Search Results for: blog should you be using contracts

Your 18-Year-Old “Child” is Technically an Adult

In the United States, a person legally becomes an adult when he or she reaches age 18. This might be a shock to parents whose 18-year-olds are finishing high school and living under their roof. Parents need to be aware of certain things that change the minute their “baby” turns 18. Your child will always be your “baby”, no matter how old they become. However, legally speaking, that “baby” turns into an adult on his or her 18th birthday. Parents need to prepare themselves to accept this fact. An adult is not legally obligated to check in with his or … Continue reading →

Consider More Flexible Contracts

There is an impression that a contract has to be an iron-clad, rigid agreement between two parties. More and more—both in the business world and in other realms—people are looking for and expecting more flexibility in their contracts. Instead of trying to pin everything and everyone down to rigid rules and regulations, more people are looking for contracts that allow room and encouragement to change and expand. In your home business, you might consider how creating more flexible work agreements with our clients, customers, and vendors can help you grow your business and adjust to changing expectations. You might not … Continue reading →

How’s Your Poker Face?

There are plenty of times when a warm, friendly smile and a gregarious handshake is just what your business needs. At other times, perhaps when you are discussing money or negotiating, when what you need is a successful “poker face.” The trick to a good business poker face is to maintain a pleasant demeanor, while being as neutral and calm as possible. It is important to neither grimace or smile–or really make any kind of face at all. This includes little things like tightening your neck or raising your eyebrows. Keep your face relaxed and neutral. It is important not … Continue reading →

Do Turn-Over Rates Affect Your Home Business?

Although you may be a small, one-person home-based business, your efficiency and operations can still be affected by a high turn-over rate at vendor, client, and partnership companies you may work with in your business efforts. What does it mean for you and your business when you work with companies that do have a high turn-over with employees. Most businesses are relationship-dependent. We form relationships with our customers and prospects, but we also form relationships with the companies who provide our equipments, supplies and other things we need to do business. If you are in a consulting industry, relationships are … Continue reading →

Updating Contracts

We have talked before here in the home business blog about the importance of using contracts in our home businesses. Even though you may be getting used to drawing up contracts when you begin a business relationship or project, it is also important to make sure that you update those contracts periodically to make sure they still apply. There are natural places and times when it becomes obviously necessary to update a contract. If a contract expires (many will be for a specific period of time or for the duration of a specific project), or if details change in the … Continue reading →

Do You Know the Difference Between an Invoice and a Purchase Order?

Starting your own home business can mean that a person needs to become educated and business-savvy very quickly. While some of us have a background in business and a better handle on terms and contracts—others of us have to create a very short learning curve in order to get up to speed and operate our home businesses. A lot of the terminology and details in the business world can be confusing. I thought I would focus on some of the basics and offer a brief explanation of the difference between and “invoice” and a “purchase order.” Many people use them … Continue reading →

Freelance Writers Need Contracts

I’ve written before about whether or not contracts should be used in various home businesses. But, I’d like to stick my neck out and say that in the freelance writing business, contracts are not an option, they really are a necessity! I think that doing any sort of freelance writing–whether it’s journalism, grant writing, marketing writing, web or whatever–a writer needs to have a contract with each and every client! I know that managing contracts can seem like a hassle, but think of them as protection and insurance. It just makes good business sense to have as detailed of a … Continue reading →

Should You Offer Credit and Payment Plans?

One of the main concerns and considerations for anyone starting and running a business is how to manage payments. Whether we take cash, checks, money orders, Pay pal, credit cards or other types of payments is a major decision (and one that often has to be revisited) to be made. Depending on the type of business you operate, whether or not to take credit payments or arrange payment plans with your clients or customers may be an issue that comes up. If you decide to take credit card payments, you will likely want to do some research as to what … Continue reading →

Trying to Stay Motivated? Try Contracting With Yourself

Staying motivated is tough—there’s just no way around it. You can make lists and goals, paste up affirmations all over the place, assemble a team of mentors to keep you going and various other “tricks” to stay focused on building your home business, but it still might not be enough to keep your nose to the grindstone. A colleague recently shared with me another tip for keeping oneself on task—drawing up and signing a personal contract. This individual is trying to stay motivated to work on writing projects and decided that coming up with a contract to sign stating what … Continue reading →

Using Charts and Contracts To Help Your Child Reach Goals

Using charts and contracts is a good way to help your child achieve a goal. In the book, Common Sense Parenting, the authors offer tips on how to write a contract and how to use contracts. Simply put, a contract is a written statement of what your child agrees to do and what will happen if he or she accomplishes that goal. A chart is a visual representation used to help keep track of the agreement. Some examples of goals you might want your child to reach include, keeping their bedroom clean, doing their homework and coming home on time. … Continue reading →