Verify the company's name and licence through an official source and check the signatory's authority against supporting documents. For a significant transaction, request proportionate financial information; a licence alone does not establish performance capacity.
Write down the goods or services and required quality, price and currency, delivery and payment stages, delay obligations and termination terms. Select governing law and dispute arrangements that fit the transaction.
Keep the signed final version, attachments, receipts and correspondence with their original dates and identifying information. Electronic material can have evidential value, but every message or signature does not have equal effect in every transaction.
A practical next step
Before signing, check identity, signing authority, obligations and payments, and retain one complete set of the documents recording your agreement.