Today I wanted to talk about probably one of the best business decisions I made when it comes to the legal side of things. Of course, I recommend a lawyer-written contract that is put into place with each and every one of your clients, but there is an additional piece that I added to my business several years ago and it has saved me SO much headache!
A Print Release Subagreement
Basically, a subagreement is just that, it is something in addition to your main contract. You can have a subagreement for all sorts of things, if the scope of your project changes and you need to adjust your agreement (you can’t edit your original contract if it’s been signed) you write up a subagreement. If your client cancels their event and needs to cancel their contract with you, you can have a cancellation subagreement.
I use my subagreement as a “print release” when we have finished designing their invitation suite and they are ready to go to print. Even though pretty much all of this has been covered in the main agreement, months could have passed between them signing it and production starting, and let’s be real, they may not have even read it.
I kept dealing with the same issues over and over again..
– Oh, I actually need to make just one more change (after they emailed approval)
– Can I add on 10 suites (the day after you sent to print and ordered materials)
– We found a typo on the venue address, can you reprint?
– When is my final payment due? Oh two weeks ago…
– Insert anything you’ve ever dealt with here
It was so tiring and frustrating. No matter how many times I would email a client and say, ok this is the final design, no more changes after this point and I can’t go into production until you pay… there was always something.
That is when I implemented my Print Release. This is sent to every single one of my clients when they have approved their final design. It is very scaled back in comparison to my contract and is laid out in more layman terms.
It includes a handful of sections that they have to read and initial each one for their approval and most importantly it tells them what their remaining balance is and that it is now due before production can start.
And the crazy thing is, knock on wood, I have had almost zero issues with client orders, changes, payment delays, etc since implementation. They may take a day or two to sign it because they are making sure they’re ready to sign off on the design, quantity, and pay their final payment.
But once that form is submitted and their payment received, I literally have everything I need to start production. It has been a dream in my systematic brain and process.
I currently offer my Print Release subagreement in my Dubsado Templates in our shop, but after many requests, it has now been added as its own stand-alone item in the shop for those who are ready to stop letting clients run the show on when you can go into production.
You will receive a PDF form that you can copy and paste the text into your own CRM sub-agreement section (I love Dubsado!), add your checkboxes and invoice links and you’re all set! You’ll even receive a tutorial video showing you how to set it up exactly as I do in Dubsado!
PLEASE COMMENT BELOW
share this post on