Legal Question in Business Law in Florida

Business Contract

I'm starting a consulting business and I'm looking to tie some of my fees to the growth of the business.

I also need a way to give some degree to advice to prospects to get them intrested in working with me but I need to protect myself in case they try and use my advice without compensating me for it


Asked on 6/06/08, 6:16 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

James Waite Winters & Waite, LLC

Re: Business Contract

You need a Consulting Agreement; one that as you say, generates a portion of your compensation as a function of the growth/success of the business(es) you work with.

This requires consideration of, first and foremost, the metrics on which you want to base the definitions of "growth" and "success" (e.g., increased revenues, expansion of facilities, profit growth, acquisitions of other businesses, ROI growth, EBITDA growth, customer acquisitions, etc.).

After you've determined how to measure success, you'll want to consider protection issues, such as confidentiality, ownership of intellectual property like copyrighted materials and inventions, non-solicitation/circumvention provisions and others (incidentally, a corporate liability shield and a good errors & omissions insurance policy should be among your first considerations).

Finally, you will need to include provisions that motivate clients to pay you timely, such as interest on fees left unpaid (being careful not to violate usury laws) and collection of attorneys' fees if you're forced to file suit to collect.

You are not likely to find a "boilerplate" for this type of arrangement, as it is a bit more complex than most of the form documents you see made available on the internet. I happen to have done a lot of work for consultants, so feel free to contact me if I can be of assistance.

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Answered on 6/06/08, 6:47 pm


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