Having clear terms and conditions with your clients for your online course allows you to protect your revenue (by agreeing what refund and cancellation options are available), protect your intellectual property in your content, limit your liability, set expectations with your clients, and look professional. By making your clients aware of these matters up front, you’ll reduce the potential for misunderstandings or disputes, encouraging your clients to return and to recommend you to others.

The Terms and Conditions protect your valuable intellectual property rights in your course materials and make the parameters of your client’s rights to use your content clear. They set out what promises (or guarantees) you make to your clients and what your clients’ remedies are where you don’t meet these promises. Importantly, the Terms and Conditions also clearly state what you are not responsible for, such as the implementation of your course training, and include other appropriate disclaimers to limit your liability where your client incurs loss due to reliance on information provided by you. They also include details of any refunds available.

Around 10-15 minutes – do it over a coffee! During the Q&A you can save your progress to come back later, or repeat the Q&A to change an answer or produce a new version of a document.

• Payment terms –  subscription terms (if applicable) and accepted payment methods
• Whether you’ll be providing content to business customers only or also to consumers 
• Refund policy

This bundle is for any New Zealand business with a website. All websites should have simple, easy-to-understand website legals which are compliant with NZ law.

This bundle contains:

• Website Terms and Conditions: Let users know what they can and can’t do while on your website. Protect your copyright in the website’s content and clarify what you (as the website provider) are allowed to do (such as change the website at any time), what you are responsible for, and what you are not (eg, reviews written by other people, loss caused by someone relying on your website’s information).
• GDPR-compliant Privacy Policy: Under the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020, if you collect personal information (from customers directly or visitors to your website through use of cookies, or through social media), you are required to explain how you collect, manage and protect their personal information and what you use it for. A privacy policy includes this information in one place. It also provides your customers with comfort that their information will be protected, which encourages them to buy from you. This privacy policy also includes an option to include additional information to comply with the European Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). If your business has a presence in the EU, provides or offers goods and services to EU customers, or tracks users and behaviours in the EU, you need to have a GDPR Privacy Policy on your website. If you are required to comply with the GDPR, non-compliance can result in significant fines.

Around 5 minutes – much less time than the other tasks on your to-do list! During the Q&A, you can save your progress to come back later or repeat the Q&A to change an answer or produce a new version of a document.

• Your business name, New Zealand Business Number (New Zealand Business Numbers can be found by searching an organisation’s name here), website address, customer contact email address(es).
• How a customer can unsubscribe from receiving emails or texts from you
• Whether you use cookies

This bundle contains four vital documents to set yourself up for success as a coaching or digital course creation business owner:

• Terms and Conditions – these terms protect your valuable IP rights in your content, set out what you will be providing, your pricing model (membership vs one-off payment), content format, payment terms, when the client can cancel or reschedule, and what guarantees you provide. They also clearly state what you are not responsible for, such as implementation of your advice, and include other appropriate disclaimers to limit your liability.
• Website Terms of Use – lets users know what they can and can’t do on your website (eg, can’t copy the website’s content), what you’re allowed to do (eg, change the website at any time) and what you’re not responsible for (eg, reviews written by other people).
• GDPR-compliant Privacy Policy - to comply with NZ privacy law, businesses must tell customers how they collect their personal information (ie, names, phone numbers, email addresses) and what they use it for. A privacy policy makes it easy for customers to find this information and helps build customer trust, leading to increased sales! This privacy policy also includes an option to include additional information to comply with the European Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). If your business has a presence in the EU, provides or offers goods and services to EU customers, or tracks users and behaviours in the EU, you need to have a GDPR Privacy Policy on your website. If you are required to comply with the GDPR, non-compliance can result in significant fines.
• Copyright Notice – to be copied and pasted onto all course or coaching materials.

As well as:

• Coaching and Online Courses Business Start-up Checklist - all the essentials to check off when starting your own coaching and/or online courses business, from business structure choice to GST registration, securing your business name, and protecting your IP in your content.
• Guide to Consumer Law in New Zealand - this summary of the critical pieces of NZ consumer law (Consumer Guarantees Act, Fair Trading Act, Privacy Act and Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act) tells you when you’re required to provide a refund, what you can say when you advertise and other compliance essentials.
• Guide to Intellectual Property in New Zealand - understanding intellectual property, what it is, how it’s created, how it can be protected, and how to avoid infringing others’ IP rights is absolutely crucial for coaches and course creators! This guide explains the different types of IP and the benefits and processes for protection.
• Checklist for Negotiating with Your Suppliers - when you buy products and equipment from a supplier, they’ll probably require you to sign their legal agreement or terms of trade. Our checklist tells you what to look for to ensure you get the best deal and protect your business.

Having clear terms with your clients allows you to protect your revenue (by agreeing on what refund and cancellation options are available), protect your intellectual property in your content, limit your liability, set expectations with your clients, and look professional. By making your clients aware of these matters up front, you’ll reduce the potential for misunderstandings or disputes, encouraging your clients to return and to recommend your business to others.

Website T&Cs reduce your exposure to risk and liability if your website doesn’t work as it’s meant to or if someone is doing something they shouldn’t be and a Privacy Policy helps you to comply with the law and give your customers’ trust. Purchase this bundle to gain knowledge, protection and increased sales due to greater customer confidence!  

Around 10 -15 minutes – do it over a coffee! During the Q&A you can save your progress to come back later, or repeat the Q&A to change an answer or produce a new version of a document.

• For coaching providers – the format of any sessions (eg, one-on-one, group, online or in-person)
• Payment terms – invoicing, payment timing, subscription terms (if applicable) and accepted payment methods
• Whether you’ll be providing coaching or content to business customers only or also to consumers eg. life coaching
• Refund policy
• Cancellation and rescheduling notice periods for coaching sessions
• How a client can unsubscribe from receiving emails or texts from you
• Whether you use cookies

Your documents are ready to go as soon as you download them. You can edit and brand as you wish.

Your Terms and Conditions need to be made available to, and accepted by, your clients, before you start to provide any coaching services or content to them and before you take any payment. Either upload your Terms and Conditions to your website, portal or app (with a “click here to accept our Terms and Conditions”) before taking payment or provide them directly to each client before they book with you. You should also display a copy of your Website Terms of Use and Privacy Policy on your website.   

If you need help uploading your documents onto you website: no problem! Reach out to us here at Out Of Office and we'll see how we can assist you. Email us at; [email protected]

If you need further legal help or advice: These documents have been created by On Your Terms, a New Zealand legal services platform. If you would like to speak with a lawyer, contact Luminate Legal, the business law firm partner for On Your Terms. Luminate Legal offers exclusive packages and fixed fee pricing to On Your Terms document purchasers. You can ask questions about your documents or responses to the Q&A or request further document customisations. You can also ask your own lawyer for legal advice or document review.