A mobile application for legal services

Abstract

The intention of this Business Venture Proposal is to ascertain whether sufficient interest exists within the South African market for a proposed business venture, Legal-Link, a legal services application to connect consumers with attorneys. Legal-Link is an innovative mobile application concept, which aims to disrupt the traditional legal industry by connecting individuals with an attorney that suits their specific needs and within their particular budget in a convenient and technologically-advanced manner. Its aim will be to assist individuals who may not be able to afford the excessive fees of medium to large law firms by matching them with smaller law firms who have the necessary expertise, but who charge far lower rates than their larger competitors. The proposed Legal-Link concept furthermore aims to provide small to medium sized law firms, who may be struggling to increase their revenue, with a safe means of expanding their client base without contravening strict Law Society regulations. In order to ascertain whether there is a viable opportunity for the application, quantitative research was performed by surveying MBA students, as representatives for South African consumers, and attorneys in small to medium-sized law firms as to whether they would be open to utilising such an application. The response was resoundingly positive with 85.06% of consumers (MBA students) and 93.75% of attorneys confirming their interest in the application. This reflects how individuals are becoming more open to utilising technological means when dealing with sensitive, personal matters and that attorneys are becoming more open to changing their conservative and outdated practises. The positive response rate reflects a viable business opportunity for Legal-Link, which is further emphasized by financial projections which forecast that the venture will be profitable after its first year of operation and will provide a positive return from an investment perspective. This is an extremely positive forecast for a start-up and reinforces that the Legal-Link concept has strong prospects of success within the market and further emphasizes that it will be a viable business opportunity for investors who may wish to purchase shares in the company in the future.