Legal services business plan sample. Business plan: how to open a law firm

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Business plan

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Who needs a law firm business plan? As a rule, those people who themselves have the appropriate education and would like to organize a business for themselves. In this case, a small private legal agency is what you need. Without requiring large investments, it will always generate income as long as the legislative system, the legal field and other legal aspects exist.

With us, a business plan for the provision of legal services can be studied quickly and easily. And in the same way, start immediately using it, putting it into practice, planning and thinking about specific goals. We all understand that in any law firm the main figure is the lawyer, and not the premises or the presence of a secretary. Therefore, the main "rate" here will be - "rate" per person.

Our business plan for the creation of legal advice includes several important points at once, which specifically indicate not only the characteristics of the object, but also the required investments, project payback, risk assessments and financial plan. All this clearly demonstrates the possibilities and prospects of this business, as well as who should make a choice in favor of this business. Regardless of whether you are an experienced businessman or just decided to start, the document will be a good help for starting so much interesting business that will bring tangible profits.

The modern legal market is brimming with private lawyers, solicitors and legal consultants. Considering that lawyers earn the most, many forget about the country in which we live. But there is a niche that still remains quite free, despite the fact that the demand for such services is quite high. We are talking about anti-collector activity, which is akin to a lawyer, only with a narrow specialization - in credit cases.

The legal services business is highly competitive, but few are in a hurry to engage in anti-collection activities. In principle, any specialist from a lawyer or legal office can provide such services. To do this, you just need to open a new legal direction in the company. But ordinary lawyers and lawyers, as a rule, take on any cases without having a specific specialization. Anti-collection activities, on the other hand, have certain specifics, which are difficult to take into account if you have to deal with various legal procedures at the same time.

Narrow specialization allows you to expand your own capabilities. Moreover, many banks prefer to cooperate with anti-collectors who are trying to improve the terms of loan repayment.

The organization of a legal business - a company providing anti-collection services, begins with the registration of an individual entrepreneur. The anti-collector will not need any special legal documents. And even the presence of an office is not a mandatory requirement at first. Communication with potential customers can be carried out in neutral territory, for example, in a cafe, or arrange a home visit.

Knowing the basic legal norms for collecting debts, a competent lawyer will be able to help a client who has problems with paying off a loan. You should not overestimate the prices for your services, because a person who cannot pay off the bank will obviously not have extra money. But the affordable cost of services will attract a large number of customers, and the profit will not keep you waiting.

Building a business on legal services of this kind, you can beat off the initial investment within the first month of work. True, it is desirable to try to invest the first profit in business development in order to open a normal office, positioning yourself as a solid company.

Protecting the rights of debtors, you will often face serious problems, but it will be much easier for you to deal with them if you rely on a professional example of a business plan for opening a law firm with ready-made calculations in the process of work. From it you will learn what is needed in order to open a legal consultation office, an office and whether it is worth joining a professional association of lawyers. Be fully prepared and success will surely come to you.

The legal business is the area of ​​the market where the competition is the toughest. In recent years, hundreds of thousands of applicants have chosen this line of activity, but only the most persistent, having received a diploma, achieve serious success. Good vacancies shine only for a few graduates with a law degree. Not wanting to work "for an uncle", many prefer to try their hand at business and open their own law firm.

And on this difficult path, it is important to occupy an empty niche, or to position your services in such a way as to compare favorably with most competitors. Someone plans to open their own business providing legal assistance to the population, but it is very difficult to achieve large profits in this market segment. Therefore, many novice businessmen prefer such legal specialization as company registration.

This procedure is far from the most difficult from a legal point of view, and almost any law graduate can create such a business. But, when planning to make money on the registration of foreign companies, one should prepare for very tough competition. According to official estimates, the size of the market for business registration law firms has exceeded all reasonable limits.

The main reason for the high level of competition among start-up legal services is that the barrier to entry in this market is very low, and this attracts many start-up businessmen. Initial financial investments are small, which is the main advantage of this type of business. When opening a law firm, it is enough to have a capital of 1500-2000 dollars.

