"Here's a confession: I have never learned to say no to clients, and I have been running a public relations agency on handshake deals for nearly a dozen years. As tariffs and economic uncertainty rattled our clients this year, my team went wildly out of scope to keep clients happy-throwing events for retail partners, landing podcasts for founders, handling business strategy. And I never said no."
"One of my early mistakes was assuming handshake agreements, a limited contract, and mutual understanding of scope was enough to operate a successful business relationship. Our contract was a bare-bones document written by a friend 11 years ago that included a commitment for six months and an opt out with 30-days' notice. For years, most clients continued working with us and we just kept billing them, never looking at the contract again."
"But as the agency grew from five full-time employees in 2024 to 12 in 2025, and I was responsible for their health insurance and 401-k plans, it became painfully clear to me that I needed formal, attorney-formulated contracts with all of our clients. And that I needed to put in writing not just what we do for them, but what we don't do."
The agency operated for nearly a dozen years on handshake deals and a bare-bones contract while repeatedly accepting out-of-scope requests to satisfy clients. Tariffs and economic uncertainty pushed the team to organize events, secure podcasts, and advise on business strategy beyond stated services. Rapid headcount growth and responsibility for employee benefits made informal agreements unsustainable. Formal, attorney-drafted contracts and explicit documentation of deliverables and exclusions became necessary to define scope, prevent boundary erosion, and protect the agency and its employees. Clear boundaries also set expectations for the team, reduced burnout, and established a professional framework for client relationships.
Read at Inc
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]