Tailoring Your Contracts

Charles Carreon

It used to be that everything was tailor-made, before the invention of “interchangeable parts” and “mass production.” Most people think Henry Ford invented the automobile, but that's not correct. Custom automobiles had been around for decades before Ford created the Model A. But Ford applied the science of mass production to the process of building the automobile, thus bringing it within reach of the budgets of small businesses and individuals. Ford's mass-produced automobiles were cheaper to buy, easier to service, and more reliable for the long run.

But there have been some areas of product manufacture not so amenable to mass production. Take men's suits, or women's gowns, for example. You can buy a suit “off the rack,” but it really won't fit unless you are a person built like some abstract individual I have never met. If you work out too much, your back and shoulders will be too large. If you're long-armed, like me, suit-sleeves will often be too short. If you have a wash-board midriff, you will probably find the seat too tight. Which is why you'll have the suit tailored to get a decent-looking fit.

What is true of suits is true of contracts. There are a tremendous number of contracts you accept as written. If you want to register a domain name, you'll have to do it according to the contractual terms of the registrar, and you will want to take a look at them because they do in fact vary. You will find however that, uniformly in my experience, they contain waivers that are favorable to the registrar, and cannot be negotiated. Those are off-the-rack suits that don't fit perfectly, but they are the best you can get.

Many other contracts will occur regularly in your business that you have the power to negotiate. Particularly if you are operating an online business, you will need to develop forms that are usable by all of your customers. You will have the power to write these forms, and you should do so in a way that accomplishes all of your legitimate business objectives. By creating a form that serves you and binds your customers to terms that both of you will perform, you will make the commercial relationship successful.