The equipment of the law office is limited to furniture, office equipment and stationery. A certain amount will be spent on registering a legal entity. If you plan to involve other employees in the work, the costs will increase slightly, since it is necessary to equip each workplace. Opening your own legal office, office necessarily needs high-quality advertising, otherwise you can wait for the first clients for months.

A key factor in success in this type of business, as in any other, is the existence of a quality sample business plan for a legal services and consulting firm. In it you will find a detailed description of the process of creating a law firm, learn about what features of a legal business exist in a small town. When you have such a document at hand, you will easily cope with the toughest competition, always staying one step ahead of everyone else.

Today in Russia, regulations are constantly being improved, new trends in entrepreneurial activity are emerging, and various business areas are constantly expanding. In connection with all this, one can observe a non-decreasing demand for various legal services. It is worth noting that the organization of a law office does not require too high costs at all, and there is almost always a demand for services.

Of course, the low entry threshold for the legal services market also leads to strong competition. Nevertheless, you should not be afraid of it, since most firms, in fact, have a rather serious approach to business.

Services

A successful law firm must provide a sufficiently wide range of services, otherwise it will not be competitive. The list of services of a law firm, as a rule, includes:

  1. Registration actions;
  2. Subscriber service of organizations;
  3. Representation of individuals and legal entities in various disputes;
  4. Debt collection services.

Registration of the organization

The bulk of the work of law firms falls on the provision of services to representatives of small and medium-sized businesses. Naturally, this makes it necessary to maintain a reputation with current and future customers, so registering a business as an individual entrepreneur is unacceptable in this case. The most preferred option would be the organizational and legal form of a limited liability company. Despite the relative ease of its registration, it will emphasize the seriousness of the activity.

Staff

It is necessary to recruit professional lawyers with specialized education in a law firm. In the structure of a law office, it is necessary to distinguish several services by the number of directions. After the development of the client base, a separate lawyer should work in each direction, at the very beginning it is allowed to conduct several directions by one lawyer. It is recommended to hire former bailiffs or law enforcement officers in the debt collection service. By the way, to work in the registration department, it is not necessary to have a completed specialized education, since registration and liquidation services involve performing the same type of actions.

Separately, it is worth noting the need to introduce a documentation service department, within which document management should be ensured. The main task of this department, as a rule, is to ensure the confidentiality of incoming information, without the secrecy of which it will be impossible to gain a reputation in this market.

Customer acquisition

A rather specific moment of modern law firms is their focus on business entities. In the process of carrying out activities, it is necessary to strive to ensure that the main sources of income are subscription services for individual entrepreneurs and other legal entities. If you focus on the execution of a large number of random orders, it will be extremely difficult to ensure financial stability in the organization.
Currently, the main ways to develop a client base are:

  • Individual negotiations with the heads of customer firms and individual businessmen;
  • Recommendations from partners.

Advertising, of course, is an important marketing component, however, it is not the main source of subscription contracts. In fact, with the help of advertising, you can attract the attention of individual entrepreneurs and individuals who want to order a one-time service.

Payback

It should be noted that about 300 thousand rubles are enough to launch a law firm:

  1. Purchase of office equipment and furniture - 200 thousand rubles;
  2. Carrying out repairs of the rented premises - 80 thousand rubles;
  3. Advertising - 20 thousand rubles;

Nevertheless, one should not lose sight of the fact that, due to great competition, the client base will grow rather slowly, so you need to be prepared that the law office will operate at a loss for the first 2-3 months.

The monthly costs of the company will amount to 220 thousand rubles:

  1. Rent - 60 thousand rubles;
  2. Remuneration of employees - 150 thousand rubles;
  3. Advertising - 5 thousand rubles;
  4. Utility expenses - 5 thousand rubles.

Thus, in order to reach self-sufficiency, it is necessary to conclude contracts for subscription services worth 15 thousand rubles. with about 15-20 firms. Until the client base is recruited, the bulk of the income will be only random orders.

As a result, the approximate payback period for a law firm will be approximately 1.5-2 years.

Sooner or later, every hired lawyer thinks about creating his own legal advice. Lack of career growth, problems with superiors, or a fixed low income with a large amount of work can be reasons for wanting to work for yourself.

