Law Firm Business Plan in Nigeria

Law Firm Business Plan in Nigeria

Our Sample law business plan in Nigeria is up to date and can be used for proposal writing, access grants and loans in Nigeria and abroad. Furthermore,this article will be answer the following questions for you:

Also Read: Business Consulting Business Plan in Nigeria

• Overview of the law business in Nigeria
• Establishing a law firm in Nigeria

To get your sample law firm business plan in Nigeria, pay N20,000 to:

BANK NAME: FIRST BANK PLC

ACCOUNT NAME: CHIBUZOR TOCHI ONYEMENAM

ACCOUNT NUMBER: 3066880122

After payment, text your full name, email address and title ( i.e. law firm business plan doc) to 07033378184. Your business plan will be sent to your email within 15 minutes.

The law business in Nigeria is rewarding. It takes hard work and resilience to establish yourself in the practice. Before contemplating opening a law firm, you have to be called to the bar. This license to own your own firm used to be restricted to those that have experience of five years or more. In other words, young lawyers were at a disadvantage. Today, once you are a lawyer and have been called to the Nigerian bar, you can start your law firm. Experience is still vital in running a successful law business. There is not much difference between setting up a law business and any other business. The most important thing to remember is that you are offering a service. Achievement in this service is can be easily measured. It is better to create a niche so that you can stand out. Even if you cannot, you must be able to prove to prospective clients the unique service you offer that separates you from your competition. You also need to be passionate about the legal area you want to focus on.

Let me walk you through the real aspect of starting this law firm business in Nigeria. The following tips will prove to be critical in the success of your enterprise;

1. Draw out a Plan

There is no business that should be run without drawing a plan of action. This plan would guide you and also serve as a measure to evaluate the business. Here you define your business. Figure out what area of law you want to build your service. It is good to select one or two legal areas and focus strongly on them.  People tend to trust lawyers that have built a reputation in specific areas and not those that are jack of all trades. Furthermore, when you focus on specific areas, you gain more experience. This depth of experience enables you to solve problems faster and more efficiently. It also helps in marketing because you are able to target and focus on specific clients.

Assess your target market based on demand, consumer preferences, trends as well as potential for growth and expansion. Determine your initial capital outlay. Decide on how many staff you need to employ. Lastly, conclude on a location for your business.

2. Register your Business

This is an important step in running a business in Nigeria. You cannot operate a law firm without registering with the CAC, the Center for Nigerian Legal Services which is an independent clearing house for lawyers, as well as other bodies that validate and certify your business.

3. Choose a Location

The importance of a good location for a law business in Nigeria cannot be over emphasized. Clients want a neat, easily accessible and comfy office space. Ensure that the location you pick is strategically positioned to suit your clients’ preference. This does not mean you must get your office in the cream areas in the city, or that it must be expensive, just ensure that it is neat and welcoming. During planning, you should have been able to pick a location based on the demography of prospective clientele. Ensure that your location is consistent with your image. Some law firms start out at home and expand to larger spaces. Ensure that you deliver results. That is the way to grow in this business.

4. Figure out your Clientele

Firstly, you would have chosen the area you want to focus on in your legal practice. It could be divorce, criminal, company or tax law etc. Underline the characteristics of your clients based on income level, gender and age. Other characteristic may be social class, education level, size of firm, type of industry and occupation. How will your service benefit the client? This will help in focusing your approach to meet definite needs of the clients. It will also help you to fix a billing system.

5. Know your Competition

Are you a pioneer in this area? If yes, then how long do you have till you have competition?

If you have competition, then you have to know the other firms that will compete with you. Figure out where you differ from the competition. That will be your major selling point. Consider how much competition they will be. Will they be direct or indirect competitors? Will they compete only for certain clients, or services? Are they upstarts? What’s their marketing strategy? How long have they been in business? If you are able to answer all these questions, then you should be able to spell out your competitive advantages and disadvantages. For as long as you wish to remain in business, take your competition serious.

6. Billing System

You are running a business, so you are not going to work for free.  Your price should be competitive. It should also give sufficient profit to enable you grow because you do not want to be stuck in the same place for too long. Your fees should match with the service you are rendering, but more importantly ensure the quality of your service is impeccable.

7. Funding your Business

Funding could be by partnering with one, two or more other lawyers, where you can split the capital costs and leverage on each other for clients. If you are starting out with partners, it is important to spell out the contribution each partner will have to make as well as the percentage of ownership each will retain. Savings or loans could also be used to fund law business startups. Grants could be applied for especially those that meet some form of humanitarian purpose criterion in line with global standards. You would need enough money to run for at least 6 months before you begin to make reasonable return on your investment. It will be advisable to have a fund backup for recurrent expenditure for another 6 months.

