Invest NI No Nonsense Guide 11 (PDF) - Invest Northern Ireland

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Trading regulationsand data protectionCheck for changes in the lawRegulations, figures and sumsof money may have changedsince publicationaccepted goods if they allow youto repair them when they arefirst found to be faulty. Whengoods have been accepted thecustomer cannot reject them.But the customer may still beentitled to some compensation.If the goods are faulty, thecustomer can ask for a repair orreplacement. If neither of theseis feasible the customer can thenask for a full or partial refund.Customers have no rights inrelation to defects brought totheir attention before a sale orif they examined the goods andany defects would have beenreadily noticeable. Neither canthey complain if they changetheir mind (unless the contractwas concluded at a distance:see Next steps below), damagethe goods themselves or ignoreyour advice about the product’ssuitability.Services have to be carried outwith reasonable skill and care, fora reasonable price (unless a pricehas already been agreed) andwithin a reasonable time (unlessa date was agreed at the time thecontract was made).You must not try to restrictconsumers’ statutory rights orimpose contract terms which tryto exclude or limit your liabilityfor death or personal injuryresulting from your negligence.In contracts with otherbusinesses (but not consumers)you may be able to excludeor limit your liability for anyother types of loss or damageresulting from negligence — butyou will have to show that this isreasonable.Your standard terms are}When you collect or storecustomer information, youmust comply with dataprotection rules. That mayinclude having to notify theInformation Commissioner~Oscar WoolleySuki Teathose you decide in advancerather than negotiate with anindividual consumer. They do nothave to be in writing, but youshould usually include them inthe ‘small print’ on the back oforder forms, bills and so on. Theyshould be expressed in plain andeasily understandable languageand customers should have anopportunity to read them beforeentering into a contract.If one of these standard termsis unfair, a consumer will notbe bound by it. However, thisdoes not cover terms which setthe price (provided they are inplain and easily understandablelanguage), terms which tell youwhat you are and are not gettingfor your money or terms whichmust be included in the contractby law.An unfair term is one which isnot made in ‘good faith’ and whichputs consumers at a disadvantageby — for example — imposingunfair penalties, restrictions orobligations or making it unclearwhat they have to pay.Potentially unfair termstypically involve one or more ofthe following problems:● limiting or excluding thevendor’s legal obligations;● limiting or excluding theconsumer’s legal rights;● imposing excessive financialpenalties on the consumer;● allowing the vendor to retainpre-payments if the contract iscancelled;● binding the consumer tohidden terms;● allowing the vendor to changethe terms after they havebeen agreed (forcing the49The No-Nonsense Guide
It worked for meHow I meetmy legalobligationswhen sellingonline50Oscar Woolley started SukiTea, based in West Belfast,with his friend Anne Rooneyin March 2005. They nowboast customers throughoutthe world and Oscar explainshow they meet their legalresponsibilities when sellingonline and why it's been goodfor business} Originally we planned toOnlineopen a teahouse, but realisedwe’d enjoy more success byselling our exclusive teas tocafés, restaurants and hotels.Naturally, we realised we couldsell more if we made ourproducts available online.We didn’t start selling onlineuntil 2006 because it tooka while to sort out. Onlinesales now account for about15 per cent of our turnoverbut we expect this figure torise considerably becausewe’re launching a new websiteand have been working witha consultant to find ways tomaximise our online presence.Most of our customerslive in the UK but we sellthroughout the world — weeven have a customer in Iraq.There are legalrequirements when yourbusiness sells online somake sure you display all theinformation you're legallyobliged to on your website.You'll also need a shoppingcart function on your siteto collect payments, as wellas a secure method by whichcustomers can enter theirdetails. Setting up our merchantaccount wasn’t difficult. Wereceived advice from our sitedesigner and spoke to our bank,which specialises in merchantaccounts.Because we were new torunning a business we had tocarry out a lot of research andseek advice. We did an Invest NIcourse that provided lots of help,including advice about settingup a website and complying withe-commerce rules.When you collect or storecustomer information youmust comply with dataprotection rules. That mayinclude having to notify theInformation Commissioner,which is what we had to do.You must store informationsecurely and use it only for thepurpose you gathered it. Weplace great importance ononline security, and pay a lot ofmoney for it.As well as generating newinfusion: Suki Tea profitsfrom selling products onlinebuyers, we want existingcustomers to keep comingback. For that to happen,people must have confidencein your ability to safeguardtheir details and useinformation properly. It’s notjust about making sure youdon’t break the law, it’s alsoabout giving your customerscomplete faith in your businessand added peace of mind whenthey buy from you online.Complying with onlineselling rules isn’t difficult,especially if you seek advice,which needn’t even cost youanything. The information isout there.~Suki TeaBelfast, County AntrimTel 028 9033 0938www.suki-tea.comThe No-Nonsense Guide
Page 1 and 2: The No-Nonsense Guide 2012 NI editi
Page 3 and 4: ContentsForming a business 4Sole tr
Page 5 and 6: When you are setting up a business,
Page 7 and 8: It worked for meHow I wentaboutform
Page 10 and 11: Forming a businessCheck for changes
Page 12 and 13: Sorting out your taxand National In
Page 26 and 27: What VAT will meanfor youCheck for
Page 28 and 29: What VAT will meanfor youYou also n
Page 31 and 32: All you need to know about the rule
Page 33 and 34: You also need business adviceThis g
Page 35 and 36: It worked for meHow Imade surewe go
Page 37 and 38: You also need business adviceThis g
Page 39 and 40: 38implement the health and safetypo
Page 41 and 42: All businesses own assets called in
Page 43: It worked for meHow Iprotectedmybus
Page 46 and 47: Protecting yourintellectual propert
Page 48 and 49: Is your business in aspecialised se
Page 52 and 53: Trading regulationsand data protect
Page 60 and 61: Recruiting yourfirst employeeCheck
Page 62 and 63: Recruiting yourfirst employeeYou al
Page 64 and 65: Understandingemployees’ rightsChe
Page 66 and 67: Understandingemployees’ rightssch
Page 70 and 71: Understandingemployees’ rightsor
Page 74 and 75: Understandingemployees’ rightsAar
Page 76 and 77: Understandingemployees’ rightsYou
Page 78 and 79: Understandingemployees’ rights}Re
Page 80 and 81: Understandingemployees’ rightsYou
Page 82 and 83: Resolving problemswith employeesChe
Page 84 and 85: Resolving problemswith employees}If
Page 86 and 87: Resolving problemswith employeesThe
Page 88 and 89: Resolving problemswith employeesYou
Page 90 and 91: Resolving problemswith employeeswee
Page 92 and 93: Government advice andsupport for yo
Page 98 and 99: Useful contactsNow you have reached
Page 100 and 101:
Useful contactsVenture Capital Asso
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