Ho do I approach a solicitor and an accountant?

Skinflinty

Do I just ring them or visit them? Do I have to pay anything?

Thanks.

Snakeeyes21

A call is the best method.. turning up on the spot will usually be met with the receptionist giving
dagger eyes coz she will have to do a bit of work making an appointment for you.
Both solicitors and accountants will usually give a bit of time for free, because they are like crack
dealers, they give a little bit for free, then your hooked and you keep going back..

paddyrg

They are vying for your business - call them up and arrange to go in and have a chat. If you don't get on personally, try the next one. It's really no different from buying any other service, they want your business - they have to impress you not the other way round!

flappy_mcwarbucks

Agree with the other two. Just call them up and book an appointment.

people have been doing it since the invention of the phone, so it's a tried and tested method.

paulwf

There are loads of threads on this forum about choosing an accountant, it is worth spending a few minutes reading them.

I haven't seen so many messages about choosing a solicitor so just to make it clear what you want is a *commercial* solicitor and perhaps even a company that has a whole commercial division. Your average family solicitor will be of limited use, and even within commercial law there are so many sectors that you may want a firm with a commercial department. In an average sized town you might find there is only one decent commercial firm which makes the choice easy

If you ask around you will probably find the same recommendations for solicitors coming up time and time again, and if you have a bank manager that is a good place to start. Solicitors, bank managers and accountants network a lot and my bank manager gave me an introduction to the other professionals (I wouldn't be surprised if he gets a case of wine at Christmas in return )

Bebop_Beru

Adding my 2 cents to this: Ask people you know.

For the most part (certainly within the small biz world) it's something of a commoditised service, so what you're really buying is the actual accountant/solicitor.