What type of coaching contract do I need when I have international clients?

This question comes up a lot, as most coaches these days have an online presence which means that they can have clients based in many different countries. Coaches I speak to are often worried that this is going to make running their businesses very complicated - surely you will need different versions of your contracts depending on the laws in the countries that your clients are based in, right?

And this misconception causes 2 different problems for coaches:

1. They put off getting their contracts in place because the thought of trying to deal with it all is just too overwhelming
2. They are not as visible internationally as they want to be because they are not sure what the situation is - missing out on valuable clients!

So let’s sort this out right now. You need clarity on this so that you can start moving forward and get those all-important contracts in place.

The basic answer is…

You decide which law is going to apply to your contract. And by the way, it doesn’t have to be the law that applies to where you are based geographically (which is great, as many coaches are not based in just one place). It doesn’t have to be the same law as where your company is registered, either, so you really have a lot of freedom in which law you choose to apply.

However, there are a couple of sensible things to bear in mind:

• If your clients are consumers and a significant amount are based in the UK and Europe, you’ll want to make sure that you have a contract that complies with European and UK consumer protection legislation and 
• If you have any clients based in the UK and/or Europe you must comply with UK and European data protection legislation. [Sidenote: I would say this is a good thing to do anyway as it means you end up with a nice balanced contract that people are comfortable with.]
• I would also recommend that you choose a law that has an international reputation and good international standing. English law works very well for these purposes as throughout history many international contracts have been based on English law, and lots of folk feel confident with English law as a foundation.

So, the good news is that you only need one contract if you have an international client base, no matter how many different countries your clients are based in.

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