Entrepreneurship on your own or with a partner
One of the most important decisions when wanting to open a law firm is to determine whether we are going to go it alone or in partnership. This depends particularly on our ability to not only be our own boss, but also other areas that we need to consider such as bill payment, which could be a lot of work for one person who also needs to practice law.
However, if you feel able to do so, with mental strength and energy, then you can open an office on your own.
In this business there are two aspects that are of great importance and should be carefully considered, such as the customer profile and the sales estimate.
The company’s potential clients are private clients, who contact the company to request services related, mainly, to claims, communications to your company, application for benefits from the Social Security, INEM and FOGASA.
There are also customers with requests related to urban planning, small and medium enterprises already in operation. There are also clients who request the services of labour advice, environment, town planning, mediation and arbitration, legal assistance, advice on capital increases and mergers, legal assistance in bankruptcy proceedings and in the dissolution and liquidation of the company, among other profiles.
Let’s see how to get started:
Business documentation
First it is necessary to register our business with the entity of our city to do so. Look for a clear and elegant name that makes your activity known easily. Entrepreneurs’ names as business names are no longer used, so look for one that is much more innovative and fresh. Remember to choose your name according to the specialty you are going to offer.
Financial Management
Before starting it is necessary to evaluate and identify which sectors our business finances will be directed towards, as one of the keys to our business achieving the profitability we seek is good management. Therefore, keep in mind the following:
-Create separate bank accounts, one account for expenses and another for income
-He keeps records of the money coming in and the money going out
-Check your statements and conditions regularly
Contact advisors
In order to take care of everything that is necessary with our business, we recommend that you contact an accountant who will advise you on how to handle your finances and thus make the burden much less heavy. This person can either advise you on an ongoing basis or take care of your accounts while you are working in other fields.
Offer home and local service
It’s a good technique to start our business with an office from where we can receive our clients. We can be located in areas such as courts, offices, companies, etc. However, it is not the only way, because we can also offer the service at home, approaching our customers directly where they require it. The installation of an office involves the purchase of materials such as office supplies, furniture, decoration and advertising.
Promoting the business
Our potential clients will depend on the specialty we focus on and in this sense we can implement various promotional and advertising strategies that will appeal to clients, among them are
Blog: Site where you publish content related to your activity, experience, information and procedures that are carried out to attract potential customers. Build it in such a way that both professionals and general people in the sector can understand each of your texts.
Website and social networks: On these platforms you can create your own sites that allow you to publicize the services you offer to your customers, the specialties you handle and in general what you do. Remember to add contact details such as: telephone numbers and email address.
Traditional advertising: In specific areas related to the activity, professionals of the sector and potential clients, you can look at handing out flyers, notices and professional business cards that make you known and that they can look at every time they need a service related to what you offer.
Difficulties that may arise: In principle, it can take a while for clients to arrive at a law firm if we consider that our target audience will not be around the corner. Therefore, it is necessary to look for alternatives and ways to create alliances with other lawyers in the sector who focus on other specialties to recommend us, as well as to be present at conferences and events, promotion and continuous advertising of our business.
Final recommendation: Keep clear from the beginning the type of legal service you offer so that in this way, according to your specialties, you manage to capture the type of clients you are looking for and thus, your growth does not stop. Web presence is a key strategy nowadays, so you must remain constant in it.
Advantages of having a law firm alone or with a partnership
Some advantages of this business are the tendency to collaborate with other entities, organizations, the dynamism of this sector due to the continuous change of the legislation applicable to the specific cases, the advantage of being able to keep updated legal databases, to be able to supply unsatisfied needs, the diversification of the market with which the offers to the clients can be extended, as well as the wide typology of the clients.
Success stories of this business
The company Reparatudeuda, is a successful company, formed from a legal network in Spain, is related to the application of the law of the second chance, which establishes the right of the debtor as a natural person, entrepreneur and consumer, to request the cancellation of debts incurred with banks, credit institutions and third parties.
Following a series of specific conditions after having sought to reach a voluntary payment agreement with creditors and without having acted in bad faith. Therefore, this franchise is aimed at entrepreneurs and professionals who are interested in the type of legal business of mediations.
Another successful company is Infinance, which is a company that specializes in financial services, under the principles of high quality customer service, always seeking to meet their needs and demands, as far as financial intermediation is concerned. Looking for the best financing options in the market, to offer different possibilities according to the client’s profile, with a high quality and reliable credit advice and processing.