Unwinding the stress from running my own business to consultancy

Family and Immigration Lawyer, Sushma Awtani ran her successful law firm for six years before making the leap into consultancy. Now she has all the benefits of being self-employed with none of the headaches of running her own firm.

As soon as I qualified in 1999, I knew that I wanted to work for myself. I managed to set up my law firm in October 2009 and found it to be a rewarding experience. If I had known about consultancy then I would have done that instead, as it offers me all of the benefits I want from running my own business without all of the stress.

Prior to setting up my own firm, I was an associate from August 2001 until May 2003 and a partner from May 2003 until October 2009. Like most lawyers, I had to bill around three to four times of what I had earn.

In 2009 I left my job and decided to set up my own practice in Marble Arch, West London. While it was an interesting and financially lucrative experience, it was a lot of responsibility. When you run a firm, you have to think about everything including staff, public indemnity, HR, premises, IT and compliance to name a few. This was on top of the job that I love doing which is helping clients.

The profit margins for running my business were around 75%, which is great, but the responsibility can get a bit much. When you think that with consultancy, you get between 60% and 70% of what you bill, there isn’t much difference, especially when you think that a lot of the stressful things about running your own business are taken care of.

I was first told about consultancy being an option for a lawyer when an article was written about my legal life in the Law Society Gazette in 2013. In the article, I mentioned that I was thinking about expanding or merging and a consultant solicitor got in touch with me. She mentioned she was receiving 70% of what she billed while working from home and how great it was. It sounded amazing, but it took me a couple of years to make the leap as my business was my baby that I had built from scratch and it was very successful.

It was hard to say I’m packing this in, but by then I’d had enough of having to deal with some of the issues you have when running your own practice.

I looked around and met people at all of the firms that were offering consultant positions, Taylor Rose was by far the best option. I met Antony Jaggard, Director and he was extremely positive. Friends at other firms had already recommended Taylor Rose to me and when I met Antony it all seemed like the perfect fit for me.

The firm is an established, large brand and though it is essential that you are able to bring in your own work, you can get instructions via cross-referrals. It’s also very friendly, with a collegiate environment and a lot of social events. When I first joined Taylor Rose, I was really taken aback by how welcoming everyone is; it is without a doubt the friendliest firm one can ever work for.

Not all firms have a marketing department, whereas Taylor Rose has an excellent one. There is even a consultants’ liaison team who are very helpful. Other firms I looked at were quite restrictive, with one insisting on monthly meetings which sounded more like being employed to me.

At Taylor Rose, I have the freedom I wanted and having the company behind me has definitely helped me get a better quality of work as some clients like to employ a larger firm. I get work from my own website and my own referrals but having the clout of being part of a large firm really helps.

I choose to work from the firm’s office in London Moorgate, where I have my own dedicated desk. Moving to Taylor Rose was one of the best things I have done as it felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders, going from running my own business into consultancy. The transition was very easy as not only do we have the consultants’ liaison team, but Antony is happy to respond promptly to queries and you don’t get that from many directors in my experience.

I would advise anybody thinking about becoming a consultant to pluck up the courage and do it. It is one of the best decisions you will make. I have found that working with Taylor Rose is the perfect option for me and I would recommend it to anybody.