CITMA magazine in February 2017 published an article under this title with contributions from a panel of trade mark attorneys who have started out independently. If this has inspired you, here is a more practical checklist (in no particular order). We have covered quite a few of these issues before so its always worth a read of the archives particularly S
ally's Moving Series from 2015
Legal Structure
Sole trader or incorporate a company. A company keeps your business life separate from your personal life but if you are going to be regulated don't do anything clever with the shares or you may find yourselves a one man ABS. Creating a company is ridiculously easy but maintaining requires a little more effort. It may be worthwhile using a company secretarial service who can help with . I use
Goodwille.
Accounts
The article emphasised the value of getting a good accountant you can work with long term. Bookeeping is vital from day one and it makes sense to decide whether you will outsource that - maybe to your compnay secretarial service - or do it yourself. Software is readily available and it helps if your accountant can read your data. After many years using
Sage I have converted to the
Clearbooks online system that can cope with multicurrency accoutants and is very handy for my EU IPO and EPO deposit accounts.
Bank
Keeping business money separate from personal money is vital so you will need a bank account. Thats not as easy as it was. A bank with a good online banking interface is useful for avoiding excessive costs. I use Barclays. I've tried Lloyds which was quite helpful in providing a debit card which is useful for paying fees on websites. Business credit cards may not be that easy to get hold of on day one.
Funding
You do need some start up funding and not just to live on before you start paying your own salary. Starting softly as a tied consultant to a former employer can minimise the sums required. If you are using your own savings then recording your loans is vital so you can pay yourself back once bills get paid.
Regulation
If you want to benefit from advertising yourself as Chartered you will need to deal with
IPREG and that means creating your terms of trade consistently with their requirements and creating some policies and procedures.
Insurance
Even without regulation some professional indemnity insurance is desirable.
PAMIA is the goto service for most pure IP attorneys. Other insurers are available. Don't forget to put a limitation of liability into your terms of trade too.
Office
You need somewhere to work especially if you intend to employ other people. A solo practitioner can work at home with a laptop at least to begin with.
Record Keeping
For a trademark or patent attorney having some way of maintaining records is important. I use Marco a system that Filemot licenses to others at very reasonable cost. its based on Microsoft Access. Today folk seem to want web based services like
WebTMS and
others are available. Please comment if you have your own recommendations.
Clients
This can be an issue. If you are coming out of employment, restrictive covenants will stop you workign for you old clients, but only for a period. Business networks, contacts of all sorts and advertising will find business. If you look at the number of "agents" names appearing in the UK Trademarks Journal that include the word "trademark" you will appreciate just how much business is driven today by GoogleAds. However these are expensive clients to procure, very price sensitive and seldom provide repeat business. Working all possible work referrers is the best method. Let your satisfied clients know that you would love it if they mentioned you to their contacts. If you dont ask for referrals you won't get them. Some say you need a website or use social media.
Payroll
The whole object of workingis to generate income so you need to pay yourself and contribute to your pension (even if you dont want to -its the law). HMRC has a lot of helpful information and tools for new employers including
free payroll software to calculate PAYE and NIC.
CITMA magazine in February 2017 published an article under this title with contributions from a panel of trade mark attorneys who have started out independently. If this has inspired you, here is a more practical checklist (in no particular order). We have covered quite a few of these issues before so its always worth a read of the archives particularly Sally's Moving Series from 2015
Interesting. My early experience as a solo solicitor was slightly different. Following your headings:
ReplyDeleteLegal Structure
I don't really understand why one would want a company. I was a sole practitioner then after 17 years an LLP.
Accounts
First I did the accounts myself, then I employed a part-time bookkeeper. We use software that our external accountants support - Sage
Bank
I used NatWest for over 20 years but finally lost patience with them and now use Handelsbanken, which I much prefer - old-fashioned simple service, with the same online facilities as before.
Funding
I have always managed without funding, except for occasional dips into mortgage account to pay tax bills. But then I wouldn't have started without some confidence that clients would follow me.
Regulation
In my case it was regulation as a solicitor, then much easier than now.
Insurance
When I started it was the Law Soc's tame insurance. Now it is with a commercial provider. One of biggest costs (apart from staff now) so be strategic in negotiating good deal.
Office
Agreed. I still work from home but with separate office in garden.
Clients
Personal connections and providing a good service are, in my experience, the best way of getting new clients. I think a professional looking website is essential to give a good impression.
Payroll
Self-employed, and external accountant prepares tax returns. Not expensive.
Its a good point about the company - being a sole trader may also make banking easier. When I first started it was advantageous because there was no tax on small profits. Now the £5k free dividend may be a handy thought. The main point is try and keep personal and business distinct. I have heard others say good things about Handelsbanken
DeleteI would add:
ReplyDeleteData Protection
I think you would need to register under the Data Protection Act with ICO as you will inevitably be handling personal information and may be sending it outside the EEA if foreign applications are to be filed.
Paperless office?
Most solo practitioners would want to have a paperless office unless they have a large storage space and a big budget for paper! If going down the paperless route, there are issues such as finding good broadband and a secure cloud back up/document management system which is reliable and based in the EEA. We use Tresorit which allows us to send documents via encrypted links.
Office
I think that if you work from home, ideally your home should be located somewhere with good phone reception and good broadband line speed. Broadband does sometimes go down: our back up plan is to use a mobile phone data connection.
For Accounts, we use the antipodean software package, Xero which works well for us and my accountant now recommends it. For records, we use Equinox from Workanyware. Banking-wise, we have accounts with HSBC who have set up a client account for us which has already proved quite handy.
I haven't come across Tresorit before. I am using Sharefile which looks pricier but has the Citrix brand behind it
DeleteInteresting, thank you for sharing. I was not aware of Sharefile either. Being risk averse, I decided to go for a product based in the EEA rather than try to understand Privacy Shield/Safe Harbour.
Delete