4-advice. Digital. Change. Innovation

General Terms and Conditions

General Terms and Conditions

1. conditions for seminars and consulting services

1. subject matter of the contract

1.1 The following general terms and conditions apply to all legal transactions of 4-advice GmbH, hereinafter referred to as „Contractor“, with its contractual partner, hereinafter referred to as „Customer“.

1.2 The subject matter of the contract is the provision of seminars, consulting and other services for the IT and non-IT sector by consultants employed by the Contractor at the Customer's premises. In particular, the seminar services do not include the preparation of the seminar rooms, the preparation of handouts, exercises and other services that may be necessary and useful to achieve the objectives of the seminar. These services must be ordered separately.

2. legal status of the contracting parties

2.1 The Contractor shall work for the Client as an independent contractor.

2.2 The Contractor shall use independent consultants to fulfill the contract. These are also active as entrepreneurs and use their own company and advertising presence.

2.3 The Contractor may also use its own workers or employees to fulfill the contract.

2.4 The contracting parties are not authorized to act in a legal capacity for the other contracting party, to make or accept declarations and/or to create obligations or responsibilities for the other contracting party.

3.  Contract execution

3.1 The Customer shall provide the Contractor with the data, information and facilities required for the successful and complete performance of the Contractor's services.

3.2 The Contractor is entitled to refuse to conduct the seminars or other services if there are valid reasons. A valid reason exists in particular if, in the opinion of the consultant employed by the Contractor, the training equipment or other circumstances, such as the composition of the group to be taught, jeopardize the successful implementation of the seminars.

4. quality requirement

The Contractor's consultants shall perform the services in an expert, pedagogically and didactically qualified manner. Insofar as the seminar services have to be provided with regard to software and hardware, the Contractor shall ensure that the consultant deployed is very familiar with the latest program changes, functional enhancements and efficiency improvements in hardware and software.

5 Cancellation conditions, withdrawal

The customer is entitled to withdraw from the order free of charge up to 6 weeks before the start of the seminar. In the event of withdrawal up to 8 days before the start of the seminar, the Customer must reimburse the Contractor 50% of the agreed remuneration. In the event of withdrawal less than 8 days before the start of the seminar, the Customer must reimburse the Contractor the entire agreed remuneration.

6. deliveries and services

6.1 The Contractor's prices are not binding until the contract is concluded and are subject to delivery by the Contractor's cooperation partners. A contract is only concluded with the written order confirmation or the Contractor's order offer, but at the latest when the Customer accepts the delivery and service.

6.2 The Contractor expressly reserves the right to make reasonable partial deliveries and to invoice them or to make reasonable substitute deliveries and services.

6.3 The performance date is agreed in accordance with the Contractor's expected performance and is non-binding and dependent on timely delivery by the Contractor's cooperation partners as well as unforeseen circumstances and obstacles, regardless of whether they affect the Contractor or the cooperation partner, in particular force majeure, official measures, failure to obtain official permits, labor disputes of any kind, sabotage, late delivery of materials through no fault of the Contractor.

7. remuneration, terms of payment 

7.1 The Customer shall pay the Contractor the agreed remuneration for the agreed services in accordance with the individual order. VAT and other statutory charges in the country of delivery as well as travel costs, accommodation costs and other expenses shall be invoiced to the Customer in accordance with the current price list or in accordance with the individual order.

7.2 After the seminar has been held, the Contractor shall invoice the Client for the agreed remuneration. Payments are due without deduction within 14 days of invoicing. Checks are only accepted on account of performance. If payment deadlines are exceeded, the Contractor shall be entitled to charge interest on arrears at a rate of 8 percentage points above the prime rate in accordance with § 247 of the German Civil Code without further reminder. The right to claim further damages remains unaffected.

7.3 The Contractor is entitled to offset payments against older claims of the Customer. If costs and interest have already been incurred due to the delay in payment, the Contractor shall be entitled to offset the payment first against the costs, then against the interest and finally against the main services.

7.4 Offsetting or the assertion of a right of retention on the basis of counterclaims that have not been recognized by the Contractor or have not been legally established is excluded.

7.5 Insofar as the above terms of payment are deviated from without objective reason, the Contractor may at any time optionally demand delivery against cash payment, advance payment or provision of security. All outstanding claims, including those for which the Contractor has accepted bills of exchange or for which installment payments have been agreed, are due immediately.

