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Is it better to acquire a firm or open a new office?
The principal of a boutique firm discusses why it can be preferable to make an acquisition rather than set up shop in a new city and start over, on top of running one’s existing office.
Jess Feyder
Recently on The Boutique Lawyer Show, Justice Family Lawyers principal Hayder Shkara spoke about the benefits of acquiring a firm rather than opening a new office when deciding to expand one’s practice.
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Last year, Mr Shkara made the decision to acquire Melbourne Family Lawyers and integrate it into his practice.
When asked by host Jerome Doraisamy if it is preferable to acquire a firm rather than open a new office, he answered that “there’s a time and place for both approaches”.
“The key benefit of purchasing a firm that’s already trading and has a history of trading is that you’re not just purchasing an office space and some clients that come along with it — you’re purchasing a system,” explained Mr Shkara.
“There are things that you don’t really think about as a practitioner working in a boutique firm, things that you have set up over time, over years.
“Simple things like how invoices are sent out, or how appointments are booked, or how payments are made.”
“You don’t really think about it because they’re established, but they can be quite annoying to set up, and they can be tedious, and it can take time.
“So if you want to eliminate that kind of stress and go into a system that is working fairly well, that’s one of the key advantages,” Mr Shkara explained.
“You’ve got the system in place, you’ve got some clients, you might have some solicitors that come on board as well.
“You’re saving some costs too, in hiring, on setting up the laptops and software, and the equipment and installation.”
“You’re getting straight into it, as opposed to building the foundational blocks from the start.”
Mr Shkara discussed what the opportunities for firm acquisition look like in Australia’s market.
“There’s a market for it,” he said. “There [are] people that want to retire, people that want to exit their practices.
“There’s a lot of Baby Boomers out there, who’ve been practising for 30 [to] 40 years, and they’ve done a great job, and they’re thinking, ‘What’s next in my life?’”
“There are opportunities,” he continued. “At any given point across Australia, there [are] maybe 30 to 50 practices for sale — which isn’t a lot, considering you’re talking about all the different states, and you might be thinking about a particular location.
“Within those different practices, you’re talking about different niches, different specialties, different sizes.”
“You’ve got to think what’s going to be best for you, and then home in on that particular target.”
