On the note of completion of our first year, we bring to you 100 entrepreneurs and  we have with us Ravindra Purohit, who not only has been our legal advisor but also a good friend for long for a long time, he has been with us from the start and hope will so till the end too !!!

This is what he replied when our team contacted him for his views on entrepreneurship and his venture

Q. What’s your company about? What do you do?

A. Managing Partner at Law Way Professionals.

Law Way Professionals (LWP) is a mission-driven Legal consultancy firm with a specialized  start-up law practice based in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Mumbai and New Delhi, and founded in the year 2012 for providing affordable access to legal consultants and professionals for the benefit of start-ups, small and growing businesses, social business enterprise concern, professional investors and non-profit organizations.

 

Q. What’s the greatest thing about your company? Why is it better than the competition?

A. Our firm primarily caters to Start-ups, Small Businesses and Enterprise concerns that may not have the resources to go to high end firms because of the financial constraints. This makes us to have a social impact while having a corporate presence.

 

 

Q. How many people did you start the company with and how many people work for you now?

A. When LWP started in 2012, there were two people, i.e me and my partner Vishesh Bansal. Over the past two years the firm has grown to its current strength of about 10 employees and Associates inclusive of lawyers, fee earners and administrative staff.

 

Q. A lot of people have big ideas. What gave you the confidence to actually go after yours?

A. The nature of my profession is such that either you make it or you just don’t. There is no mediocrity. After being aware of this fact, it was the calling to get into the business and there is the social side to my decision as well. I have been part of a considerably big startup circle and a lot of times when I saw a few people I knew getting conned by their lawyer or by their business partners or third parties, I thought that doing something which could tap on this resource crunch for start-ups will be a great help to build an ecosystem.

 

Q. How do you picture your company in 5 years?

A. We have imbibed the vision of becoming the best full service law firm specializing in corporate and commercial law and dispute management/resolution. The firm has a sound understanding of commercial and market realities, providing legal solutions of real commercial value and I believe that we will be moving in the direction of our goals in the next five years.

 

Q. How’d you fund this venture? VC? Self-funding? Crowdfunded?

A. We did not require any funding as such but most of the expenses are self funded.

 

Q. What other advice do you have for other entrepreneurs struggling to get started?

A. All I can say is that there is no failure for an entrepreneur; it’s just a way of not doing that particular thing. Unless you are serious about becoming an entrepreneur you should not be one, because being a sport in this arena will not help.

 

Q. Do you consider yourself a successful entrepreneur? If not, what’ll make you feel successful?

A. No, I don’t consider myself to be successful. Success has no parameters to measure, nor does success come in a day. May be when our vision of being able to build a conducive start-up ecosystem in our nation is completed then I might get a feeling of success.

 

Q. What made you motivated to join the entrepreneurship community?

A. The sheer will to make a difference and the want of being surrounded with enormously talented and energetic individuals keeps me motivated. Moreover when i see that the start-up ecosystem is shaping up and i have been a contributor to the development of the same, then that feeling is probably a good motivation.

 

Q. What are the major portfolio fields which you are handling?

A. I have an expertise in our Start up Law Practise; Contract drafting, Property laws, Due Diligence, Compliance, Dispute Resolution, Intellectual Property and Registrations.

I am also looking into project finance and Private equity practise of our firm. I also work on out of court settlements and I am a professional mediator. Apart from these, I also give consultancies on taxation

 

Q. What difficulties do student start-ups face generally?

A. People just don’t take them seriously. It’s a big societal problem which needs to be changed and It is changing, but very slowly.

 

Q. What will be your advice for new startups?

A. It’s important to plan your strategy from the word go , from your logistics to your legal documentation, everything must be taken care of, there no scope for casualness as the devil will always lie in the details.

Entrepreneurship is like a calling, the sooner you get it, the better it is.

The risks that are involved are high, but so are the stakes. So every entrepreneur must be ready with his plan A, plan B or a Plan C