It can feel challenging to take a break as an entrepreneur or find extra time when building your business. Outsourcing is a great way to protect your energy and grow your biz with the help of other specialized professionals! Outsourcing parts of your business rather than hiring your own employees to undertake these tasks can help you decrease costs, delegate assignments, and ultimately increase profit. But before you take the plunge, it’s important to understand the legal requirements and risks associated with it. 

While you may be used to wearing many hats as a business owner, outsourcing allows you to hire skilled professionals in a variety of fields that will save you loads of time. Independent contractors typically cost less than hiring a full or part-time employee and helps to increase your businesses’ overall efficiency. You’re hiring a seasoned pro, sometimes for a specific project and period of time, and that person is dedicated to the task at hand. This ultimately frees up your time to focus on what you do best. Calling in help provides a sense of teamwork while alleviating a pain point for you or your business. 

So, you’re ready to outsource? Great! But first, let’s take a look at the legal requirements and potential risks you could face down the road if you don’t have the proper protection in place. Before you outsource any services, you’ll want to ensure you have legal contracts in place, like an Independent Contractor Agreement, a Virtual Assistant Agreement, and even a Non-Disclosure Agreement.

To give you an idea of the importance of these legal documents, let’s look at the Independent Contractor Agreement and VA Agreement. These contracts clearly state that you are hiring a contractor and not an employee, which is crucial since there are legal and financial consequences for misclassifying workers. It also lists the services you are hiring for, clear payment terms, copyright ownership terms, confidentiality, termination provisions, and more. 

You’ll want to have an NDA in place if you’ll be sharing business ideas, client lists, unique know-how and intellectual property that you want to keep private and confidential. In this contract, the provisions around what items are considered confidential will be clearly outlined as well as what happens in the event that the contract is breached. 

Outsourcing is a powerful step towards your success and growth, so we want to ensure you're set up from the get-go by having the legal contracts you need to protect yourself and your business! For more contract templates, visit AWE Contracts or email us at hello@awecontracts.com for support in choosing the Contract Template or Contract Kit that's right for you!