business contracts

Hey guys, I have been wanting to open up my own shop for a while now, and the other day my boss, whom owns a video store and a cleaners, gave me a ride home and I told him geez why do you still have a cassette player? We kept talking and I told him about wanting to open up the shop, and then yesterday he asks me if I want to do it, that he will help me and we can go halves on it.

My question is what kind of contracts do you guys have, some examples of what to put on the contract, or even some pics would be great. I give my word that I will not copy word for word, but if you guys can give me some ideas I would greatly appreciate it.

Also what kind of warranties do you give your customers for alarms, stereos, speakers, amps, wiring, and tint. Thanks a bunch for the help guys.



Wayne

The legal aspect of the contract between you and your boss should really be given to a laywer. I say this because your dealing with money and when it comes down to it, money talks and it will destroy any kind of relationship you have with your boss now. Play it safe and have it drawn out on paper by a professional to protect yourself as well as your boss.

As far as warranties go for my customers, I offer them lifetime warranties for RS's, alarms systems and combo units. All stereo instalaltions carry a 1 year warranty on the units and likewise for the installation ( unless their really good customers then I help when I can even after the warranty period ). The last sentence is of course for legitimate claims where foul play is not an issue.

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Jeff
Velocity Custom Home Theater
Mobile Audio/Video Specialist
Morden, Manitoba CANADA

well in this sense I am the boss since we are basically partners haha. But then if we get a lawyer to write up a contract then that is harsh money wise. Can anyone give me some of what they have in a nutshell on their contracts?

Velocity Motors wrote:

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The legal aspect of the contract between you and your boss should really be given to a laywer. I say this because your dealing with money and when it comes down to it, money talks and it will destroy any kind of relationship you have with your boss now. Play it safe and have it drawn out on paper by a professional to protect yourself as well as your boss.

As far as warranties go for my customers, I offer them lifetime warranties for RS's, alarms systems and combo units. All stereo instalaltions carry a 1 year warranty on the units and likewise for the installation ( unless their really good customers then I help when I can even after the warranty period ). The last sentence is of course for legitimate claims where foul play is not an issue.

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Mustangfoo: This is GOOD information from a pro. A business owner that has been thru, and seen it ALL.

If your business partner's then involving a lawyer is even more important. This is where the life long question of what is more important to you, getting it done professionally and reaping the benefits of a job done properly or trying to do it yourself and saving those couple of bucks to find out in the end that you will loose thousands of dollars ?

I'll put it into perspective for you.............. if a customer comes to you or a member of this forum asks for help to install a full stereo system with 4 subs, 2 amps, EQ etc..... but they have never picked up wire stripper in their lives. You'll convince them that it will be more beneficial and also less time consuming & it will be done right and sound good if you install it for them for a price, right ?? This is the same situation here but the installer is the lawyer in this scenario.

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Jeff
Velocity Custom Home Theater
Mobile Audio/Video Specialist
Morden, Manitoba CANADA

To brush up on that. I do not doubt a person's ability to write up a good contract. People do it a lot, but, since the regular people who are writing these contacts do not do it on a regular basis with years of practice and knowledge behind them, what often happens is should something go wrong [Murphy's Law - Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.] and you two end up in court, when in court all past friendships, trust, etc... go out the window. When people write contracts instead of lawyers, the contracts themselves often have leaks..., little exploits that allow or disallow conditions that will mess up the orignal effectiveness of the written agreement.

When lawyers write contracts, they know all the dirty tricks and workarounds and use them to their advantage. Get a lawyer to do it, a GOOD one and you can be rest assured, no matter what happens, at least that is one part you do not need to look back on and say "I wish I would have covered that better too."

If you need assistance with such a lawyer in your area, PM me.

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I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.

When you do not know what you are doing and what you are doing is the best -- that is inspiration.

Thanks for the info guys, it is much appreciated and I will go have a talk with the family lawyer.

I had to add my input even though this topic is a couple of days old. Having an attorney is in the best interests of you and your "partner". I have been in  a similar situation and I lost everything I had, so believe me when I say get an attorney. My last tid bit is make sure whne discussing ownership that 50/50 does not work someone must have the final say everytime otherwise the business will go down fast.

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