Why do I need this Consultancy Services Essentials Bundle?
If you’re starting up a consultancy services business, or have one that's been running for a while but you haven’t quite got your legals in place, this bundle contains the four key legal documents you need to manage your relationships with your clients, protect your intellectual property, get paid on time, look professional and stay out of any legal trouble.
Who is the Consultancy Services Essentials Bundle for?
Consultants, coaches, advisors, course providers – anyone who provides professional services that involve advice, teaching or coaching to another business or person, and also has a website and/or collects any customer information (such as a name or email address). If you’re providing creative services (such as digital design, interior design, spatial design or other creative services) use our Creative Services Agreement instead. If you are providing any other type of services, use our Services Agreement instead.
What’s in the Consultancy Services Essentials Bundle?
Four vital legal documents to set yourself up for success as a consultancy services business owner in New Zealand:
- Consultancy Services Agreement – covers all the key terms of your relationship and engagement with your client (such as services scope, fee, payment terms, deliverables, deadlines and IP protection). It has lots of options, so you can customise it to your unique business model and the specific client project.
- Website Terms of Use - lets users know what they can and can’t do on your website (eg, can’t copy your content), what you are allowed to do (eg, change the website at any time) and what you’re not responsible for.
- GDPR-compliant Privacy Policy - to comply with NZ privacy law, businesses must tell customers how they collect their personal information (ie, names, phone numbers, email addresses) and what they use it for. A privacy policy makes it easy for customers to find this information and helps build customer trust. This privacy policy also includes an option to include additional information to comply with the European Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). If your business has a presence in the EU, provides or offers goods and services to EU customers, or tracks users and behaviours in the EU, you need to have a GDPR Privacy Policy on your website. If you are required to comply with the GDPR, non-compliance can result in significant fines.
- One-Way Confidentiality Agreement – often, clients require consultants to sign confidentiality agreements before starting their services. These agreements can be hard to understand, based on overseas law and/or cobbled together from Google searches. With your own confidentiality agreement, you can use it as a template to offer your clients a simple, easy-to-understand (free of legalese) and professionally drafted agreement that you are comfortable signing and gives your clients the assurance they require.
As well as:
- Checklist for starting a consultancy business – all the essentials to check off when starting your consultancy business, from business structure choice (company? sole trader? what’s the difference?) to GST registration, securing your business name and protecting your IP. This simple, easy-to-understand checklist is customised to the consultancy industry.
- Checklist for negotiating with suppliers on your terms – when you buy products and equipment from a supplier, they’ll probably require you to sign their legal agreement or terms of trade. Our checklist tells you what to look for to ensure you get the best deal and protect your business.
- Top 10 tips for negotiating a commercial lease in NZ – if you need business premises, use these tips to help understand leasing documentation, reduce the power imbalance with landlords, and negotiate a lease that meets your business needs.
How long will it take to create my documents?
Around 15 - 20 minutes – get it done in no time at all! During the Q&A, you can save your progress to come back later or repeat the Q&A to change an answer or produce a new version of a document.
What information do I need to complete the Q&A?
- Details of the engagement with your client – name and contact details, services scope, deliverables, deadlines, fee and payment terms,
- How a client can unsubscribe from receiving emails or texts from you
- Whether you use cookies (see our blog: Am I using cookies? for more information)
What if I need help?
On Your Terms has teamed up with Luminate Legal to offer its customers the option of obtaining legal advice from a lawyer to provide extra assurance and peace of mind. If you would like to ask a lawyer some quick questions about your document (or your responses to the Q&A), or have your document reviewed/edited by a lawyer, click here to view and select Luminate Legal's packages and fixed-fee pricing exclusively for On Your Terms customers. Alternatively, you can ask your own lawyer to review your documents.
What do I do once my documents are created?
The documents are ready to go as soon as you have downloaded them. You can edit and brand as you wish. The Website Terms of Use and Privacy Policy should be loaded to your website. The Consultancy Services Agreement can be digitally signed and/or sent to your client to review. You need a new Consultancy Services Agreement each time a new client engages you.
Other helpful information:
- To add additional services (to the same client) to your Consultancy Services Agreement, you can purchase our Proposal for Consultancy Services – a one pager of key terms specific to the additional services (eg, scope, deliverables, fee and IP), which incorporates the base terms of the Consultancy Services Agreement
- Read our blogs: How to limit legal risk in your consultancy business, How to Protect Your Brand, Do I really need T&Cs?, Empowering Creatives: How to Protect your Copyright
- You may also find these bundles or documents useful for your business: Individual Employment Agreement, Consultancy Services Agreement, Term Sheet for Project, Independent Contractor Agreement, Property Licence, Sublease, and Agreement to Lease.
- Check out our FAQs here
If you’re unsure whether this bundle is what you need, reach out to us at hello@onyourterms.co.nz – we’re happy to help!
If you’re not satisfied with your purchase of this product for any reason, let us know why within 10 days of your purchase and we’ll work with you to make sure you’re happy, including giving you a full refund if necessary.
Disclaimer: On Your Terms was created to provide fast, easy and affordable access to legal information and documentation. We are not a law firm and do not provide legal advice. The information and documents we provide are of a general nature, designed for common situations, and may not be suitable for your needs or circumstances. If you need legal advice, we have a network of specialist law firm partners able to help you here.