Why Do Solicitors Attract Such Low Multiples When Selling Their Law Firms?

It genuinely upsets me that often a solicitor who has worked so hard all of their life to build a practice, suddenly finds when trying to sell it that the multiple they are likely to receive when they sell their law firm is nowhere near as much as they had hoped.

Selling Your Law Firm For The Maximum Price
Selling Your Law Firm For The Maximum Price

Why does this happen and what can they do about it to improve the turnover multiple that they will be offered when selling their law firm?

First, it is worth thinking about a term which emanates from the legal profession; goodwill.

Goodwill used to refer to the fact that a solicitor with a lot of wills in his basement was guaranteed a good income in the future from all of the probate that would naturally flow from these wills.

Ouch – what happened to that?

A simple thing, sadly.

The world changed and most solicitors did not.

People stopped feeling obliged to go back to the solicitor that their family had always used and decided they could go where they wanted to.

This had been going on for some years, but the internet rapidly accelerated this process when it became so easy to suddenly find another solicitor to handle the probate from these wills.

But we can use the term Goodwill and still attain good multiples for the sale of your law firm. Now, however, you actually have to do a little bit of work to gain that Goodwill rather than simply expect it to land in your lap.

However, you do not have to do a huge amount of work and more importantly, nearly all of it can be outsourced so that it takes place with or without you, meaning that selling your practice becomes even more attractive.

If a prospective purchaser is met with one firm that has no Goodwill because each year the work just ‘falls in’ off the street, whilst at the same time is introduced to another firm that has shown a steady and consistent rise in new instructions for a few years (or even a few months if you follow my system) then which one is going to be more attractive to them?

It is obvious is it not?

Suddenly the owner of the firm with three or four automated marketing systems and evidence that income is rising and will continue to do so because each system is automated or outsourced is in a very strong position.

That position does not only make his law firm more attractive to the purchaser, it also means it is going to attract a much higher multiple when assessing the sales value of his or her law firm.

If you are thinking of selling your law firm now or even some years into the future, now is the time to put in place these systems to ensure that you attract the multiple that you deserve for your efforts.

If you looking to sell your firm now, what can you do to maximise the value of your law firm?

Whichever position you find yourself in, enter your details below now to find out about how to ensure that you receive the best offers for your law firm.

Ready To Take Action And See Results Now?

Please call 0117 290 8555 to arrange a mutually convenient time for a telephone discussion, Email me or complete a Free Online Enquiry. There is no cost or obligation. We will have a chat about where you are and where you would like to be and I will suggest some things you can do to get there quickly.

Legal Marketing Services

Chris Thomas

As usual with Nick he was super informative and helpful and gave me some very good tips for me to go forward with. He exudes positivity and makes dealing with him a pleasure. Also gave me a steer in helping two other contacts I have who may be able to use his services

Tim Bishop

As the owner of a small to medium-sized law firm, I have found that Samson Consulting’s Marketing4Solicitors monthly newsletter has proved absolutely invaluable throughout the last three years or so. Of all the marketing advice I’ve had over the years, this has proved by far the best value – bringing us tens of thousand of pounds of extra work every year.

One of the best tricks Nick Jervis [who owns Samson Consulting] uses, is not only to identify the kind of marketing actions a small or medium-sized business can take themselves, but he also explains why it works and most importantly then takes you through, step-by-step exactly what you need to do. As someone who is passionate about growing my business, I really look forward to receiving Nick’s excellent newsletter every month.

It’s worth pointing out that initially I was sceptical about his promises – so many marketing businesses promise the earth. But within a couple of months I was absolutely convinced he was right and I have been hooked ever since.

I recommend Nick Jervis and Samson Consulting without any hesitation whatsoever.

Emerson Scotland

Brilliant, insightful and a great discussion. Nick certainly knows his stuff and makes you feel at ease.

Chris Rennie

Nick takes a no-nonsense approach, cuts the fluff and gets straight to the point – which is an approach that you see very little nowadays in the world of marketing where you have many gurus with complex approach that most probably never work. I look forward to working with Nick.

Tim Weir

Having implemented a raft of improvements to our website and marketing campaigns suggested in Nick’s excellent books, I decided to contact the man himself for a one-to-one discussion.

The thirty minutes spent with Nick on that video call provided me with more business improvement tools than I could’ve hoped for. Nick even took the time to give me some insights on client conversion particular to our area of practice.

Online reviews are often brimming with trite phrases and hyperbole, but I cannot find any other way of saying that my only regret is that I didn’t contact Samson Consulting sooner.