There are numerous reasons for contract disputes between business owners. Maybe the promised goods and services were never delivered. Maybe proper payment wasn’t made. Maybe there was a material breach, such as the wrong parts or materials being delivered at the correct time.
All of these things can have a negative financial impact on a business. A manufacturer who receives the wrong parts and materials sees their production decline significantly and can’t meet demand or fulfill orders, for example.
Compared to getting a shipment of the wrong materials entirely, a missed deadline may seem like a minor issue. But it can actually have the same effect and maybe a contract breach.
Delaying the process
In many cases, a missed deadline will still have a negative financial impact on the business. Take the example above, with the manufacturer who received the wrong materials. Instead, imagine that they received the correct materials – but two days later than they expected. The contract has still been violated and they missed out on two days of productivity because of the delay.
Depending on the size and scope of the business, that could mean they lost hundreds of thousands of dollars. The company misses out on potential sales and has to pay wages to workers who have nothing to do while they wait on that delayed shipment.
In other words, even a minor contract breach can be a very significant issue for a business owner. Those who find themselves involved in a dispute or suffering financial damages because a third party violated their contract need to know exactly what legal steps they can take moving forward.