Tonight, Matthew, I am going to be...Richard Branson

Because that is what you will be doing but instead of selling coffee, clothes or sandwiches, you will be selling legal services and to be successful you will need to make some money.

So like any business you need to be able to answer the what, where, how, why and to whom? Oh and be able to explain that to someone clearly and succinctly – because that will be how you are going to succeed.

And talking of making money, set a budget to work to covering the fees you are going to have coming in and all your costs in running the business, including paying yourself what you really need. Do it for 13 months so that it covers your annual renewal and PII fees and gives you peace of mind. Straightforward then?

And what we do is try and make sure that you and your firm are in the best position on Day 1. When you open your doors to the first client, you have everything in place to deal with them, so that you can concentrate on demonstrating the high quality legal expertise that you can offer to them and to all your clients.

The supporting documents that we ask you to provide are all ones that you will need to run your business with. So whilst it may not feel like it at the time, getting them in place and correct at the outset is the best time to do it. As once your business is up and running, there will be many other pulls on your time. CILEx will help answer your questions and support the preparation of your application.

We like to think that the preparation you put into setting up your business, and that CILEx can help with, goes a long way to making sure your application will be approved and your business will be successful for a very long time.

Then there will be lots of time for hot air balloons, speedboats and spacecraft – but don’t forget the file reviews!

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