The Curse of the Conscience

Oh dear, I've done it again. Talked myself out of work, that is.

One of the wonderful things about Devant is that we get to talk to all sorts of interesting business people, at many different stages of their business. This means that some of them will be new startups, with no cash, while others will be medium-sized companies having to manage sizeable contracts and cashflow.

Because our objective with all of these companies is to develop lasting commercial relationships, I find myself advising some of them that they really shouldn't be spending money on their contracts right now. When it's clear that what the business needs most is clients, not contracts, and that the risk of everything going wrong (which would be addressed by a contract) is smaller than the risk of going under because of even our modest bills, I feel duty bound to point this out.

Which is why I've just finished a phone call with a lovely lady, whose business is destined to be very successful, in which I've suggested that for now, she puts together a simple letter setting out what she will deliver, and the basis for payment. When the clients (and the cash) flood in, and her risk increases along with the quantities of both, we can look at sorting out her Ts & Cs. In the mean time, I hope I've given her enough pointers to keep her out of trouble.

Eventually, if cosmic karma is doing its bit (!), we'll talk again - and we'll be able to help her business grow and protect against risks, through some really fab terms and conditions.

I know this approach might not be the most commercial - any lawyers reading this will doubtless be thinking 'Take the money now!!', and composing their scare stories to ensure that any such client visiting them is too frightened to venture forth without a contract. But I believe ours is the right approach in the long run. Indeed, the freedom to be able to give this sort of advice - pragmatic, based on a realistic assessment of the risks, issues and benefits - is one of the joys of being a commercial contracts consultancy and not a law firm.