What could/should I do next?

[Maxwell83]

I started my current business in January 2012 which is a property compensation business. I act as agent for people in claiming compensation from electricity companies when their properties are devalued by the presence of powerlines and pylons. Turnover/profit is healthy at around £100k t/o £93k profit at the moment, but as you can imagine there is not a never ending supply of clients (think PPI reclaiming) and soon I think we will see saturation.

Can you suggest any services which would compliment the existing business that I could think of rolling out? All ideas are appreciated - I'm just looking for some inspiration really as I would obviously have to consider anything I do detail as well as gain any necessary certifications etc. The problem is I am just churning out the same old ideas over and over (estate agency, conveyancing, blah blah blah) and I want some fresh thoughts.

My background is that I worked as a lawyer for 6 years prior to the business. I specialised in commercial property and electricity wayleaves/easements at the back end of my legal career and residential property before that. I re qualified as a surveyor but am not chartered as have only ever worked as a surveyor in my business.

 

[Christine Hough]

The obvious to me is to take up blight cases in response to new road developments .. or even air fields.

It is quite competitive I think as we had a major road built near us and we had several companies mailing us. In the end we did sign with one and did get compensation.

 

[ethical PR]

What about a package for people looking to lease a property ....legal advice, advice on negotiating leases, provide people with trusted sources to do works to their premises etc.

 

[Maxwell83]

The obvious to me is to take up blight cases in response to new road developments .. or even air fields.

It is quite competitive I think as we had a major road built near us and we had several companies mailing us. In the end we did sign with one and did get compensation.

I'm really glad you said this Christine!

It was my first thought initially for obvious reasons and something I keep in the back of my ahead as a fall back.

My concern is with the length of time it takes for a case to go from inception to completion. In my current field, you can call it 12 months to be safe - some are quicker. With road compensation from speaking to solicitors that do the legal side I am hearing that 6 years is a possibility! That is too long for me and something that put me off.

If you don't mind me asking, how long did your claim take? What percentage of your property value were you awarded as compensation, and how much did the company charge you as their fee? I would really appreciate hearing your experience if you are willing to share. By PM would be fine if you would rather not publicise anything.

 

[Maxwell83]

What about a package for people looking to lease a property ....legal advice, advice on negotiating leases, provide people with trusted sources to do works to their premises etc.

This is a good idea and one that I have considered also. Commercial lease negotiations were a large part of my caseload previously and I did all sorts from £20k pa units to whole developments with £multi million pound rents and building agreements etc.

I do wonder if there is a market for this sort of thing outside of the traditional law firm approach though. Obviously big jobs will almost invariably be given to law firms, and that would only leave the smaller leases. Its worth me looking into though. Hearing someone else suggest it makes me think that I'm not crazy for thinking it myself, maybe!

 

[ethical PR]

Have a look at the legal forum lots of people on there are asking for this sort of advice....whether there is a market I don't know...you would need to look into it further and do some market research.

 

[MOIC]

Schedule of Dilapidation negotiator on behalf of lessees.

 

[Christine Hough]

I

My concern is with the length of time it takes for a case to go from inception to completion. In my current field, you can call it 12 months to be safe - some are quicker. With road compensation from speaking to solicitors that do the legal side I am hearing that 6 years is a possibility! That is too long for me and something that put me off.

If you don't mind me asking, how long did your claim take? What percentage of your property value were you awarded as compensation, and how much did the company charge you as their fee? I would really appreciate hearing your experience if you are willing to share. By PM would be fine if you would rather not publicise anything.

It took a number of years from plans being approved until the work was complete. I don't think you can claim until 12 months after the work is complete. So with us the roadworks took about 18 months. I think we were contacted by surveyors/legal people as soon as it was clear that there would be the development, even though there were still appeals and changes to the plans.. say perhaps 3 years before it started.

People got differing amounts depending on how near they were to the development At most it would have been about 10% of purchase price for those most affected from what I recall. In the end I think most people felt it was fairly generous. I really don't know about the fees as we did not have to pay them, the compensating body did.

I can't guarantee any of this as it was several years ago, but I think its about right.

 

[Maxwell83]

Thanks Christine for the information.

And thanks to all contributors for the various ideas. Food for thought indeed.

 

[doi_swilkinson]

How about mis-sold mortgages

 

[MikeJ]

Fracking compensation?