And the endless stream of customers, mostly due to the illiteracy of our population or constantly changing laws, which are simply impossible to keep track of for an ordinary person who is not related to this industry, makes this type of activity very attractive for generating income.

After working for several years in an office that provides legal services, you can get a very clear understanding of what kind of consultations are in demand among the population. Based on this experience, you can make a list of the most profitable services and implement them in your future company.

But is it only a lawyer who can open his own business in this area, and is it so easy to bring this idea to life? So, how to open a legal office?

If the presence of the phrase “legal advice” in the name of your organization is not important, the opening process will be a little easier. Theoretically, to create a firm that provides All you need is money savings and determination.

However, it is much easier to start such a business having not only a higher legal education, but also experience as a lawyer.

If it is necessary to create a legal advice office, the requirements become more stringent. In addition to having the appropriate education, you will need to obtain the status of a lawyer, because only they can use the phrase “legal advice” in the names of the offices being created.

To obtain such a status, it will take some time to work as an assistant to a lawyer, get permission to pass the exam and pass it, take an oath. With the successful passage of the path of becoming a lawyer, you can begin to study the instructions for opening your own office.

Procedure for opening a legal advice office

To organize a business in the field of legal services, you will need:

  1. pass the stage
  2. rent or buy premises;
  3. purchase consumables, equipment, furniture;
  4. select qualified lawyers;
  5. advertise the office.

The features of each step are discussed in detail below.

Stage of registration and collection of documents

Entrepreneurial activity is possible if it is intended to provide services only to individuals. If the main goal is to advise legal persons it is better for one's office.

In the first case, it is necessary to provide the relevant authorities with a passport with copies, a receipt, applications for, for example, the simplified tax system, registration and TIN. The second option involves a slightly larger package of documents, namely, all the same receipt and statement, charter and minutes of the meeting of founders (if any), a document confirming the introduction of the Criminal Code and copies of passports with originals.

After you need issue or purchase and sale of the found premises. Having carried out the necessary repair work, you will need to invite employees of the SES and fire supervision in order to obtain permits from them. On this documentary red tape can be considered complete.

Finding a suitable room

When choosing a future office location, it is important to consider two main points:

  • the presence of similar offices nearby;
  • liveliness of the street.

A large number of nearby legal offices or firms providing similar services will significantly complicate the development of your business. But if there are no other options, you need to find out as much information as possible about competitors: strengths and weaknesses, the range of services they provide, and, if possible, try to provide different advice or a little cheaper.

The income of the office directly depends on the number of people applying to it. And the more people pass by it every day, the more customers there will be. Dormitory areas are swept aside immediately, even considering that the rent in them is lower.

For legal advice, 20 sq. m. A detached building, an office in a business center or a converted first floor in a residential building can serve as the location of your future office.

After renting or purchasing such premises, it is necessary to carry out repair work in it and obtain permissions for their further use from authorized organizations.

Acquisition of the necessary equipment for the arrangement of the premises

Opening a legal consultation office from scratch involves the purchase of the necessary equipment. So, for the situation of legal advice, you will need to purchase:

  • office furniture;
  • office equipment;
  • expendable materials;
  • reference publications;
  • safe;
  • stationery.

Furniture is purchased for both employees and visitors. For consultations with lawyers, they often go in pairs with someone, it is necessary to take this moment into account when purchasing chairs. You will also need to equip a waiting room for visitors, so that people can conveniently wait for an appointment in a queue.

Each employee must have a work area equipped - table, chair, computer.


Hiring staff for legal advice

Even if you have experience as a lawyer, good knowledge of the law, it is recommended to hire assistants. Depending on the services that are planned to be provided, it is better to start work from several areas and gradually expand, rather than trying to cover all areas from the very beginning.

At the initial stage, you can limit yourself to two lawyers with whom you will work together. As the customer base expands, the following units can be hired:

  • lawyer to work with l.;
  • lawyer for legal l.;
  • secretary;
  • legal consultant;
  • cleaning woman.

