Even if you have been in business for years and everything has been fine. It can all change. Fast. And you could lose it all. If you don’t know how to protect yourself.
After working with entrepreneurs for years, I realized that many entrepreneurs have the same legal questions. And the same problems. Many entrepreneurs, though they understand that legal is an important part of protecting your business, just put it off. You always think you can do it later. Until there isn’t a later.
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My Story
I tried to make traditional legal practice work.
I took the normal route. At least, sort of. After college (where I majored in Theatre), I worked for a large law firm before starting law school. During law school, I worked for the Attorney General and a couple of small private firms. I had all the experience I needed to understand traditional legal practice work. Big firm. Small firm. Government.
I enjoy legal work. The creativity of the work. I see legal as a creative endeavor. I creatively approach my legal arguments. I creatively approach how to structure deals and contracts. I view it much in the same way I viewed preparing for a role or directing a show.
But, that isn’t what it’s like in traditional legal practice.
The legal profession isn’t, for the most part, about creativity. Law clerks and young attorneys are chained to a desk. There is always more research to do, more motions to draft, another contract to draft. There is no time for creativity. There is no time to think about a creative solution for a startup business. No time to come up with an option that make sense for a client. You just do what has always been done before.
During school, my job was to research, to write, to negotiate. But, there were no processes. There were no systems. There was just more work. This is the business of law. It is chaos.
I didn’t like the pace. I couldn’t stop to think. To do something differently. To create a process. To come up with the best option for a client.
I was supposed to do what had always been done before and when I finished, bill the client and do something else. I wanted something outside of the box. I wanted to break the mold. I wanted to help small businesses. I wanted to come alongside clients to help them grow their business.
I knew that wasn’t going to happen in a traditional law firm.
I love practicing law, but I never loved the business of practicing law. The business of practicing law involves billable hours. That is not something I wanted. I wanted something more. I knew that being a lawyer meant I could help people. I wanted to be different.
So, I created something different. I built a law firm that didn’t bill by the hour. A firm that came alongside my clients to help them grow their business. A firm that helped small businesses. That created membership programs and made access to a lawyer affordable and encouraged, so my clients were taken care of.
But, it wasn’t enough. I wanted to help more small businesses.
I spent every day answering the same questions over and over. And charging for it. What I saw was that entrepreneurs were spending money on lawyers (including me) asking the same questions and running out of money before they could get to the things they actually needed to protect their business.
This isn’t what the community needed.
Legal happens at the speed of business. It is my mission to help entrepreneurs be prepared to protect their business before they needed it. So, I shifted my thinking. I went away from what lawyers “should” do. I started giving it away. I gave away information. I offered counsel. I offered advice. I focused on educating entrepreneurs. I focused on being an entrepreneur. What I needed. What I was looking for.
Even though my roots are in legal. I have always been an entrepreneur. I know there is a better way to give entrepreneurs the legal they need when they need it. And I do.
Will you join me?
Don’t Miss The Chance to Get Legal Answers and Protect Your Business!
Legal to English Academy is designed to help busy entrepreneurs get access to the legal answers they need. When they need them. It is the culmination of over seven years of working with entrepreneurs. It is a combination of the questions entrepreneurs ask and information I know entrepreneurs need to protect their business from the liabilities out there.
As a member of Legal to English Academy, you can ask your legal questions and have them answered on the podcast.
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