Small online business idea
Discussion
Hello all
Been mulling over a few ideas over the Christmas break and am hoping to get some feedback and opinions from others.
I work as a Chartered Legal Executive in a firm of solicitors and deal with mainly employment and civil litigation matters. I want to set up a small side business to bring in some extra cash, not talking thousands but ideally a few hundred per month.
Given the demands of my main job, I don't want to start something which would require a big ongoing commit so ideally I would like something which could be set up and then left to tick away in the background.
The concept I am considering is launching a website which offers a range of standard letters / HR documents / contracts / policies which would be used by small businesses who need legal support but without spending lots with solicitors nor signing up to any long term contracts (i.e. Peninsula etc).
The basic principle would be for customers to pay a small one off fee to access all documents. The limiting factor here would be the degree of sophistication that I could develop via the website. If things take off I could look to service their other needs, provided these don't fall within the definition of reserved legal activities.
I have the skills to write a full suite of documents from scratch to avoid any copyright issues and I can draft appropriate disclaimers to cover their use. I would probably trade as a Ltd company to give additional protection and my wife is in accountancy so can handle the HMRC / Companies House side of things.
The legal side of things would be quite straightforward, the main issues I can see would be setting up an appropriate website and getting customers to it. I'm reasonably computer literate and understand that there are off the shelf e-commerce solutions available at low cost. Likewise, business banking would be dealt with via a free business account for the first 18 months.
Of course, promotion would be a huge issue but as I see it, sharing via local social media, business networking groups and SEO may bring in a few sales. As I said, I'm only looking to generate a very modest income and as my overheads would be very low I could potentially achieve a decent return.
Would be very interested to hear any thoughts. I suspect that a lot of small businesses already obtain a lot of similar support via the FSB and there are already others out there doing similar. Having said that, I feel certain that a decent product, delivered via a smart looking website at a cheap price (i.e. £30-40 per package of documents) would appeal to many small business owners.
Thanks for reading!
Been mulling over a few ideas over the Christmas break and am hoping to get some feedback and opinions from others.
I work as a Chartered Legal Executive in a firm of solicitors and deal with mainly employment and civil litigation matters. I want to set up a small side business to bring in some extra cash, not talking thousands but ideally a few hundred per month.
Given the demands of my main job, I don't want to start something which would require a big ongoing commit so ideally I would like something which could be set up and then left to tick away in the background.
The concept I am considering is launching a website which offers a range of standard letters / HR documents / contracts / policies which would be used by small businesses who need legal support but without spending lots with solicitors nor signing up to any long term contracts (i.e. Peninsula etc).
The basic principle would be for customers to pay a small one off fee to access all documents. The limiting factor here would be the degree of sophistication that I could develop via the website. If things take off I could look to service their other needs, provided these don't fall within the definition of reserved legal activities.
I have the skills to write a full suite of documents from scratch to avoid any copyright issues and I can draft appropriate disclaimers to cover their use. I would probably trade as a Ltd company to give additional protection and my wife is in accountancy so can handle the HMRC / Companies House side of things.
The legal side of things would be quite straightforward, the main issues I can see would be setting up an appropriate website and getting customers to it. I'm reasonably computer literate and understand that there are off the shelf e-commerce solutions available at low cost. Likewise, business banking would be dealt with via a free business account for the first 18 months.
Of course, promotion would be a huge issue but as I see it, sharing via local social media, business networking groups and SEO may bring in a few sales. As I said, I'm only looking to generate a very modest income and as my overheads would be very low I could potentially achieve a decent return.
Would be very interested to hear any thoughts. I suspect that a lot of small businesses already obtain a lot of similar support via the FSB and there are already others out there doing similar. Having said that, I feel certain that a decent product, delivered via a smart looking website at a cheap price (i.e. £30-40 per package of documents) would appeal to many small business owners.
Thanks for reading!
Idea is good but there's alot already out there doing very similar. Take this as an example... https://www.lawdepot.co.uk/
Like the idea. Subject to:-
1) Plain english.
2) Adaptable to suit requirements.
3) Cover a range of issues.
I have a few BTL, and would happily pay something for tenancy agreements.
I also rent cars out, and would be happy to pay a bit for the legal rubbish on these.
But I would want both to be personalised to suit me and my business.
How does that sit with you OP?
1) Plain english.
2) Adaptable to suit requirements.
3) Cover a range of issues.
I have a few BTL, and would happily pay something for tenancy agreements.
I also rent cars out, and would be happy to pay a bit for the legal rubbish on these.
But I would want both to be personalised to suit me and my business.
How does that sit with you OP?
bearman68 said:
Like the idea. Subject to:-
1) Plain english.
2) Adaptable to suit requirements.
3) Cover a range of issues.
I have a few BTL, and would happily pay something for tenancy agreements.
I also rent cars out, and would be happy to pay a bit for the legal rubbish on these.
But I would want both to be personalised to suit me and my business.
How does that sit with you OP?
Have you looked at the NLA's AST form? Works well for me1) Plain english.
2) Adaptable to suit requirements.
3) Cover a range of issues.
I have a few BTL, and would happily pay something for tenancy agreements.
I also rent cars out, and would be happy to pay a bit for the legal rubbish on these.
But I would want both to be personalised to suit me and my business.
How does that sit with you OP?
The Moose said:
Have you looked at the NLA's AST form? Works well for me
If you are talking about this version; http://www.landlords.org.uk/sites/default/files/As...
I would be very careful about using it, it is outdated and could cause significant issues if you are faced witha problem Tenant.
MW-M5 said:
The Moose said:
Have you looked at the NLA's AST form? Works well for me
If you are talking about this version; http://www.landlords.org.uk/sites/default/files/As...
I would be very careful about using it, it is outdated and could cause significant issues if you are faced witha problem Tenant.
On their website for members there is an AST generator. That is what I'm talking about.
I possibly should have mentioned that our software has a management side for you uploading and tagging the documents, which I am sure most do. The clever bit is that when the user clicks to download the document. The server hijacks the request and inserts key data from the users record into the document.
I possibly also could utilise your services, I have some contracts that could do with an expert eye going over.
I possibly also could utilise your services, I have some contracts that could do with an expert eye going over.
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