To keep records of expenses and income, it is necessary, however, you can use special firms that will keep records at a distance. The quality of the services provided in such accounting agencies is at a high level, and their work is cheaper than the commissioning and remuneration of another full-time unit.

The secretary can also be hired at half the rate and make his work remote. Responsibilities will include answering phone calls, making appointments and consulting.

Advertising campaign

Can be where people can get acquainted with a list of services provided and their prices, address, information about lawyers working for you and their experience.

Legal Advice Business Plan

Before opening your own legal advice, you will need to study the market for the provision of such services in order to identify the most popular areas. The most promising are cases related to family, business and real estate, as well as the collection of debt obligations.

Expenses for opening a legal advice office

Having chosen the most suitable areas, you can proceed to the calculation of the approximate costs of opening a consultation:

  • Legalization of activities and obtaining legal. addresses about 30,000 rubles.
  • Office rent from 90,000 rubles.
  • Repair and arrangement from 60 000 rubles.
  • Purchase of equipment from 80,000 rubles.
  • Office supplies from 4,000 rubles.
  • The cost of software, Internet, communications from 40,000 rubles.

At the initial stage, you will need invest in the opening of 300,000 rubles.


Profitability of legal advice

The profitability of such a business is considered high, and with a competent approach, consultation can pay off in 2 years. With quality service, the customer base will increase rapidly, and with it, income.

The minimum cost of a lawyer's services, for example, a consultation, costs 1,500 rubles, and the liquidation of a legal entity. persons 50,000 rubles. For example, if in the first month 5 lawyers manage to serve 20 clients with an average price for the service of 5,000 rubles, the profit will be 500,000 rubles.

Decreasing this figure by (20% = 100,000) and initial expenses (300,000), we get a profit of 100,000 rubles. Given that every month the flow of customers, as a rule, increases, we can assume a stable growth in profits.

The main problems encountered on the way to opening a legal advice office

Possible difficulties

  • high competition;
  • difficulties in finding clients;
  • employee incompetence.

How to solve emerging problems?

1. Unfortunately, there is no shortage of law firms for future entrepreneurs. Starting your own business, you need to be ready for everything and go to the end. If you do not know how to open a law office on your own and make it successful, then and studying the experience of existing organizations and working in contrast, lowering prices for services, offering lawyers to travel will help to interest and entice clients from other offices.

2. To attract as many clients as possible, you need to make a lot of efforts to promote and advertise your office.

3. The human factor plays a big role - full-time employees do not always care about the company's image and sometimes treat their work too lightly. To prevent such situations, it is necessary to motivate employees with various bonuses, unscheduled days off, and so on.

Opening your own company is the desire of many experienced lawyers. But they ask questions: “How to open a law firm from scratch?” or “How to attract customers?”. Despite the higher legal education and great zeal, for this you still need to have a certain knowledge of the fundamental rules, the observance of which will help you achieve your goal. How to start your own legal business from scratch?

Starting your own business in the legal field entails many advantages, but, as in any business, unfortunately, you cannot do without disadvantages.

Having your own business has the following advantages:

    • The absence of a boss. You are the head of your own company, which means you are free to make your own decisions.
    • Profitability will depend on you - the entrepreneur, earnings can be impressive or quite low.
    • Flexible schedule. In the future, by hiring staff, you can not work at all, but only manage your employees.
    • As the founder of the company, you will receive the greatest profit, unlike an ordinary employee.

Having your own business is prestigious.

Minuses:

  • Risk. If you choose the wrong business strategy, then your business may fail, in which case financial problems cannot be avoided. Approach this issue with all seriousness.
  • At the initial stage, a lot of investment, effort and time will be required.
  • No matter how trite it may sound, but business is always stressful, be prepared for the fact that, most likely, not everything will work out easily for you.

If the waste of energy and risk did not scare you, then you can move on to those aspects that will reveal in detail the topic of how to open a legal consultation.

How to open a law firm from scratch - instructions

Registration, permits, documents

Let us examine in more detail the question of how to open a law firm from scratch. In order to open your own law firm, you do not need to receive the appropriate education, it can be opened by an individual or legal entity.

However, you need to register with the proper state tax authority and choose the form of taxation in order to function legally.

