How GHM Works

Whether you are a small business owner ("Business Owner") or a retired professional ("Advisor") in order to use the Grey Hair Matters website ("GHM Website") you have to first become a member and accept our Terms and Conditions. There is no membership fee to pay. A Business Owner wishing to become a member can be a start-up or even just contemplating a start -up.

Although there is no actual upper limit on the size of our Business Owner members' businesses as a rough guide we feel that probably around 250 employees is getting towards the upper end of the size range of companies we are ideally suited to help.

What the GHM Website does is to allow Business Owners who need advice on a wide range of matters to post a description of the specific advice they are looking for and by so doing to invite Advisors looking for projects to advise on to bid competitively on those projects.

Depending on the type of project the Advisor can bid on a fixed fee or hourly fee basis. The subjects that Advisors have expertise in are shown on the GHM Website (there are currently some 200 subjects) and the relevant qualifications and experience of the Advisors are set out in their profiles.

Filters can be applied to match an Advisor with relevant expertise to a specific project posted by an Business Owner. Instead of posting a specific project Business Owners can also search the profiles of the Advisors to find the one who suits their needs. GHM provides a Member to Member direct messaging system whereby Business Owners and Advisors may communicate with each other without revealing each others’ identities.

A visitor to the GHM Website may browse the public web pages without having to sign up or sign in. Visitors who wish to contact GHM should do so via email to info@greyhairmatters.co.uk. Should a visitor wish to become a registered user of the GHM Website he/she must first sign up and then become a Member. The steps below describe in summary form how Members can unlock the huge potential value to them of using the GHM Website.

Signing up.

You can do this either from prompts on the Home page of the GHM Website or from a link on an email sent to you in reply to yours by GHM. The Signing Up Form records your name , email address , which we will ask you to confirm by return email , and your chosen password.

You will be asked to indicate whether you wish to Hire an Advisor or Provide Advice. Once sign up completed you have access to the GHM Website and can Login at any time.

Applying for Membership.

To Post Projects, Search for Advisors or Search for Projects you have to first become a Member. Business Owners and Advisors must each first complete a Profile. Business Owners can complete their Profile either in their own name as an individual or in the name of a company they are associated with. Advisors can only apply for membership and complete their Profile in their own name as individuals.

Both Business Owners and Advisors will be asked to provide brief descriptions of their businesses and activities and a few details that will allow GHM to carry out limited due diligence. In the case of Advisors the primary focus is on their experience , skills and qualifications and the kind of work they are looking for. All Applicants will be asked to provide verification of their identities (See the KYC and ID Verification section of the GHM Website ).

Granting Membership.

GHM will review all Profiles and once this process has been completed we will arrange for a brief meeting with the applicant on a video conferencing facility for GHM to gain a more detailed understanding of what the applicant is looking for from their membership of GHM and for the applicant to ask any questions.

Following the meeting the Business Owner’s or Advisor’s application for membership will be approved , if appropriate, and they will be informed of this by email. The Business Owner will then have full access to the GHM Website , will be able to Post Projects or Search For and Hire an Advisor. All Advisors should note that GHM Membership for them is conditional on them holding current Professional Indemnity Insurance cover. of not less than £1 million. For those who do not have such cover in place it can be obtained at relatively modest cost (See the Professional Indemnity Cover section of the GHM Website).

Advisors will be able to Search for Projects following the approval of their membership application but will not become full members and be able to Accept Offers from Business Owners until they have set up an Account as described below.

Setting Up An Account.

This step applies to Advisors only. Payments by Business Owners to Advisors will be made through Stripe Connect , the market leading global payment platform used by GHM . For an Advisor to paid through Stripe Connect an account in their name needs to be set up, Stripe Connect will carry out Know Your Client (KYC) and Anti Money Laundering (AML) checks which will allow them to do this.

Once a Stripe Connect account has been set up all payments by Business Owners for work completed by Advisors will be credited to that account.

Once an Advisor has been informed that his/her Stripe Connect account has been successfully set up the Advisor will be free to accept Offers from Business Owners.

Using Members Dashboards.

Each new GHM member will be directed to their own Dashboard by means of a link on the email sent to them by GHM .

Posting a Project and Choosing an Advisor.

On the Business Owners Dashboard he/she will be given the choice of either Posting a Project or Choosing an Advisor .

Those selecting the Posting a Project option will be taken through a series of pages on the GHM Website where the Business Owner will enter details of their project , the advice needed and the basis of payment proposed. When this has been done the Business Owner can Post the Project which Advisors can then bid on.

Those Business Owners selecting the Choose an Advisor option will be taken through a series of pages setting out a menu of subjects on which the Business Owner can obtain advice or assistance , and the skills and the level of experience required by the Business Owner from an Advisor.