Your capital costs will need to cover the company registration, cost of renting or building an office complex, office furniture and equipment, stationery, legal materials including books, legal stamps etc. Keeping overhead costs low will go a long way to ensure you remain solvent till cash flow becomes reasonable. Allow for contingencies in the budget. This could be up to 20% the total startup capital.

8. Marketing Your Business

Marketing should prioritize on imprints from your market survey. Advertise your services to prospective clients using brochures, word of mouth, business cards, newsprints etc. You could also pay for listings on sites like www.lawnigeria.com. The social media will also serve as a viable tool for advertising. If you want to use the web, then, it is important to own and build a website o that clients could be directed there. In fact, it improves the odds of you making it in the law business as people take you more seriously. There is also place for paying attention to your environment and look for the opportunity to sell yourself. Always have an office line open for 24 hours. If a call is missed, ensure you return the call. This is a good business ethic. Occasionally, some clients approach your law firm with problems or counselling needs that are not within the ambit of your services. When such cases arise, do well to refer them to competent law firms. Usually, they will return the favor, but do not let such clients leave without a picture of the kind of cases you handle.

Handing out business cards that have your office address, phone number(s), email and web addresses would go a long way in boosting marketability of your law business in Nigeria.

9. Build a Library

The only reason why this point would stand on its own is because of the importance of books to a lawyer. It is a reference for research, study and writing briefs. It is not necessary to have a designated room to serve as a library. Books could be arranged on shelves in an orderly but unconventional fashion to blend with the furniture. The use of books in paperback is less trendy as pdf and other form of e-books could be easily downloaded and a stored on computer and mobile devices. E-library platforms also exist and can be accessed with a little token. Usually a flat fee is paid annually.

10. Purchase of Equipment and Machinery

To run the office on a daily basis, there are some necessities that make work easier and ensure maximum productivity of employees. These include stationery such as pen and pencils, staplers, office pins, files, paper clips, cello tape and envelopes. Equipment that facilitate efficiency of operations are calculator, photocopying machine, printers, intercom and sometimes a fax machine. Other supplies are letterheads, compliment sheets, continuation sheets, office forms, legal forms, legal stamps etc. Some machinery are essential for smoothness of operation and comfort. They are vehicles, air conditioner and fans, generator set, refrigerator or dispensers, table and chairs and other furniture for visiting clients. Some offices I have visited have coffee and tea pots as some lawyers need to work long hours to meet salient deadlines. Supplies and stationery need to be replenished from time to time while routine maintenance on equipment and machinery is necessary.

Vehicles are important for movement of staff on outside engagements. Although, if funds are limiting, one can make do with hiring. If your office is in towns that have Uber or Taxify, you could patronize them. But take cognizance of the fact that they burn bills pretty quickly. Generator set should be purchased based on the size of your office and available funds. It is better to purchase one that can take an expansion if need arises within one year.

11. Establishment of Office Notification

The National Bar Association must be notified of establishment of any law office at the local branch. This must be done within 30 days of establishment.

This notice, which would be entered into the register of the Nigerian Bar Association should comprise the following;

1. Address of Law Office
2. Name of Lawyer or Lawyers (as the case may be)
3. Date of call to bar and enrollment (of each lawyer represented)

This information ensures that the NBA can take notice of such establishment.

If ever there is a change of information so supplied, such as change of address or name, the NBA must be notified.

12. Recruiting Staff

The day to day running of the office such as filing, receiving clients and other functions that do not require real lawyers. It should also be a reflection of your budget. It is important you do not employ personnel you cannot pay or do not really need. For small starters, a secretary and a clerk would be sufficient. Ensure that your staff have defined roles and know their place in the hierarchy of the organization. For some other functions e.g. investigations, you may need to hire a contract staff.

Professional and advisory support, who may be part of the structure but may not necessarily be on the payroll such as accountants, consultants mentors should be considered.

Now that your Law Business is up, how do you make it run? Getting your first client is as important as getting your next client. Whatever you do, keep record of clients, cases, income and expenditure. You could, in addition to saving in files and on the computer, back them up online.

It is important that you have a good lawyer-client relationship. Communicate with them by email correspondence as well as being available when they need to speak to you regarding any of their cases. It is also important to listen to your client without interrupting.

Essentially, you want to build a franchise you can look back on and be proud of. Make every client have a great experience. Make every client count.

Get your sample law firm business in Nigeria today. To order the business plan, pay N20, 000 to:

BANK NAME: GUARANTY TRUST BANK (GTB)

ACCOUNT NAME:  CHIBUZOR TOCHI ONYEMENAM

ACCOUNT NUMBER: 0044056891

OR

BANK NAME: FIRST BANK PLC

ACCOUNT NAME:  CHIBUZOR TOCHI ONYEMENAM

ACCOUNT NUMBER: 3066880122

After payment, send your full name, email address and topic (i.e. law firm business plan doc) to 07033378184. Your business plan will be sent to your email within 15 minutes.

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