Avoiding wasted legal fees is one of the core beliefs at WV. So, it is with great interest that we get to profile Adam Bergman and MyLLCagreement.com. This is Adam’s story on his start-up:
After the law firm that I worked at, Thelen LLP- the 75th largest law firm in the country, dissolved in December 2008, I decided that it was the perfect time to focus on www.myLLCagreement.com, which launched in March 2009.
The philosophy at myLLCagreement.com is that entrepreneurs and business owners deserve to have law firm quality LLC agreements without having to spend thousands of dollars in legal fees. Within minutes, users can receive their law firm quality LLC operating agreement without the need of pricey lawyers.
The dissolution of Thelen and the loss of my job proved to be a blessing in disguise because it opened the door for me to turn away from law and embrace the spirit of entrepreneurship. In our first few months of business, we have already had over 9500 users register with our site for LLC operating agreements.
Questions and Answers:
Q: Have you ever started a business from scratch before?
A: No, this is my first business that I started.
Q: When you first loss your professional job, was creating a new business the first thing you thought to do?
A: It actually was something that I had wanted to pursue for awhile. I did have other law firm offers at the time, but I truly believed that when one door closes another one opens. This legal program took about three years to develop, but when I lost my job, I figured it was the perfect opportunity to pursue my dream.
Q: What is the largest challenge you have had as you started a new business?
A: Before the business started, one has a business plan and vision of what is going to happen. Little did I know that nothing goes according to plan. On that note, I think my biggest challenge was being able to adapt to new situations that were thrown at me. For example, we thought that giving the agreement away for free would be a great way to attract people to our site, and then charge for help. I underestimated the fact that when people see the word “free” they don’t want to be bothered with paying anything even if they need the help. So, we acted accordingly, did some research, and are currently changing our site to a full pay model (our new web site and pay site will be going live next week).
Q: What is the largest lifestyle change have you had to do undergo as you moved to being an entrepreneur?
A: When my firm dissolved, I was an 8th year attorney making a very good salary (first year attorneys are paid $160,000 so you can imagine the type of money I was making). Then I had to transition to having no income and putting all of my savings into my business. That meant cutting costs everywhere, especially on entertainment. For example, my wife has now learned how to cook instead of eating out 5 nights a week. Also, all non-essential shopping has been cut and leisure traveling has been postponed indefinitely.
Q: Do you ever see yourself going back to the corporate world?
A: Never say never, but if it was up to me, absolutely not. I have always wanted to work for myself. I have a great work ethic but want to put the time and effort into things that I believe in and have created.
Q: When will you consider yourself a success as a start-up?
A: I already consider it a success because in the first few months I have already helped over 9,500 businesses receive law firm quality LLC Operating Agreements without the law firm price. This was always my goal because I truly believe that people deserve to spend their money on their own ventures, not on costly lawyers.
