9 Reasons Your Small Business Needs a Contract Lawyer

As a small business owner, you must divide all potential expenses into at least three categories: unprofitable, necessary, and nice-to-have. The unprofitable expenses are those you should cut because they are costing you money. The necessary expenses are those that your business depends on – the ones that you can’t do business without. Finally, the nice-to-have category are the expenses that will make your business easier, help it to grow, and even potentially make it more profitable – if you can afford them.

Many people think a contract lawyer belongs in the nice-to-have category, but here are the reasons why you should put them in the necessary category.

Get All Necessary Contracts

One of the biggest dangers of contracts for your small business is not knowing when you need one. There are many potential business interactions where a contract can make a big difference for your business. But which ones need a contract, and which ones can you handle as a simple transaction with just a handshake and/or passing money over the counter?

Not using a contract can expose your business to some situations that can destroy it, while using a contract for every transaction can irritate people and cost you business opportunities. A contract lawyer knows which situations demand a contract.

Identify Potential Risks

Since we mentioned risks, it’s important to understand that contracts are potentially a double-edged sword. While contracts can potentially protect you from risks, they can also create risks if you sign a contract with unfavorable terms.

A contract lawyer can look at a contract to see if there are potentially dangerous terms in it. They will highlight these terms so that you can understand whether the risk of the contract is worth the benefit.

Protection of Your Interests

If you don’t know how to write or read a contract, it’s possible to give away far more in the contract’s terms than you mean to. You might make unreasonable promises, give away intellectual property rights, or fail to secure proper payment terms. The problems with the contract might be as much what is unwritten as it is what is written, so it takes more than just the ability to read and understand a contract – it depends on knowing what a contract should contain.

A contract lawyer can look at a contract and help you understand what it means in plain terms. That way, you can decide whether the contract is reasonable for your business or not.

Negotiate Better Terms

Once you’ve identified terms in a contract that aren’t in your best interest, you can start to negotiate better ones.

A contract lawyer knows what’s reasonable to ask for, and what you’re unlikely to be able to get. They can help you understand how to ask for what you want, which may be asking for more than you need so you have a good middle ground to settle on. Sometimes a contract lawyer will do the negotiating for you, or they can simply advise you on how to perform the negotiation, depending on your preferences and theirs.

Enforceable Contracts

Just writing terms into a contract doesn’t make them enforceable. One potential danger of a contract is that you might think you have one that protects you, but the terms of it make it unenforceable. Sometimes, unethical businesses might deliberately use unenforceable contracts to avoid having to comply with any terms.

A contract lawyer can look for common terms that might make a contract unenforceable. Standard boilerplate contracts online are full of these potential terms, especially since the law changes, and what was a good contract just a year ago might not be useful anymore.

Fewer Lawsuits

One of the benefits of contracts is that they can save you from lawsuits and other contract disputes by spelling out specific terms and expectations from each party. However, poorly written contracts can do the opposite by providing muddied terms that cause disputes and lead to lawsuits.

By clarifying the language of contracts, a contract lawyer can help you avoid the risk and expense of lawsuits.

Peace of Mind

Peace of mind is invaluable when you’re running a small business. You’ve got enough to worry about:

• Can you trust that new manager to run the business properly?
• Will you be able to pay your lease this month?
• How many people will buy the new product you’re launching?

Being able to put contracts and lawsuits out of mind will make it easier for you to enjoy your days and sleep easy at night.

Free Yourself to Focus on What You Love

Contract law is a complicated area. It takes time to study and learn enough to be able to review your own contracts. Plus, going over your contracts in the degree of detail they demand can also take a lot of time and effort.

If you wanted to spend your time studying contract law and reviewing contracts, you probably would’ve become a lawyer. But you didn’t. Instead, you became a small business owner. Letting a contract lawyer handle the contracts will give you more time to devote to the business that you love.

This is often more than just a question of joy, too. You probably started this business because you have the talent to do things that nobody else can do. Your business depends on you having the time and energy to do that, rather than spending time on contracts.

Save Money

Many people think that hiring a lawyer to do anything is expensive, but the truth is that having a contract lawyer is likely to save you money by:

• Avoiding lawsuits
• Avoiding penalties
• Getting better terms in your contracts
• Protecting intellectual property
• Helping you get paid
• Freeing you to work on the things that only you can do

There are many situations where a poorly written contract will cost you money. A contract lawyer will help you avoid them, which can lead to considerable savings.

Help with Small Business Contracts in Denver

Since 2010, the Law Office of E.C. Lewis has been helping small businesses in the Denver area with their legal needs. This includes comprehensive help as a contract lawyer. She can help your business write contracts, review contracts, and negotiate contracts.

Elizabeth Lewis is dedicated to building relationships with clients. She knows that your small business is a very personal matter for you, and she is very attentive to your needs. Elizabeth will work with you to develop innovative solutions to legal problems that facilitate you running your business the way you want.

Some lawyers may not take your small business seriously, but Elizabeth is a dedicated small business lawyer. That’s her focus, and she has considerable experience with the specific needs of small businesses. She takes a very results-oriented approach and will work hard to ensure your business thrives with strong, well-written contracts.

Please contact the Law Office of E. C. Lewis today to schedule a consultation. We serve clients in Denver and throughout Colorado.