When you are setting up a business and know that you are going to be selling stuff, there are rules that you have to follow to ensure that you and the customers act responsibly especially in the area of describing goods and setting and following terms and conditions of sale. I know that this sounds simple, but you will surprised the amount of businesses and businesspeople that suffer due to lack of due care in this area. Expensive lawsuits, loss of reputation and dwindling confidence are just some of the consequences of not having common sense in this area. As a customer and, more recently, as a businesswoman, I am learning the importance of the rights and wrongs when it comes to the descriptions of goods and services. This article will look to introduce and explain this area. So are you sitting comfortably? then I will begin…
First and foremost, any descriptions that you give of your product and/or services must be 100% accurate, simple and clear. This covers descriptions that are given orally or in writing such as in brochures or leaflets. Under the Trade Descriptions Act 1968 means gives a list of a whole list of things that are covered when dealing with the area. They include (because trust me this is a LONG LONG list…for an exhaustive list of what is included, click here):
Way that the product was manufactured
What materials were used to make the product
What the product was made for
Have the goods been endorsed? By whom?
You are starting to get the picture. But before you get too comfortable thinking ‘well I don’t make things, I provide a service so the law does not apply to me.’ Well, sorry to burst your business bubble, the law also includes the provision of services also. Its states that when describing what you have to offer, to make sure that you do not make any false or misleading remarks about:
What services you offer - telling people that you are a world class tailor specialising in bespoke outerwear when all you do is darn socks would be an example of misrepresenting your services to people and can land you in trouble financially and legally as well as destroy any chances of establishing yourself. Start small and dream big, that’s the motto here and that is the one I like to work by. I am slowly growing but I made sure that I could handle the smaller and simpler things first.
Who you offer the services to and for - I have had to carefully restrict what I offer. When I started the business, I wanted to be everything to every business. I wanted to provide marketing and legal stuff. Then I decided that, despite my legal background, having not used it for over 7 years, I was in no position to be offering contract writing services because I was not qualified. I could do a lot of research and do it but it would still have to be checked by a lawyer. Well they could save themselves the time, money and effort and get it drawn up by someone qualified. So legal stuff was out. Marketing stuff, I am also careful about. Marketing is about getting the word out there for a company - do I want that responsibility? Having the power to make or break a company’s good name by having a wrong slogan? Only when I have learned enough…
Whether you have been investigated/approved/evaluated by anyone - People like to know these things. Keeping it a secret is not a good idea because the truth has a sneaky way of coming back to bite you and at the most inopportune times. The Good Book got it absolutely spot on when it said that "the truth will make you free."
So there you have it for now, I will be covering more on these areas so stay tuned. Take care and God bless readers…