7.6 The terms of payment granted shall be based on the credit limit set by the Contractor for each individual order. If the credit limit currently set is exceeded, the Contractor reserves the right to demand the remaining order value in advance. In the event of a subsequent change in creditworthiness, the Contractor shall be entitled to demand delivery against delivery or appropriate security and to withdraw from the contract in the event of non-performance.

8. liability

8.1 Unless otherwise stipulated in these provisions, further claims by the Customer - irrespective of their legal basis - are excluded. The Contractor is therefore not liable in particular for damages, loss of profit or other financial losses of the Customer.

8.2 This exemption from liability does not apply if the damage was caused intentionally or through gross negligence.

8.3 If the Contractor negligently breaches a material contractual obligation, the Contractor's obligation to pay compensation for property damage and personal injury shall be limited to the amount paid by its liability insurance. In any case, the obligation to pay compensation shall be limited to the damage foreseeable at the time the contract was concluded.

8.4 Insofar as the Contractor's liability is excluded or limited, this shall also apply to the personal liability of workers, employees, staff, representatives and vicarious agents.

9 Confidentiality, customer protection

9.1 The Customer shall use business secrets, documents, experience and knowledge of the Contractor and its partners and customers only for the provision of the contractually owed service to its customers and shall treat them as strictly confidential vis-à-vis third parties. This obligation shall remain in force even after termination of the contract.

9.2 The Customer shall maintain the strictest confidentiality with regard to all information about the Contractor that is not contained in the Contractor's official advertising materials, announcements or in the media.

9.3 The Customer undertakes to properly store all documents, materials and data carriers provided to it by the Contractor and to protect them from access by third parties.

9.4 After performance of the contractual services or after completion of the individual order, the Client shall return to the Contractor all documents, materials and information provided as well as copies made thereof within the scope of the order immediately and without being requested to do so. There is no right of retention in this respect.

9.5 For a period of two years after the end of the contract, the Client undertakes not to conduct any direct or indirect business with the consultants who previously worked on behalf of the Contractor and with whom the Client came into contact through the Contractor. This customer protection clause also applies to all pre-contractual measures.

9.6 This customer protection clause supplements existing customer protection clauses between the parties.

9.7 In the event of a breach of the above obligation pursuant to Section 1.5, a contractual penalty in the amount of EUR 50,000.00 (in words: fifty thousand euros) per breach shall be payable to the Contractor.

9.8 The Customer grants the Contractor the right to have its accounts audited by a lawyer, auditor or tax consultant for the purpose of customer protection if there are reasonable grounds for suspicion.

10 Place of jurisdiction, place of performance

10.1 If the customer is a merchant or has no place of jurisdiction in the Federal Republic of Germany, Bonn is agreed as the place of jurisdiction.

10.2 The place of performance is online via video conference and digital collaboration, Bonn or at the customer's location or a combination of the three options.

10.3 Duty to provide information in accordance with the Consumer Dispute Settlement Act (§ 36 VSBG): The contractor is neither willing nor obliged to participate in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer arbitration board.

11 Other provisions

11.1 No additional agreements have been made to this contract. Amendments or additions must be made in writing in order to be legally effective.

11.2 The customer is not entitled to assign his claims arising from the contract.

11.3 The law of the Federal Republic of Germany shall apply.

11.4 Order processing shall take place within the Contractor using automated data processing. The Customer hereby gives its express consent to the processing of the data disclosed in the course of the contractual relationship and required for order processing.

Status: December 1, 2021

In the Design Sprint, our Master Digital Management students developed solutions for marketing the digital service tool „Meine-Wartung“ from Niemann-Laes, a wholesaler for industrial supplies. Within just 4 days, they developed an expert-tested prototype under the, as always, sympathetic and knowledgeable guidance of our lecturers from 4-advice Digital Change & Innovation. It's always great to see how much we can achieve together in such a short space of time - a win-win-win situation for the university, students and industry partners. Keep up the good work and thanks to our students, the industry partners Maximilian Krause & Philipp Mitzscherlich and the lecturers Marcus Jansen and Simon Schoop, who successfully implement innovative and effective formats at Fresenius University of Applied Sciences every semester!

