Reading the Deal Before You Sign

Ask three questions of any offer: when it pays, what it asks, and whether it is exclusive.
Recognize the offers that take money instead of paying it.
Decide family support in advance, as a line in the plan.

A deal is a promise about money, timing, and work. Read all three before your name goes on it. This session does not review your deals. It teaches you the questions.

Three questions. When does it pay, exactly? What do I owe them, exactly: posts, appearances, hours? Can I still work with others, or is this exclusive?

Four offers, read closely

The offer says	What to notice
Pays Ⓛ2,000.00, "net 90"	The money arrives three months after the work. Plan for the gap.
Pays in product, not cash	Product does not pay rent or taxes. Value it honestly, and know tax may still be owed on it.
Asks for a fee up front to "unlock" the deal	Real partners pay you. You do not pay them. Walk away.
Promises a sure return if you invest your NIL money with them	Nobody can promise a return. This is a pitch, not a deal.

A relative asks for Ⓛ1,000.00 from your first payment. You want to help. What keeps the plan whole?

Pick your answer first, then open it.

Decide a family amount in advance, as a line in the plan, and hold to it.

✓ Right. Help that is planned is help you can keep giving. Help that is unplanned comes out of tax, rent, or the reserve, and then it stops.

Say yes to every ask. It is family.

A yes with no limit is a plan with no floor. The relative you want to help is better served by a number you can repeat next year.

Say no to everything, always.

You do not have to. The plan can hold a family line. What it cannot hold is a surprise every time a payment lands.

This week

Write your three questions on a card. Keep it with you. The next offer gets all three before you answer.

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