My husband started his own handyman business at the beginning of the year. We used a tax advisor to get set up and are a legally registered LLC, carry all the small business and workers comp insurance required by our state and use Quickbooks to run and track the business.

The only thing we have not been able to do, is meet with a lawyer to have them go over our project contract or chimney sweep disclosure (that’s a service coming later after my husband is certified). The only reason we have not been able to do this is cost; it will be upwards of $800 and we just do not have that extra cash right now. I want to meet with a lawyer in case they need to notarize it or fine tune it for us to hold up in court should we need it too. Or maybe it won’t hold up in court at all if a lawyer doesn’t review it? That’s what I’m not sure on. I’m not trying to cut corners and we are going to do everything as we should. But we just don’t have the money they require right now. I’m hoping that as long as we have something it is better than nothing, but can anyone confirm this for me? Or does it really have to go by a lawyer first for it to hold up at all should we need to use it?

If it helps anyone answer: The contract is in regard to the down payment for materials, the payment after the job is complete and the cancellation / refund policy. We require 30-40% down ONLY to cover the cost of their materials, which we also do not even mark up. We only profit off labor. The contract I typed basically states they are aware the deposit most likely cannot be refunded if they decide they no longer want to do the agreed upon project; it states that if we are able to return the materials and get refunded we will also refund the client or if it’s something we can use for future jobs we will refund all or partial. It also explains we are aware life events do happen outside of the clients control (death, natural disasters) and we will do our best to accommodate them in those situations.

It also calls out that they are aware the final payment is due within 30days of project completion and late payments can be subjected to a finance fee.

We also have a place on there to specify the project to be done, and the agreed upon timeline for us to complete the project for the client. If it’s a bigger job, like a month long, we also ask them to pay 5-10% of the remaining balance as we go so there is still some income coming in and not a huge outstanding bill when we are finished.

I tried to have all our bases covered incase we run into someone wanting / needing to cancel or refusing to pay.

My husband and I do plan to work with clients if something comes up and they do not or cannot continue with the project; bc we know life happens. But we also aren’t in a position yet where we can just eat the cost of several thousand dollars worth of material, if we don’t have another job lined up soon that can also use those.