Business Owners will be able to apply filters and receive a list of Recommended Advisors based on their search criteria or browse the complete list of GHM Advisors if they so choose. Having searched the list of Advisors the Business Owner can offer to Hire a particular Advisor who will be notified of the Business Owner’s request and will respond.

The Business Owner’s Dashboard will display all his/her current projects and the workflow and progress made in respect of each of them.

Searching for Projects and Placing Bids.

Advisors , using their Dashboard , will be able to Search for Projects posted by Business Owners and will be taken through a series of pages setting out the Projects currently being offered by Business Owners. Advisors will be able to apply filters to identify the projects that suit them the best based on their Profiles and will receive a list of Recommended Projects to review.

Having identified a project that he/she would like to work on the Advisor may then request , having read a description of the project , more detail on it from the Business Owner. This can be done using the GHM direct messaging service which is anonymous.

Once the Advisor is satisfied with the detail of the project he/she may Place a Bid on the Project page indicating his proposed remuneration for the Project. This could either be on an hourly of fixed price basis. The Business Owner will be notified of the bid and will respond.

The Advisor’s Dashboard will display all his/her current projects and the workflow and progress in respect of each of them.

Accepting Bids.

The Business Owner will be able to view all the bids received for the project he/she has posted on his/her Dashboard and can accept the preferred bid pending finalisation of the payment arrangements and the final detail of the project.

Once accepted by the Business Owner the project is no longer open for bids. The GHM Website , having been notified that a bid has been accepted automatically produces a Form of Agreement which is sent to the Business Owner who fills in the blank fields including his/her details , the detailed description of the project and the payment terms with particular emphasis on Milestone Payments.

Ensuring You Get Paid.

In order to give Advisors the confidence that they will be paid for the work that they have completed GHM requires that in respect of all fixed price contracts Business Owners transfer funds in advance of the Advisor commencing work either in respect of the entire value of the contract or in respect of the first Milestone Payment agreed by the parties.

Payments will be made by the Business Owner using a credit or debit card for the account of the Advisor but will be held in GHM’s Stripe Connect account for release to the Advisor only once confirmation from the Advisor has been received that the piece of work to which the payment relates has been completed.

It should be noted that all payments made by Business Owners will be held by Stripe Connect until such time as they are credited to an Advisor’s Stripe Connect account or returned to the Business Owner in the case of a dispute.

Business Owners will be advised by GHM of the release of all payments to Advisors in advance and will be given the opportunity of contesting the release of funds. Once a Milestone has been reached and the payment to Advisor has been made the Business Owner will transfer funds in respect of the next Milestone Payment and so on until the project has been completed.

Forms of Agreement.

Once the Business Owner has completed the Form of Agreement the Advisor is informed by email that this has happened and that it is available for review. The Advisor fills in his/her details and edits the Form of Agreement .

Once both the Business Owner and the Advisor are both happy with the Form of Agreement they each click a button “Form of Agreement Approved” and the GHM Website marks it as Final and no longer editable. The Terms & Conditions which each GHM Member accepts when they become a GHM Member state that at this point the Form of Agreement is legally binding on both parties.

Each party will be able to print for themselves a copy of the Form of Agreement and a copy will be kept on GHM’s database. Should both parties wish to turn the Form of Agreement into a signable contract they can request this through the GHM Website and GHM will arrange for this through an electronic document signing process.

Payments and Fees.

Once the Form of Agreement has been marked as Final GHM will inform the Business Owner of the payments he/she must make against invoices raised through GHM on behalf of the Advisor.

In respect of a Fixed Price Project this could be either the payment for the whole project or the first Milestone Payment depending on what has been agreed.For Hourly Projects the first hour must be paid for.

A five per cent introductory commission is due to GHM on each payment to an Advisor by a Business Owner for introducing the Business Owner to the Advisor and for the services provided by the GHM Website.

Whilst working on a project the Advisor will keep the Business Owner updated on progress via his/her Dashboard. The Business Owner will be able to see such updates on his/her own Dashboard.

Once an Advisor has completed a project or reached a point in a Fixed Price project where a Milestone Payment is due he/she notifies GHM and the Business Owner. The Payment will be released by GHM when the Business Owner authorizes it.

If the Business Owner disputes the payment a dispute management procedure will be instigated through GHM. If the Business Owner doesn’t respond to the notification and does not dispute the request for payment by the Advisor for 14 calendar days the payment is automatically released to the Advisor.

For Hourly projects Advisors will raise an invoice through the GHM billing system for work completed at the intervals agreed with the Business Owner in the Form of Agreement . In addition to the hourly rate due to the Advisor GHM will charge the Business Owner a five per cent introductory commission.

A ten per cent introductory commission will be deducted by GHM on all payments to Advisors .

Reviews and Ratings.

Following the completion of all projects Business Owners and Advisors will be asked to rate and review each other so as to provide other Members with valuable feedback that will enable both parties to refine their choices in respect future projects.