Growing-Business-Handbook.pdf
(
9469 KB
)
Pobierz
00 Grow-Bus prelims:00 GrowBus prelims.qxd.qxd
“Good advice on how to make a successful small business into a larger one”
THE TIMES
RECOMMENDED BY
INSTITUTE OF DIRECTORS
Growing
11TH EDITION
Business
HANDBOOK
Inspiration & advice from
successful entrepreneurs
& fast growing UK companies
Consultant editor:
Adam Jolly
THE
i
Growing
businesses
need a
growing
business
We have something in common.
Like you, we are growing. As you
grow your business, you’ll want your
advisors to understand your strategy,
not simply to react when prompted.
And to rely on a pair of safe hands.
Our clients view us as an integral part of
their operation. There to help whenever
required on all aspects of company law,
not just when there’s a crisis.
Our commercial team, with extensive
hands-on business experience, now
operates throughout Kent from offices
in Tunbridge Wells and Dartford.
Alan Williams, our Senior Partner, would
be happy to hear from you. Give him a
call on +44 (0) 1892 502340 to see how
we can help you grow your business.
Buss Murton LLP
SOLICITORS
TUNBRIDGE WELLS
Wellington Gate, 7-9 Church Road
Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN1 1HT
Telephone: 01892 510222
THAMES GATEWAY
Crown House, Home Gardens
Dartford, Kent DA1 1DZ
Telephone: 01322 220235
www.bussmurton.co.uk
Registered Office:
Wellington Gate, 7-9 Church Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN1 1HT.
Buss Murton LLP is a Limited Liability Partnership No. OC301808 and
is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
iii
25 solicitors – choosing them and using them
Solicitors do not get a good Press. They have acquired (or been given) a reputation
for giving unconstructive advice, being hard to get hold of, using
incomprehensible language and, above all, not providing value for money. The
reality, of course, is somewhat different – there are good solicitors and bad
solicitors, as in any profession.
So as a key decision-maker in your business, how do you pick lawyers who are going
to help your business? And having done so, how do you get the most out of them?
First of all, you need to understand how solicitors operate. Like any other business,
they are in it to make a profit. But different firms have different approaches as to
how to make their money – and, indeed, how much to make. Much airtime and
paper nowadays is taken up by legal gurus advising lawfirms to “commoditise”
their services. The idea is that in order to maximise profits, a large proportion of
legal processes and transactions can be standardised to a greater or lesser extent.
What this means to the solicitors’ practice is that carrying out the work on any
particular matter is delegated to the most junior possible (and therefore cheapest)
fee-earner, who will generate standard documents and perform standardised
procedures. At the same time, the partners in the firm will spend the bulk of their
time managing these juniors, rather than doing any actual legal work. Internally,
their focus is on minimising risk. They will manage the client relationships, but
will not be au fait with the details of the matters being handled.
The larger the client company, the better this model works. It is particularly suited
to client companies with their own in-house lawyers who have an in-depth
knowledge of the relevant business, leaving the external solicitors to deal with
legal transactions and specialist areas of legal advice. The lawfirms which espouse
this model tend therefore to concentrate their business development efforts on
attracting large corporates. They tend to be the City firms and the larger
provincial firms, and their partners generally earn in excess of £200,000 per annum
(partners in some of the “magic circle” firms in London earn over £1m a year).
Smaller businesses are less important for the firm’s future, and can be left to be
dealt with by non-partner solicitors.
It will help if you have a clear idea of what your own needs are in terms of input
from your legal advisers. Typically, most of the decisions in a smaller business are
taken by a very few individuals some or all of whom own significant portions of
that business. But they rarely have much in the way of legal experience. So they
need experienced, pro-active help and advice as to what to do in order to achieve
their objectives in matters with a legal element. They need a person who is
advertisement feature
iv
focused on finding solutions to problems. They need an adviser who has the
imagination to be able to put himself or herself in their shoes, and who has
sufficient experience to look at the broader commercial picture. They really need
someone who is able to be an ad hoc member of the management team, who is in
reality what could be described as an “out-house in-house lawyer”.
The kind of solicitor most suited to your SME business is likely to be one for whom
these kinds of business relationships are of paramount importance. But for that
very reason, such firms tend not rely much on advertising to attract business.
Space advertising does not normally generate the kind of response for them that
makes its cost worthwhile, and trade telephone directories are really for the high
street operators. Where they get their business from is recommendations, from
their existing clients and from people they know in other professions –
accountants, surveyors, IFAs and the like. It follows that in order to identify this
kind of relationship-focused firm, what you will probably need to do is to talk to
your friends and acquaintances in similar situations and to your existing
professional advisers, to see if they know a firm they are happy to recommend.
Directories of lawfirms do exist, but generally the firms included contribute their
own entries, although a few of the directories do also carry out some research and
highlight particular specialisms, both of firms and of individuals
Having identified one or more possible firms, contact the individual solicitor there
whose name you have been given. Ask questions about their experience in the
kinds of legal matters on which you wish to have assistance. And listen to their
own questions to you and for signs that they are interested in you and your
business. The more remote and impersonal the source of your introduction, the
more care you need to take. Pick a firm to whom you are important.
Cost is of course an issue, but it should not be the deciding factor unless you need
a “tie-breaker” between firms that are otherwise similar. In particular, do not
allow yourself to be distracted by the easy comparison of hourly rates. The fact is
that the value that you get from your solicitors is more governed by the efficiency
with which they deal with your work and the quality of the advice they give. But
do get them to give you an idea of how much a particular task is going to cost, if
you are able to define its scope sufficiently. Even though a firm may not be the
cheapest, if they are good they will have confidence in the quality of their service
and will not be ashamed to explain how they have reached their estimate.
Above all, remember that your solicitor is going to be a colleague, at least from
time to time – so choose someone with whom you feel comfortable.
Alan Williams
Senior Partner, Buss Murton LLP,
Solicitors with offices in Tunbridge Wells, Dartford and Cranbrook
advertisement feature
Plik z chomika:
andrevius
Inne pliki z tego folderu:
MBA-with-distinction.pdf
(1503 KB)
International-Trade-Business-Law-Policy-and-Ethics.pdf
(3167 KB)
the-global-workplace-international-and-comparative-employment-law-cases-and-materials-jan-2007.pdf
(5596 KB)
Seven-Steps-to-a-Successfull-Business-Plan.pdf
(5704 KB)
Management-7e-Robbins-Coulter-Student-Ed.pdf
(12728 KB)
Inne foldery tego chomika:
Angielski
CAE
Cambridge repetytorium gimnazjalne
Egzamin 8klasity
English for IT 2
Zgłoś jeśli
naruszono regulamin