Congratulations on graduating from law school and passing the bar exam. Now comes the point for you to face crossroads in your life. As a new lawyer, you have to choose whether you’ll work for a law firm or start your own. If you’re brave enough to face the daunting task of opting for the latter choice, there’s a lot for you to prepare for.
Starting a law firm is like opening a business. You have to plan well enough for it to be a success. You have to make many decisions regarding the specific field you’d like to practice in, the employees you’ll hire, and even the setting up of your physical office.
Before starting your own law firm, read this full article to be aware of the things you should know about.
1. It’s A Plus To Be Aggressive With Marketing And Branding
One of the challenges you’re going to face as a new law firm is the presence of competition. You need to make your mark in the legal industry given that there are already a lot of established law firms in your area. This is where the need to be aggressive with your marketing campaigns and branding comes in.
A good place to start is to create your own logo. This will give you that distinguishing mark for better memory recall on clients looking for a potential firm to hire. After, create social media accounts and post updates regularly.
2. It Entails Capital Requirement
Like setting up a business, starting your own law firm entails a capital requirement. You have to start by doing the math just so you can be certain that setting up your own office is something you can afford to do.
Along this line, don’t worry yourself too much about having a big and fancy office. Remember that you’re just starting, so it's fine to start small. As long as you have a professional-looking website, a good-working team, and all the essentials to run an office, that’s good enough. If you don’t have enough savings yet for your capital requirement, you may want to start looking into lenders that can support your financial need.
3. It Needs Proper Timing
Timing is essential. You may have heard the all-too-common advice that timing is everything, and this is true even when starting your own law firm. You may have had that entrepreneurial spirit in you for a long time now, but you have to understand what it entails. No matter how driven you may be, if now’s not the best time for it, then you can always wait it out a few more months or years.
For instance, you just got married and you’re expecting your first child soon. Perhaps it’s wise to wait until after your child is born so you can stretch your finances. Depending on how much you’ve saved at the moment, your bank account may not be able to serve two masters at the same time. Hence, consider your circumstances and don’t decide hastily.
4. It Presents The Need To Set Up Multiple Financial Accounts
Just because you’re the sole proprietor doesn’t mean you should have the same account both for your personal finances and that of your law firm. It's still the better option to set up multiple financial accounts. By doing so, you can keep track of the inflow and outflow as well as prevent mixing up the law firm’s money from that of your personal account.
Along this line, the recommended route to take is to open a checking account for your law firm. Fulfilling payments and paying for expenses in cash is often the most secure route to take. That way, you can avoid unnecessary and unauthorized withdrawals by staff on your account. It’s easier for your staff to write the checks for the expenses and then be given to you to complete the issuances.
5. It Necessitates The Creation Of A Business Plan
As briefly touched earlier in this article, starting a law firm can be likened to opening a business. But instead of selling products, you’re in the service industry through the practice of your profession. To ensure stability for the law firm you’re opening, it’s a good idea to have a business plan first. This includes going through steps like the following:
• Creating your mission statement,
• Planning your marketing strategies,
• Studying the competitive advantages of your law firm,
• Planning your law firm’s financial expenditures.
Having a business plan gives your law firm a strong foundation and framework. This is an important document that you should review and look back to when you do periodic checks and audits of your law firm. Also, this keeps you grounded on what you should do and accomplish.
6. It Entails Shopping For A Lot Of Office Equipment
What makes starting a law office an expensive pursuit is the fact that you have to buy a lot of office equipment. This includes a computer, printer, scanner, telephone, Wi-Fi routers, and others. These are only the basics. You may want to add more, depending on how much your budget can afford.
When you shop or look for suppliers for your office equipment, it’s very important not to skimp on the quality and brand. You wouldn’t want to keep buying new equipment because you settled for a cheaper but poor-quality one. When you immediately invest in top-quality office equipment, they can last you through many years of usage.
Conclusion
If you’ve been thinking about whether you should start your own law firm, now’s the best time to convince yourself to go straight for that goal. The prospect of it is scary and daunting, but it’s certainly not impossible to do. However, it entails a lot of preparation, research, and effort to ensure your firm stays successful and stable. The information you’ve garnered above should give you a strong foundation in this pursuit of being your own boss and starting your own law firm. Consider the ideas mentioned here as you plan and prepare.
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