General Terms and Conditions

§ 1 Scope and Provider

(1) These General Terms and Conditions (“Terms”) apply to all contracts concluded between

Nick Schäfer, trading as “Nick’s Advisory”
An der Mannsfaust 9, 60599 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Email: nick@nicksadvisory.com

(hereinafter “Provider” or “I”) and its clients (hereinafter “Client” or “you”) regarding the services described in § 2.

(2) For the purposes of these Terms, a consumer is any natural person entering into a transaction for purposes that are predominantly outside their trade, business, or profession (§ 13 German Civil Code, BGB). A business (Unternehmer) is a natural or legal person or a partnership with legal capacity that, when concluding a transaction, acts in the exercise of its trade, business, or profession (§ 14 BGB).

(3) Deviating, conflicting, or supplementary terms of the Client do not become part of the contract unless I expressly agree to them in text form.

(4) For outplacement services provided to companies (B2B), the individually negotiated contracts take precedence; these Terms apply only supplementarily in that case.

§ 2 Services

(1) Digital products: I offer digital content for purchase (e.g. application templates as Word files, workbooks and guides as PDFs). The specific scope follows from the product description on the website at the time of order.

(2) Individual services: I offer LinkedIn profile optimization as an individually bookable service (an audit of your profile plus newly written copy for headline, About and experience). You start with a non-binding inquiry on the service page; the payment link follows by email once the scope has been agreed. A prior call is not a prerequisite. One round of revisions is included.

(3) Career coaching: Career coaching consists of individually bookable coaching sessions (30 or 60 minutes). There is no mandatory preceding step. Each session includes one digital guide of your choice from my library, made available immediately after the contract is formed; § 8 and § 10 para. 3 apply to this accordingly. The specific scope of each session follows from the service description on the website at the time of booking.

(4) Booking more than one session: Each session is a separate contract. If one session is not enough, you may book another session at any time; there is no automatic transition into guidance spanning several weeks or months.

(5) Free services: Free offers (e.g. the Career Quick Check or free PDF checklists) are provided on a voluntary basis. There is no legal entitlement to them; I may discontinue or change them at any time.

§ 3 Formation of Contract

(1) Digital products (ordered via the website): The presentation of products on the website does not constitute a binding offer but an invitation to order. By clicking the order button that triggers payment, you submit a binding offer to purchase. The contract is formed when I confirm the order by email or provide the product, whichever occurs first.

(2) Career coaching sessions: Sessions are booked through the checkout on the website. Before submitting, you expressly confirm that I may begin performance before the withdrawal period expires and that your right of withdrawal for the included digital guide expires once it is made available (§ 10). By clicking the order button that triggers payment, you submit a binding offer. The contract is formed when I confirm the booking by email or begin performance, whichever occurs first. A prior call is not a prerequisite; the free career quick check is non-binding and does not, in itself, form a contract.

(3) Individual services (inquiry and payment link by email): Neither the presentation of a service on the website nor your inquiry via the form constitutes a contract; both are non-binding for both sides. After your inquiry I send you the scope and a payment link in text form. By clicking the button that triggers payment within the payment link, you submit a binding offer. The contract is formed when I confirm the order by email or begin performance, whichever occurs first.

(4) The language of the contract is German, or English for the English-language offers. You receive the contract text (order or offer and acceptance, as well as these Terms) in text form; I do not otherwise store the contract text with access for you beyond this.

§ 4 Prices and Payment

(1) All prices are in euros and include the applicable statutory value-added tax.

(2) Digital products are payable immediately upon ordering, via the payment methods offered during checkout. Delivery takes place after receipt of payment.

(3) Career coaching sessions are payable in full on booking, via the payment methods offered during checkout. The start of the service requires receipt of payment or confirmation from the payment service provider. LinkedIn profile optimization is paid via the payment link sent after the scope has been agreed and is due before the start of the service.

(4) Introductory prices: Where prices are listed as introductory prices, they apply as stated in the relevant offer (e.g. limited to a certain number of clients). The price agreed at contract formation remains unchanged for the entire term of the respective contract, including an immediately following month-to-month extension.

(5) In the event of late payment, statutory provisions apply. I am entitled to suspend performance as long as due payments remain outstanding; already agreed terms are extended accordingly.

§ 5 Appointments, Rescheduling

(1) After booking, you arrange your appointment for the booked session yourself via my calendar. Unless otherwise agreed, appointments take place online via video call.

(2) You may reschedule your appointment free of charge up to 24 hours before the start (text form is sufficient). A later cancellation or no-show counts as the session having been used; this does not apply if you are not responsible for the short-notice cancellation (e.g. documented illness or emergency).

(3) If I need to reschedule an appointment, I will offer a replacement promptly. No further claims exist beyond this, provided I am not responsible for the rescheduling.

