Self-employment
Entrepreneurial lawyer serves small business ownersStart small but think bigFinding great professional advisers to help build your new business is critical to your success. ROGER PIERCE |
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 [ 2007-05-02 ] |
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Lawyer Scot Patriquin is a “legal coach” to his entrepreneur clients.
“Instead of providing only those routine legal services like incorporations, we’re more like legal coaches for our start-up clients,” entrepreneur lawyer Scot Patriquin says.
A barrister and solicitor, Patriquin founded Patriquin Law (www.patriquinlaw.com) to specifically serve entrepreneurs.
“I’ve always loved helping entrepreneurs and knew they were really underserved by legal professionals,” Patriquin says. “Instead of working for a big corporate law firm, I get to enjoy direct relationships with my clients and see how my counsel helps them to grow.”
Patriquin Law works with entrepreneurs of all shapes and sizes, from start-ups to larger private companies on the verge of going public.
While his firm does handle most legal matters, Patriquin considers himself more of a “legal coach” for entrepreneurs. “I try to help my self-employed clients to run better businesses by looking out for their bigger-picture issues instead of just doing their routine legal work.”
While most lawyers head to big corporate law firms, Patriquin followed his passion for small business owners and launched his firm more than three years ago. To keep his expenses low, he first operated his new business from his home. Today, he employs a growing staff team housed in the firm’s impressive Yorkville offices.
“For me, the best part of being an entrepreneur is seeing rewards for my efforts as my clients grow their companies,” Patriquin says. “The worst part of running a small business is that you must manage all the details, including little things such as tracking accounts receivable.”
Patriquin offers two pieces of advice for new entrepreneurs. “Think scale by developing internal systems that will grow with your business,” he suggests. “Second, hire the best people you can afford. Really successful entrepreneurs work with people smarter than they are.”
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