Why renewals catch small businesses out
Most service contracts renew themselves: software, phone and internet, insurance, leasing, maintenance, hosting, cleaning. The renewal is rarely the problem; the notice period is. Three months before the end of the term is easy to miss when the end of the term is a year away and nobody has written it down.
List the contracts that renew
Go through your bank statements and card payments for the last twelve months. Every recurring payment to a supplier usually has a contract behind it. That list is your starting point, and it’s nearly always longer than people expect.
Find the three facts that matter
For each contract you need three things: when the current term ends, how much notice you have to give, and how notice must be given (in writing, by email, by registered letter). They’re usually in a clause called term, duration, renewal or termination. In ContractSorted, upload the contract and they appear on its page with the clause they came from.
Work out the real deadline
The deadline is the end of the term minus the notice period, and it’s earlier than it feels. A contract ending on 31 December with three months’ notice must be canceled by 30 September. Put that date in front of the person who will decide, with enough lead time to compare alternatives: ninety days is a good default.
Give every date an owner and a decision
A reminder nobody owns is just noise. For each date, name the person who decides, and record what they decided: renew, renegotiate or terminate. A decision you wrote down last year is gold when the same contract comes round again.
Use the renewal to renegotiate
A notice deadline is also your best negotiating moment. Ask for a better price or terms three to four months before it, when leaving is still an option. Suppliers know the difference between a customer who knows their notice date and one who doesn’t.
WORK THROUGH IT
Your checklist
Adapt it to your contracts. Or let ContractSorted do most of it: start free.