Simon has been teaching as a lecturer with a high level of professional expertise and great personal commitment for many years in the international master's program in Digital Management at the private Fresenius University of Applied Sciences in the Mediapark Cologne. The innovative teaching methods introduced by Simon and 4-advice, applying methodologies like the Google Design Sprint, add great practical value for our students. I have experienced 4-advice's methodological competence within their lectures „Digital Innovation“ and „Digital Transformation“. The Design Sprint is a great tool to reduce time-to-market to a bare minimum. That's why it's a very valuable method to develop new products, processes, organization and business models. Actually it can be used to tackle most types of challenges.”

I have come to know Simon and his 4-advice team as proven experts in change management and innovation. His approach of „playful change“, for example, is always breaking new and creative ground to achieve better results. One highlight is certainly the „Business Escape Rooms“, which I myself have experienced as very positive. As a specialist in project management, Simon and his team also support companies with organizational development teams with many years of experience and a great deal of intuition. Simon has absolute integrity, is always highly motivated and 100%ig reliable. He is true to his word! This is one of the reasons why I enjoy working with him so much - and why I recommend him.

The combination of theory and practice. We were able to apply what we learned in the training course directly to our day-to-day work and build a bridge directly to our job. The content is applicable to everyday work. I will integrate the methods but also the learned ways of thinking into my everyday work and act accordingly to successfully implement my changes. Change, change management will receive even more attention in the coming years and having already learned the relevant methods will help me personally to handle my tasks/changes in the best possible way. The training definitely fits in with the professional world and is not just theory.

The structured increase in knowledge led to aha-effects and often to questions as to why we hadn't thought of this ourselves. In any case, the DCM course enriches everyday project work and will lead to better change initiatives.
Thanks to the open and friendly lecturers, many practical points were addressed honestly and there was a good atmosphere in the course. What we learned will not just be put into practice in the future. It can already be felt in discussions and new projects. For the future, I will develop a standardized basic „substructure“ that will be individually adapted and/or expanded to the projects.
We will also need to address our most fundamental problems (communication, stable role allocation, rewards).
Last but not least, I'll probably be dreaming about agile working for a while ... great exchange, comprehensive consideration of the change, lots of practical tips, thinking outside the box, re-evaluation of our own activities in the past - most of the time we've already done a lot of things right, but never realized it

The mixture of change methods and their practical application. The documents, scripts, Excel templates and workbooks are absolutely practical for your own daily work in change projects. The module breakdown from the general understanding of digitalization to dealing with change is clearly structured. The trainers' distinct field of expertise in change management across different industries and organizations. The application of the methods for successful change in digitization that I have learned will help me a lot to achieve acceptance among stakeholders.
Through a mix of eLearning, teaching methods, case studies and live coaching, I have built up very valuable knowledge of digital change management, which I will also pass on to other project managers, especially young engineers.
The intensity and speed of change continues to increase rapidly - the digitalization skills taught by 4-advice are worth their weight in gold. Digitization as a rationalization factor will pick up speed rapidly in the coming years. There is still a considerable need for process digitization in many companies, especially in the medium-sized mechanical engineering sector, my core area. Training your own employees to become digital change managers is the basis for successful change and securing the company's future.

The content was very comprehensive and well-founded, the preparation of the content was very well structured and appealing. The speakers (Markus, Simon) presented the content in a very interesting way and supplemented it with practical examples. Questions from the participants were dealt with very well. The group composition was enriching due to the different backgrounds and the group work. I am constantly involved in change projects, so I can apply what I have learned very well, now with a much more sound background and more tools. Reason for recommendation: See above! However, you have to be aware of the disadvantage of a remote WB - the informal exchange of practical experience falls somewhat by the wayside. But all in all, a great training course!

The course was staffed by two extremely well-prepared trainers who not only guided the participants through the training in a competent and humorous manner, but also knew how to form a „harmonious learning group“ despite the virtual training sessions. In addition to an incredibly varied transfer of knowledge, there was never a shortage of fun and sharing of experiences!
I was able to apply almost all of the learning content during the training phase, be it in customer projects, in offers or in my daily work with colleagues.
Even in the private sphere, some of the content conveyed was of great benefit. Firstly, the „philosophy“ conveyed, what is behind „change“ and why it is worthwhile to deal intensively with direct and indirect influences and consequences. Secondly, because the training is more generalist in nature and therefore guarantees a wide range of professional and personal applications. Thirdly, because the combination of „firstly“ and „secondly“ generates maximum added value