terms and minimises the risk of staff error.
Preserve cashflow |
A clear payment process in your terms of business can assist with your cashflow. It will ensure that third parties do not take advantage of relaxed payment terms and reduce the risk of you having to expend cash, for example on materials, before payment.
Save time and money |
Reduce management time and costs spent on collecting debts and dealing with future disputes by putting comprehensive written terms with third parties in place.
Build your reputation |
Contracting on fair, reasonable, and professional terms of business will increase your reputation with third parties, a particularly important consideration for start-ups and new business relationships.
Clarity as to which terms of business apply |
Uncertainty can arise as to which organisation’s terms of business apply and substitution by one party of their terms of business is possible. By understanding these risks and what you can do about them, your business is less likely to face unexpected liabilities and costs.
Ability to vary specific terms |
On occasion, it may be beneficial to amend or vary specific terms for particular projects or in relation to certain third-party relationships. If done correctly, this can be a fairly simply process where standard terms of business are already in effect.
Who we help: Ambitious, high growth businesses
Harper James Solicitors is purpose-built to support ambitious businesses from start-up to scale up. As entrepreneurs ourselves, we understand that getting legal support is vital at each stage in your growth. But at the start when the purse strings are tight, it’s not always that easy. Our aim is to make is simple. By offering you a legal subscription plan, you can get the legal advice you need at a more affordable cost than traditional law firms and a continued relationship with our solicitors, so you have experts to hand as and when you need them.
Examples of our work
Why choose Harper James Solicitors?
We understand that each business is unique and that the risks it faces depends on its size, structure, industry, and objectives. Our commercial solicitors have the technical expertise and business acumen to understand your business and advise accordingly. We can assist you at all stages of your business’ lifecycle, from start-up to established national company, advising on the optimum terms of business for your venture and minimising the risks that your business may face. And because we understand that the legal support you require will not just end at producing terms of business, we can also provide you with integrated business legal services. Whether you require specialist intellectual property advice, corporate governance support, data protection audits or employment law guidance, we can help.
Plus, many of the team here at Harper James Solicitors has worked at partner level in top 100 firms or in-house at major international businesses so you get to access their wealth of experience, starting from just £99 per hour. Find out more about the team here:
Pricing plans
Our three transparent pricing packages are designed to give you the widest possible access to high-quality legal advice, whatever the size and nature of your business:
City
Straightforward access to senior solicitors at a competitive rate.
An affordable solution for businesses needing one-off legal support. Receive ‘City’ partner-level expertise at a fraction of ‘City’ prices.
Enterprise
Have legal peace of mind for £189 per month with additional support from £99 per hour.
A monthly subscription legal support package specifically designed for start-ups and smaller businesses.
On-Demand
For businesses requiring 60+ hours of support a year, with prices equivalent to £99 per hour.
Fully account managed quarterly subscription service for businesses with more complex legal needs.