§ 6 Client’s Duty to Cooperate

(1) The coaching is based on your input. You agree to provide complete and accurate information and documents (e.g. CV, references, job preferences) in a timely manner and to respond promptly to queries and coordination requests (e.g. approving documents, or preparing for the booked session).

(2) If the necessary cooperation is not provided, I may be unable to perform the dependent services, or only to a limited extent. Further statutory rights of the Provider remain unaffected.

§ 7 Nature of the Service, No Guarantee of Success, No Job Placement

(1) Consulting services are services within the meaning of § 611 BGB (German Civil Code). What is owed is the careful performance of the agreed services to the best of my knowledge, based on my professional experience — not a specific outcome. In particular, I do not owe interview invitations, employer commitments, or any specific salary outcome; decisions on these matters are made exclusively by third parties.

(2) I do not provide job placement services. I do not place employment relationships, do not act as your representative toward employers, and do not send applications on your behalf. Researched job leads and adapted documents are recommendations and work tools; whether and where you apply is your decision, and submission is carried out by you.

(3) I do not provide legal or tax advice, nor psychotherapeutic services. Coaching does not replace treatment; where appropriate, I will refer you to suitable specialist services.

§ 8 Digital Products: Provision, Updates, Usage Rights

(1) Digital products are provided after receipt of payment via download link and/or email attachment. You need common software to open PDF or Word files; there are no special system requirements.

(2) I provide updates that are necessary to keep the digital product in conformity with the contract (§ 327f BGB) and will inform you of such updates. There is no entitlement to content revisions or extensions beyond the purchased version unless otherwise promised.

(3) Upon full payment, you receive a simple, non-transferable right to use the digital product for your own professional application purposes. In particular, sharing with third parties, publication, resale, and any commercial use of the content (e.g. in your own coaching or training offers) are not permitted.

§ 9 Usage Rights to Coaching Results

(1) Documents created for you as part of the coaching (e.g. career roadmap, CV, cover letter, audit reports) may be used by you without time limit for your own professional development and applications, and edited for that purpose.

(2) The methods, templates, checklists, and systems used in the process remain my intellectual property; sharing with third parties for purposes other than your own applications, or commercial use, is not permitted.

§ 10 Right of Withdrawal for Consumers

(1) Consumers have a statutory right of withdrawal for contracts concluded away from business premises and for distance contracts. The withdrawal notice (currently available in German only), provided to you before the contract is concluded, applies.

(2) Services: If you expressly request that I begin performance before the withdrawal period expires, and you subsequently withdraw, you owe compensation for the value of the portion of the service already performed up to the time of withdrawal. The right of withdrawal expires once the service has been fully performed, provided you expressly agreed to the early start and confirmed your awareness that this would extinguish your right of withdrawal.

(3) Digital products: The right of withdrawal expires once I have begun performance of the contract, after you expressly agreed that I may begin performance before the withdrawal period expires, and confirmed your awareness that, by giving this consent, you lose your right of withdrawal upon the start of performance.

§ 11 Warranty and Liability

(1) For digital products, the statutory provisions on defects apply (§§ 327 et seq. BGB).

(2) I am liable without limitation for intent and gross negligence, for damages arising from injury to life, body, or health, under the German Product Liability Act, and to the extent of any guarantee I have assumed.

(3) In the event of slightly negligent breach of a material contractual obligation (an obligation whose fulfillment makes proper performance of the contract possible in the first place, and on whose observance you may regularly rely), my liability is limited to the foreseeable damage typical for this type of contract. Otherwise, liability for slight negligence is excluded.

(4) I assume no liability for decisions of third parties, in particular employers (invitations, acceptances or rejections, contract terms); § 7 remains unaffected.

§ 12 Confidentiality and Data Protection

(1) I treat all personal information and documents received in the course of the cooperation confidentially and do not disclose them to third parties without your consent, unless required by law.

(2) The processing of personal data is governed by the Privacy Policy.

(3) Your case will be used as a reference or testimonial only with your express consent and in the form agreed with you.

§ 13 Consumer Dispute Resolution

I am not obliged and not willing to participate in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer arbitration board within the meaning of the German Consumer Dispute Resolution Act (VSBG).

§ 14 Final Provisions

(1) The law of the Federal Republic of Germany applies, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. As against consumers, this choice of law applies only insofar as it does not deprive the consumer of the protection afforded by mandatory provisions of the law of the country in which the consumer has their habitual residence.

(2) If the Client is a merchant, a legal entity under public law, or a special fund under public law, the place of jurisdiction for all disputes is Frankfurt am Main; otherwise, the statutory places of jurisdiction apply.

(3) Should individual provisions of these Terms be or become invalid, the validity of the remaining provisions remains unaffected. The invalid provision is replaced by the applicable statutory rules.

Note on languages

This English version is a convenience translation. In case of any discrepancy, the German version prevails.