A company can be registered as an individual entrepreneur or as an LLC for several individuals.

It is better to arrange the taxation system according to the “subtract expenses from income” scheme. A convenient option - simplified tax system with a rate of 15% - is more profitable.

How to open a law firm with the necessary permits? The answer is pretty simple. It turns out that, as the current legislation says, special permits and licenses are not required to open a private law firm.

The following documents will be required:

  • Passport, its photocopies.
  • Confirmation of payment of state duty.
  • Application for registration of an individual entrepreneur or LLC.
  • Selection of the type of activity according to OKVED codes.

Important! As soon as you receive a certificate of incorporation, immediately begin to develop a business strategy and promote your company.

Choice of premises and equipment

An important task when opening a law firm is the choice of premises. The best option for the location of your office would be the city center, because there is better infrastructure, it will be more convenient for the client to get to you and find you.

Not bad if your office is located on the first floor and from the side of the street, for the same reason listed above.

You also need to take care of the availability of the necessary equipment.

The design of the premises is best done in the form of an office. To do this, you will need to purchase special furniture (armchairs, tables, comfortable lockers, etc.) and computer equipment (computer or laptop, printer, scanner, etc.), and you also need to take care of stationery (paper, pencils, pens, etc.) .).

Prepare for the fact that several clients can come to you at once, arrange objects in the space for them as comfortably and conveniently as possible.

Recruitment

For the first time, the activities of a law firm, it is better to start with a partner and not hire employees.

After time, when the business will rise and develop, you can think about hiring additional staff.

It is necessary to hire: three qualified workers who will work with all kinds of services; courier. Financial issues can be resolved with the help of an incoming accountant.

Attention! When recruiting your own professional staff, you must use labor exchanges, place ads in newspapers, and relevant Internet resources.

There will be many candidates, they can be both yesterday's students and experienced professionals, of course, it would be preferable to use the services of the latter, but it's up to you.

As your business expands, you may need staff.

Approximate composition of a mid-level law firm:

  1. highly qualified lawyer;
  2. legal consultant;
  3. lawyer for working with individuals;
  4. lawyer for work with legal entities;
  5. legal assistant;
  6. secretary referent;
  7. accountant.

Business process organization

How to promote a law firm? First of all, you need to decide on the specialization of the law firm, as well as take care of the quality of the services provided.

To do this, you need to create your own corporate identity, an appropriate image, and maintain a good reputation. All this will determine the success of your business in the future.

You need to start with a small number of legal services, and as your business expands, increase the range of services provided.

After all, it will be very difficult both to open a law firm from scratch and to control it.

It is also necessary to identify the main audience of the clientele, and based on this, organize the workflow.

For example, if you are going to provide services in solving business problems, then the best option would be to organize work activities from 8:00 to 19:00, so that it would not be difficult for the client to establish contact with you during his working day.

A good option would be if one employee from your staff begins to work on duty on weekends at least until noon.

Business strategy

Organizing a business plan for a law firm, just like starting a law firm from scratch, is not an easy task.

Research the market in this area in detail, approach your competitors with attention, identify their advantages and disadvantages. This will help to make fewer mistakes in the organization of the business plan.

Develop an acceptable pricing policy, this is especially important at the initial stage.

Promising directions at the moment:

  • Legal support in the field of real estate and construction.
  • Support for migrants. For example, assistance in getting a job, obtaining citizenship, etc.
  • Control of financial and economic activities of companies.
  • Protests related to illegal law enforcement activities.

Finding Clients

Aspects in the search for clients:

  1. Use the internet. First of all, take care of creating a company website, it is advisable to hire a specialist, since there are enough of them on the Internet, so there should be no problems with this.
    Advertising can be placed on various websites, in mobile applications.
  2. Traditional methods of information dissemination. These are: leaflets, word of mouth, organization of exhibitions, seminars and conferences.
    It would be useful to place an ad in the newspaper, where you can briefly tell about the services you provide, the location of the company, and prices.
    It will also be effective to place signs on the streets, you can fork out for advertising on television.

Attention! For the best result in finding clients, you need to use the services of a qualified specialist - a PR manager.

