Prepare terms for a first customer

Terms should prevent predictable misunderstandings

Start with the real promise: what will be supplied, to whom, when, for how much and what each side must provide. The rules differ when selling to consumers, businesses, online or in person.

Do this now

Write down:

• The parties' correct legal identities and contact details.
• Scope, deliverables, assumptions and anything excluded.
• Price, taxes, expenses, deposits, invoicing and payment dates.
• Customer responsibilities, approvals and access needed.
• How changes, delays and cancellations are handled.
• Ownership and permitted use of work, content or intellectual property.
• Confidentiality, data protection and use of subcontractors.
• Warranties, responsibility, insurance and a fair dispute process.
• Termination, handover and what remains payable.

What good looks like

The quotation, order journey and terms agree. Important information is given before the customer commits, acceptance is recorded, and the version used for each sale can be retrieved.

Common mistakes

• Copying terms from another business or another country.
• Trying to remove rights or responsibility that the law does not allow you to remove.
• Hiding important restrictions in small print after payment.
• Having strong terms but an unclear proposal or sales conversation.
• Forgetting cancellation information for relevant consumer sales.

When to get professional help

Use a solicitor for high-value work, consumer subscriptions, regulated services, licences, intellectual property, product risk, international sales or significant liability.

Keep in your roadmap

Save the approved terms, version date, acceptance route, contract owner and review trigger. Link the correct version to every proposal or checkout.