...Please Stop Signing These Contracts, Fam.

Three Contract Clauses Every Founder Should Revisit Before The New Year | I Am What an Intellectual Property Attorney Looks Like.

Jan 27, 2026

There’s Some Great Gems in Here. Please Share So Others Can Receive The Wisdom.

Hey Fam,

Every year, before we jump into the excitement and grind of the first quarter, I slow down long enough to hear myself think.

I take a moment to reflect — on what worked in my life, what didn’t, what grew me, and what tried to take me out.

Because, lord knows the devil has been busy…

I reflect on the dreams I held tightly, the goals that moved the needle, and the aspirations that are still waiting for me in the quiet of the morning.

And then — I reflect on my contracts.

Yes, my contracts.

Because here’s the thing:

The contract is a living document.
It breathes with your business.
It evolves with your boundaries.
And it reflects the version of you that is brave enough to protect your work, your time, your energy, and your peace.

So as I’m updating my own agreements, I want to invite you into that same ritual.

If you are a business owner or entrepreneur, this Founder’s Letter is for you.

For this Founder’s Letter, here are three contract provisions you need to revisit, refresh, and refine — so we can really crush this year with ease.

Ready?

Let’s get into it.

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But first, some church announcements...

The Firm for the Culture - Power Moves Series

The Kevin Hart Workshop last week was AHHHMAZING.

We walked through Kevin Hart’s IP Portfolio in real time, discussed some strategies he implemented to build his wealth, and let with tools on how to apply those strategies to our own businesses and ventures:

Want the notes?

We shared a comprehensive 1 - pager for all attendees.

We’d love to gift it to you as well.

We’ll keep the notes available for this week only.

Grab the link here:

Power Moves - Kevin Hart Workshop Notes

Sign up for our second event below!

EVENT #2 — THE POWER MOVES SERIES: RYAN COOGLER | February 12, 2026

Now, back to our regularly scheduled program…. :)

Let me be very direct:

Service providers often get eaten alive by scope creep.

The Scope Creep Yoda GIF - The scope creep Scope Scope creep ...

What is “scope creep,” you ask?

Well, scope creep is the gradual expansion of a project’s work beyond what was originally agreed upon—often through small, informal requests or “quick tweaks” that seem harmless in isolation but collectively increase time, complexity, and cost without a corresponding adjustment to expectations, timeline, or compensation.

For example:
You may offer strategy, but suddenly you’re now providing implementation.
You may provide coaching, but suddenly you’re now providing therapy.
You may build a website, but suddenly you’re now providing branding.

In the end, you don’t get paid more; instead, you lose hours, money, and sanity.

To prevent scope creep, the scope of work or the articulation of services needs to be clear and ironclad.

This single contractaul section has saved — and earned — me tens of thousands of dollars this year.

Not because the work was easier, but because the boundaries were clear before the engagement began.

So what are the questions that should inform your scope?

For coaches:

If a client misses a session, do they get one makeup session?
After that, do additional sessions cost a set amount?
Are they entitled to 4 coaching hours per month? 15? 20?
What if they arrive 10 minutes late?
Do unused hours roll over, or do they evaporate at month’s end?

For consultants:

What, exactly, are the “deliverables?”
If you’re creating a report, what sections are included?
Where does your IP stop and theirs begin?
Who owns the IP from the deliverables?
What constitutes “analysis,” and what constitutes a new project?

For SaaS providers:

What features does the subscription include?
What features are not included?
What’s your refund policy?
How do you handle confidential data?
Are you feeding the data into an LLM?
Are additional features at your discretion?
What level of access does the client actually receive?

A scope of work can be comprehensive.

But it doesn’t have to be complex.

It just has to be clear, defensible, shared in advance service implementation.

It’s the dividing line between the business you intended to run and the business that balloons into something you didn’t sign up for.

Revisit it.
Refresh it.
Refine it.

Your contract is only as powerful as your willingness to enforce it.

This is where you have to be painfully honest with yourself.

Late fees? Great.
But will you actually impose them?

Payment deadlines? Wonderful.
But do you have the backbone — and systems — to follow through?

Beyond that, many service providers forget to ask the most important question:

When is your money truly earned?

For long-term service providers and flat-fee businesses, this determines everything:

If the engagement ends early, or if the client doesn’t give you what you need when you need it…

Are you entitled to keep some of the money?
Or do you owe it all back?
Did you structure the contract in phases?
Did you assign percentages to each phase?
Did you define what “start of work” actually means?

One way to handle this?

A payment schuedule.

When we draft service agreements for clients, we always take time to break down the phases or steps of the client’s service offering.

This way, we can clearly draft what is earned during each phase:

Here’s an example:

Had an onboarding session and your IP or materials were sent in advance? You’ve earned 30%.

Commenced the work that you stated in your scope of services? Another 50%

Sent the first draft of the promised deliverable? Remaining 20%.

Please note, this is just and example, fam.

As my clients can attest, that payment schedule was their financial safeguard.

It was the difference between returning a small portion of fees versus writing a gut-punch refund check that the business never recovers from.

Get this wrong, and it will cost you.

Get this right, and it will save you.

Revisit it.
Refresh it.
Refine it.

I see this far too often:

A client signs up.
They extract your content.
They download your worksheets.
They absorb your frameworks.
They take your curriculum, your method, your slides, your thinking.

And then they cancel.

It’s devastating — and preventable.

Your Intellectual Property clause must be crystal clear:

Anything they receive must remain confidential.
Materials are for personal use only.
You own every single piece of content they access.
They receive a limited, revocable license to use it — not to copy, distribute, reproduce, teach, resell, or adapt it into something new.
If they violate this, there are consequences.

Without this clause, you leave your brilliance on the table for anyone to pick up, repurpose, and profit from.

With this clause, you draw a line in the sand.

Revisit it.
Refresh it.
Refine it.

In this day and age, when chargebacks are commonplace and misunderstandings happen far too often…

A well-drafted contract can be the difference between smooth payment or abject pain.

Need help updating yours? We’ve got you.

If reading this made you realize your contract has holes — we’re here to support you.

You can book a Legal Strategy Session with me or my team.

Sessions are presently available at $750, with pricing scheduled to increase to $1,000 in the near future. If you’d like to reserve the current rate, upcoming availability is listed below (times are offered on a first-come basis).

‌If you already have a contract that needs review or redlining, book a time below.

Time zone: Pacific Time - US & Canada Change

Tuesday, February 3

10:30am, 11:00am, 1:30pm, 2:00pm, 2:30pm, 3:00pm

Thursday, February 5

1:30pm, 2:00pm, 2:30pm, 3:00pm, 3:30pm, 4:00pm

Tuesday, February 10

9:30am, 10:00am, 10:30am, 11:00am, 1:30pm, 2:00pm