When working with a Virtual Assistant (VA), it is essential to treat it like very important business and not casually. You wouldn’t work with most people without the most important document you can have in the business world: a contract.

Many people make the mistake of not getting a contract first because they feel like it’s too much work. But it will be a lot more work if you don’t get a contract.

This is what a contract entails:

Write the offer

List down to the very last that is offered by both sides of the agreement.

spell terms

State how much money will change hands and how it will happen, such as the monthly fee and how it will be paid, for example via PayPal.

Contact information list

Be sure to include primary and alternate contact information, such as company name and address, work phone, and company phone number, as well as relevant email addresses.

State Expectations

Be sure to list all the expectations and responsibilities of each business involved. For example, the VA must do the work by date xyz, after the business owner has given him the job by date xyz.

Statement Consequences

It’s always a good idea to mention the consequences of not honoring the contract, such as whether or not you both agree to arbitration and what country, state, city, and county laws will apply.

sign the contract

Use something like HelloSign.com to sign the documents and make them legally binding. It is very important that contracts are signed in a legally binding manner.

These things are important because:

Without a contract you have no legal capacity

It’s true that sometimes a judge will enforce a handshake and emails if you have enough convincing evidence to support your claims, but a signed contract is foolproof.

Solidify business relationships

It’s good to keep your professional and business life as separate as possible, and the best way to do this is through a contract. You’ll likely grow closer to your VA over time, but the contract will help keep both of you on the right track.

Contracts do not have to be complicated, but they do need to be very specific and include all the eventualities that you can consider within the contract. Includes prices, extras and more. The more you put, the better.