Business Contracts for Cabinet Work-Protect Customers and Your Company
Cabinet Contract
This is the most important part of running a cabinet company, writing contracts for the work that is to be completed for your customers. A business must provide their customers with all of the details in writing of exactly who will be responsible for what. This is to protect you and your customers from loosing money due to misunderstandings. If it’s not in the agreement, guess who is going to have to eat the expense, you!
Even when you are doing something as a simple cabinet repair, your customer must see it in writing that you are going to get paid for things like travel time. Especially if you will be frequenting the hardware store or cabinet supply company to get the work finished. If you do not spell things like this out, the customer may think that he or she only has to pay you for the time you actually spent at their home or place of business. You may find that there will be a place of contention when you submit the bill that includes an additional $200 for travel time. Remember the customer is always right unless it was agreed upon in the contract.
Never leave anything as an assumption because the customer will always assume that whatever you did not put in the estimate (or, “contract”) was supposed to be included in the price.
No matter how busy you may get, always take the time to sit down and write out a complete estimate and reread it thoroughly, several times, to make sure you did not leave anything out. Business estimating is the most critical part of running a successful cabinetry company. If at all possible get someone to proof read what you have assembled on paper.
Always fully execute the agreement with complete signatures by both parties. If the contract for cabinet work is not signed by the customer, then you will not have much to stand on in a court of law. Make sure to take time to protect your business and the relationship with your customers. If you do this your experience with your customers will be pleasurable ones. This type of thing is where lasting relationships begin that will bring repeat business knocking on your door for years to come. Repeat customers will be the fruit of your labor if you establish strong relationships through developing professional contracts and fair agreements.