Starting a new business is hard work. It’s full of research, and, if you’ve made it this far into our blog, you’ve done your share already.
So far, you’ve looked at the viability of your business idea, thought through what type of business entity you want to operate as, and found a great name for your new business. You may have already bought a domain name and maybe even set up a temporary website with a business email, all for free.
Next, you need to set up the legal entity you’re doing to do business under. Unless you’ve decided on a sole proprietor or a single-member LLC, you’ll want the help of a lawyer. In fact, if you have investors, partners, or co-owners, you’ll definitely need the help of a lawyer.
There are traditional ways to look for a lawyer and non-traditional ways to look for one. Our next series of articles is on how to find the type of lawyer you’ll need. We’ll also go over how to engage a business formation service if you decide to do it yourself.
First up is how to find a lawyer to help you form your business the old fashioned way:
If your business is technology-focused, you might need to find an intellectual property lawyer. There’s an easy shortcut to finding one:
You won’t always need the help of a lawyer to set up your business, though. If you’re the only owner, the process is very easy. You can set up your LLC or corporation yourself by using business formation services. Not only will this save you money, it’ll also save you time.
Here’s our review of some of the top popular business formation services:
Last, if you do need the help of a lawyer but haven’t been able to find one through your friends and family, there’s one other way. You might want to check out some websites that can match you with a few lawyers in your location, working in the area of law you need. Some of these websites have even pre-negotiated a lower minimum charge for you, for the first consultation. Here’s our review of the biggest of these online legal services websites:
Armed with these articles, you should be able to find a good lawyer to help you. Don’t forget: if you aren’t happy with your lawyer, you can fire them and find another one. Now that you know how and where to find a good lawyer, you should have plenty to choose from.
Questions? Comments?
