Hi Reader!

For many creatives, handing over a contract is an emotionally charged experience. And this experience is even scarier when you are working with a friend.

You might worry:

• Will my friend think I don’t trust her?
• Will she think I am trying to take control?
• Will she get turned off by making things “official”?

Most people think that contracts exist to prevent you from getting screwed over, but the reality is they exist to prevent misunderstandings.

And these misunderstandings are what can ruin your friendship.

That’s exactly almost what happened a few years back. Several years ago, I had the unfortunate experience of helping with a business divorce. A few months before the “divorce” I started working with the two women who co-owned a business to review and negotiate a new contract for their business.

During a kick-off session, I like to understand how this contract might fit in with the larger business goals. So I asked them their goals for their business and how they thought this contract would help them accomplish those goals.

The answers I got were drastically different.

When I told them that I didn’t understand how both of these could live in the same business, they gave me a blank stare. They told me they agreed on the vision of the business and the person they wanted to serve. I agreed. However, I saw conflicts between the ways that they both intended to execute that vision and serve those people. We ended up spending an hour talking about the differences in the direction they wanted to take their business. And that ultimately one of them would have to sacrifice their execution plan.

What started as an exciting call about a potential business opportunity quickly changed. After the call, they had some tough conversations and decided to go their separate ways.

I got cards from both of them a few weeks later. To my surprise they said much of the same thing, thank you for making us have those conversations. They both said that they plan on being friends after this experience. (And they are.) Both of them said they were starting to feel some tension because of these differences. And that if they hadn't had those conversations now, they likely would have lost their friendship too.

I know that asking a friend for a contract can be a scary experience, so I’ve got three resources for you today:

• In this week’s blog post, I tell another story about someone getting ghosted when trying to work with a friend AND provide an email template you can use to ask a friend for a contract. Read the blog post.
• In the Legal Roadmap book, there’s a chapter designed to help you put together a simple contract and it also includes a contract template you can use. Grab the book on Amazon.
• If you are a service provider, then not only will it save friendships by having a contract, but it will build strong happy working relationships. Grab one of the contract templates in my Shop (starting at $65).

I'll be sitting at my computer until about 9:30 AM Pacific and I'd love to know what questions you have about entering into contracts with friends. (And if you are reading this after then, please reply! I'll get back to you ASAP.)

Chat soon,

P.S. Remember that I want you to think of a contract as a gift. As a gift that you're giving the other side that says "Hey, here's everything I think that we're doing together. This is what I'm responsible for. This is what you're responsible for. Does that align with the vision you have in your head for this project?" So you can have happy, strong working relationships by getting everybody on the same page–by literally getting everybody on the same page.

❤️ Easy to understand legal resources should be available to every creative, regardless of their financial situation. If one of my resources has helped you and you would like to say “thank you”, you can make a contribution here. ❤️