How to get guaranteed clients for a lawyer?

The most difficult stage for all organizations is the start-up and the law firm is no exception. Not always the money invested in advertising and marketing can return as ready-made customers. Thus, money can be wasted. And when there are so few of them, it creates additional problems and increases the cost of the company.

However, there is one solution that will ensure that the money invested will generate ready-made customers. Currently, due to the globalization of the Internet, clients are looking for lawyers there. But how can you get customers without spending extra money? Very simple - for this there are special intermediary firms that can provide you with customers.

Attention! If you only want to pay for clients and don't want to waste money, then you can start partnering with lead generation firms. This is by no means the main source of customers, but it is a constant one. Especially useful at the initial stage. Click on the banner above and read the terms and conditions.

Costs and profits

Approximate start-up costs:

Expenses When to pay Amount, thousand rubles
Registration and acquisition of a legal address At the initial stage 30,0
Furniture and equipment At the initial stage 50-60
Communication and software costs Monthly 40,0
Office rental, renovation (10-15 sq. m.) Monthly 130,0
Salary per person Monthly 30-40
Transport Monthly 10,0
office At the initial stage 5,0

The profit will depend primarily on the number of customers and the quality of the services you provide.

The average cost of providing legal services in Moscow is:

  • oral consultation - 1000-2000 thousand rubles per hour;
  • one-time written consultation on legal issues - 3000 rubles;
  • registration of a person as an individual entrepreneur not including the state. duties - 4500 rubles;
  • registration of an LLC without state duty - 1100 rubles;
  • writing a statement with a claim - 9000 rubles;
  • liquidation of a legal entity - 60,000 rubles;
  • representation of interests in court - 40,000 rubles.

Let's say that in 30 days four of your employees served 20 clients, the approximate price of the service is 10 thousand rubles, if everything is organized correctly, then with the range of services assigned earlier, we get the following numbers:

4*20*10000=800000 rubles

The tax amount is 20%, which means:

800000*0.2=116000 rubles

By simple calculations, we find out the net profit:

800000.0 - 119000.0 - 315000.0 = 369000.0 rubles.

At the first stage, getting a large number of customers is a rare occurrence, but with the right approach after a few months it becomes quite achievable.

As a result, with a successful scenario, payback is achieved in 1-3 months.

Opening your own law office is a rather risky business that requires a lot of effort, but with a skillful approach, it can bring significant profit.

A large number of people sooner or later find themselves in situations in which they simply need the help of a law firm. That is why this business has great potential and can subsequently bring very large profits. At the same time, one should not forget that in order to open such a business, one should plan everything correctly and draw up a high-quality business plan for a law firm, which will help to better understand some aspects of this business.

Opening a business should begin with finding a suitable premises. There are two options - to place the company in a residential area in order to reduce rental costs, or to be located in the city center, in places with a large crowd of people, which will attract more customers, but the rent will be much higher. This is a matter of your personal preference, since on the one hand there is an increase in profits, and on the other, a decrease in costs, which is essentially equivalent. Do not rent too large or too small a room. An area of ​​​​10-20 square meters will be ideal. The size may vary depending on the number of staff.

Then you should purchase the necessary equipment. Usually, a law firm needs office furniture, two or three personal computers, permanent Internet access, a fax machine, a copier, and consumables.

The next step is to select the right staff and promote your company. A big plus will be your legal education, which will allow you to start working with clients yourself while recruiting staff. Employees should be taken only with a higher legal education, preferably girls, as they attract more clients than men.

Below you can download and get acquainted with examples of business plans that will help you when drawing up your own.

Download law firm business plan

- this example contains a plan to open a law firm, whose tasks will include providing services to individuals in the field of consulting. The organizational and legal form of the company is an individual entrepreneur. The example contains information on how to analyze the existing market for legal services. There is a production plan and a financial plan with calculations.

– in this example, it is planned to open a large law firm whose task will be to meet the demand for quality services in the field of labor law and consumer protection, as well as the sale and purchase of real estate in Russia and abroad. The company also plans to organize seminars and trainings for real estate appraisers and start-up real estate firms.