Running a business comes with a multitude of challenges. At some point, your business will face a contract dispute – with a vendor or supplier or with an employee. Maybe you run a construction firm and you subcontract the flooring work you need completed on a new office building project. However, your subcontractor installs shoddy tile or doesn’t install the tile well, forcing your crew to rip up the flooring and start again. Or your employee signs a contract that doesn’t allow him to do side work for a competitor, but then you discover he is.
You now face a contract dispute. What should you do next?
As a business owner, you need to be prepared to handle all kinds of problems. So, here are the steps to take when something goes wrong and you become involved in a contract dispute:
- Gather the evidence. You need to consult your contract and gather the evidence that a contract breach did occur.
- Talk with the other party. You need to address the problems causing your contract dispute with the other party. You need to see if that party can resolve these issues so the contract breach ends.
- Negotiate with the other party. As part of your discussion, you may need to negotiate with the other party. Perhaps, you may need to bring in help from another supplier or vendor. You may need to renegotiate what you pay the first business you had a contract with, so you can afford to have others come in and help finish your project on time. With an employee contract dispute, you may have to let that employee go if you feel their working for the competition truly hurt your business.
- Consult a business litigation attorney. If you can’t resolve your contract dispute with the other party involved, you need to consult a business litigation attorney. An attorney can review your contract and help you enforce it. Your attorney may have some creative solutions for resolving your contract dispute. Your attorney also can help you negotiate a solution before the matter goes to court. However, if you need to enter business litigation, an attorney can represent your business’ best interests in the matter.
Dealing with a contract disputes is very common when you run a business. It’s something you may face more than a few times. By creating strong contracts with other parties and following these tips, you are more likely to have a smoother process in resolving a contract dispute and then being able to focus more on other important matters.