If you are thinking about hiring a lawyer to help with your business, you may be wondering why you should work with a Family Business Lawyer™ rather than a “traditional” business lawyer. What makes us so different from other lawyers?

Last week, in part one of this series, we discussed what it’s like to work with most other business lawyers, describing how their “one-size-fits-all” approach and focus on providing standard legal documents and forms can result in potentially ruinous results for you and your business. And as we pointed out, we know exactly how these lawyers operate because that’s how we used to do things as well… that is, until we discovered a whole new way of serving our clients as a Family Business Lawyer™ firm. 

Here in part two, we’ll describe exactly how Family Business Lawyers™ differ from these “traditional” business lawyers, and detail all of the ways we will support, guide, and serve your business when you work with us. 

Family Business Lawyers: Understanding The Difference

As a Family Business Lawyer™ firm, we serve you and your business in a way that’s far different from other business lawyers—we are the holistic business advisors you have been looking for. We don’t simply incorporate your entity, put in place a few legal documents, or file your trademark application and then never see you again or only see you when something goes wrong. 

Instead, we give you peace of mind, knowing that you have not only set your business up right from the start, but that your business systems will continue to keep pace with your company’s growth trajectory throughout its entire evolution. We focus on the nitty gritty details of running your business— negotiating contracts, finding insurance, crunching numbers, and dealing with taxes—so you can maintain the highest level of creative focus to grow your company and serve the right clients and customers in the right way.

Not Your Typical Business Law Firm

Here are a few of the ways we differ from traditional business lawyers, along with the level of service you can expect when you work with a Family Business Lawyer firm:

1. Fixed Fees: We’ve done away with billable hours—all of our services are offered on a one flat-fee, or recurring monthly basis that’s agreed to in advance, so there are never any surprises. And, best of all, you’ll choose your fee based on the structure that works best for you and your needs. We’ll help you do that during your LIFT Business Breakthrough Session.

2.  Proactive Advisors: We are proactive business advisors, who check in with you on a regular basis, rather than waiting for something bad to happen. By regularly monitoring your business activities (weekly, monthly, or quarterly,  depending on the level of planning you choose), we can proactively ensure your company is fully protected and positioned for maximum growth. We will put our legal minds to work to help you grow your business and take the best-calculated risks to achieve the biggest rewards.

3. Regular & Effortless Communication: We encourage you to regularly contact us as well, and we have a whole team available to serve you. In fact, we’ve thrown out the time clocks, so you never have to be afraid to call with a quick question. Plus, when you call our office to ask a quick question, you won’t have to wait hours or days for a call back. You’ll get your question answered right away. And if you need to schedule a more in-depth legal or strategic call with your lawyer, that call will be scheduled at a time that’s most convenient for you, so we can make the very best use of your time and not waste it by forcing you to leave voicemail after voicemail or play an endless game of phone tag.

4. An Ongoing Relationship: We meet with you at least quarterly via our membership programs. Through these programs, we foster a lifetime, ongoing relationship with our clients, so we can guide you through all of your business’ stages—even preparing your business for succession or sale—and always remain focused on helping you get to the next level. Throughout the life of your business, things change: you change, your assets change, your business changes, and the law will definitely change. We are here to help you navigate those changes.

5. A Diverse Array Of Services: Our unique membership programs will keep your company’s legal, insurance, financial, and tax (LIFT) components constantly updated. In fact, we offer you trusted guidance and support for every aspect of your operation: we will ensure all of your deals are properly documented, that you have the right insurance in place at all times, that your new ideas are protected with trademarks and copyrights, that everyone you employ or do business with has robust legal agreements in place, and that your company’s financial systems and tax strategies are generating you the maximum revenue possible.
   
   Furthermore, you will have full access to our trusted team of legal experts for guidance on any legal or financial matter that might come up. And if we can’t help you with a particular issue, we will refer you to a professional we trust who can. With this kind of support, you will never spend more money than necessary or get taken advantage of by unscrupulous salespeople who merely view your business as a cash cow.

A Lasting Legacy

Finally, we don’t just take care of your business in the immediate term—we make sure it will continue to be a valuable asset that creates wealth for your family long after you are gone. Many business lawyers overlook this critically important issue. But we know that one day, you will either want to sell your business or you will want to pass it on to your loved ones, so that succeeding generations can benefit from what you’ve built. This is what true legacy is all about.

Businesses that are built right are built with this in mind. And that’s exactly what we help you do—build a business that will one day be able to run without you. This means that you can take vacations, retire, and/or pass on your business to your family, knowing your company will continue to bring in money, serve your clients, and benefit everyone who comes into contact with it.

And really, what could be better than that? Ultimately, isn’t this why you went into business in the first place?

But How Much Is This All Going To Cost?

If you think that all of this sounds super expensive, well, you are both right and wrong. If you qualify to work with a Family Business Lawyer™, we can guarantee you that the overall fees you pay us will be substantially less expensive than it would be for you if your business gets into a jam, without your legal, insurance, financial and tax matters handled.  Not only that, but our fees will also be far less expensive for your family, partner, and/or clients should you or a key partner die or become incapacitated without getting these matters properly handled.

And if you are still in doubt about being able to afford us, just know this: we’ve never had a single business owner who wanted this kind of comprehensive LIFT support walk out of our office simply because he or she couldn’t afford it. To this end, we make creative financing available to our clients, because we know without a doubt that our programs work and form the foundation for a truly successful business.

Here’s the way we look at it: one day you will need a lawyer. We don’t know why and we don’t know when, but when you do, you will be grateful you can call on us, and we’ll be here to advise you on the best way to move forward or to get you out of a jam.

Take Your Business To The Next Level

As a Family Business Lawyer®, we are specially trained to help you keep more money in your business, watch out for risks and pitfalls, handle sticky situations, and effectively tend to the parts of your business that are especially challenging, particularly those involving the legal, insurance, financial, and tax components of your operation.

To give you a taste of how we can support your business, and at the same time, identify any weak spots in your company’s foundation, contact a Family Business Lawyer™ to take our free LIFT 20-Point Assessment. Just taking the 20-Point Assessment is a huge benefit, as it shows you the gaps in your business’ foundation that need the most attention. 

From there, you can meet with a Family Business Lawyer™ to conduct a more thorough audit of your business, so you can eventually implement our full LIFT Foundation System & Toolkit into your operations. If you are ready to take your business to the next level and reach goals you previously thought were unattainable, schedule your visit with a Family Business Lawyer™ today.