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OPINION: Steve Denham’s reminder: file your contracts!

With years of retail experience, Steve Denham reminds retailers of the importance of filing away your important documents.

Before my wife and I could complete the sale of our business in 2011 I had to provide our purchaser’s solicitor with what seemed like an endless list of documents.

Everything from employee contracts and Terms & Conditions through to the planning permissions, building inspector completion, electrical installation certificates and much more.

As well as all the records that the purchaser required, I needed to have the contracts for supply, and equipment which would cease at the time of completion and transfer of the business. The three records, which were most important, were those related to the Post Office, Smiths News and Spar.

There are many reasons why you sign contracts to operate your business successfully and over the years you will grow quite a collection. Do you know where all your copies of all your signed contracts are? If you don’t already have a methodical approach to filing them away safely, change your habit today and start a file.

Not being able to find old contracts is no excuse as you can be certain if you run in to problems with a supplier or service provider they will have a copy of what they agreed to. Be serious about your record keeping and this will help you stay out of trouble in the future.

Tips:

  • Keep all your important documents filed in a binder, in alphabetical order for easy classification.
  • Scan/photograph each document and store the file on your Cloud storage for every day access. There are many on-line Cloud based accounts available including Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, Apple’s iCloud, and Dropbox that provide a limited amount of storage space for free.
  • Store the file of original documents in a fire proof safe or a bank safe deposit box.

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