As the owner and general manager of all MGR related businesses, I spend quite a bit of time dealing with contracts, agreements and overall legal descriptions applicable to work that we create for our clients. I personally don’t care much for contracts. Our policy has always been very clear: we work together for as long as we both love working together. When that stops happening, either party can politely tell the other one that our relationship is over and wish each other the best. I think that’s also how it works for personal relationships…
I came across this unique terms from Segura, a small (in size) but large (in client volume) fellow agency based in Chicago. Take a read and let me know what you think:
My three favorite sections:
1. “Time is money. More time is more money.”
2. “If you want something that’s been done before, use that.”
3. The pro bono amendments at the end.
Here’s the full list of Terms:
- You give me money, I’ll give you creative.
- I’ll start when the check clears.
- Time is money. More time is more money.
- I’ll listen to you. You listen to me.
- You tell me what you want, I’ll tell you what you need.
- You want me to be on time, I want you to be on time.
- What you use is yours, what you don’t is mine.
- I can’t give you stuff I don’t own.
- I’ll try not to be an ass, you should do the same.
- If you want something that’s been done before, use that.
PRO BONO
- If you want your way, you have to pay.
- If you don’t pay, I have final say.
Let’s create something great together.
I can already see some of you pulling your hair over the many legal loop holes of this type of agreement. But think about it. Do you just work with any client that comes through the door, or do you pre-qualify your clients to work only with those you trust? If you don’t pre-qualify your clients, then you probably deserved to be fucked by one every now and then. If you only work with clients you trust, yes, you can guess wrong and still be fucked, but at that point, instead of getting into a myriad of legal disputes that will cost you even more time and money (and aggravation), you can still choose the alternative route: take your losses, walk away, never work with them again, and focus as soon as you can on your next project.
Choose wisely, love what you do and stick to your principles.
Thank you for reading. Until next time, this is Manuel Gil del Real.
Photo by Sebastian Pichler on Unsplash