Business Plan | Market and Competition | Subscription Service and Advice Pages | Opportunity and Target Market | Pricing and Costing | Locations and Facilities | Claims Management | Template for FCA Applications and Authorised Firms

Executive Summary

Robert Blakee predicted in his book “Tomorrow’s Lawyers “[2013], that the legal world would change more radically over the next two decades than over the last two centuries. In England and Wales the legal market has been liberated by the Legal Services Act 2007. It is this liberalisation together with the rise of self-represented litigants that has provided an opportunity to build this unique on-line employment law service.

ABC Limited makes quality employment law and employment relations information, user friendly resources and subject area specialists available to employee’s and workers. The support also extends to those with internal workplace problems as well as prospective and actual self-representing litigants in the Employment Tribunal and Civil Courts.

The service is delivered through the website at https://www.website.com/, and is underpinned with many revenue streams. This business plan illustrates a robust expansion plan using a database driven web site, web and social media marketing to target workers and employees of UK, European and International companies and organisations of all sizes.

The two directors have a minimum of 20 years’ business experience with separate skills based on employee party employment law, commercial acumen, and building embryonic businesses. They are assisted by affiliated subject area specialists, who are barristers and solicitors experienced in employment law.

The four key strategies of ABC Limited are to;

• Develop the website to increase its significant revenue generating capacity.
• Establish revenue generating Joint Ventures with our new/existing business partners.
• Establish a national network of Affiliate Subject Area Specialists to deliver consultancy services nationally.
• Continue to provide and expand resources, guides and advice through the website, and enhance all cross-selling opportunities.

Revenue will be generated by membership subscriptions, downloads of advice sheets, sale of e-books and print books, fees from dispute resolution consultancy work and sales of classified advert space to employment law firms and professionals. Projections show a high gross margin, and a profitable high growth business.

The directors have already invested almost £20,000.00 and put this towards developing the current website and resources, a further £25,000.00 is required to enable us to complete our plan.  We have chosen the loan funding method because;

• Business: is new but already has over 6000 users a month, meaning it has the capacity to generate good cash volumes when the website is improved.
• Operation: is wholly on-line with very few overheads
• Purpose: start-up funding of new legal e-commerce trading vehicle
• Activity: Developing a website to deliver services and resources to employee’s, workers and self-representing litigants in employment relations and employment law.

Our Offering

A video illustrating the ABC Limited offering is available here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch

The website provides information, guidance and signposting through over 300 advice pages focused on workplace disciplinary procedures, redundancy, discrimination and many other employment relations issues faced by employees and workers. Newsletters on current employment law changes and issues are sent out weekly to the over 570 subscribers on the organisations Facebook business page and group page, through its Twitter feed, Google plus, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Instagram. Videos describing employment law rights and procedures are available on our dedicated YouTube channel.

E-books, precedents, templates and other resources are available for purchase on the website e-book store, and are also marketed on Amazon, Lulu and E-bay.

Developing the website to its full potential will enable us to increase and monetize our user numbers from the current average of 6000 users per month through membership subscriptions and other services and products. We would also be able to develop the Settlement Zone to generate revenue through direct consultation, advocacy, mediation and other alternative dispute resolution services. We would be able to offer marketing and sales of complementary services such as after and before the event insurance, income protection insurance and other products.

Market

We use Google Analytics to track users of the website. Currently an average of 6000 individuals access the website every month. ABC Limited’s core demographic is employees and workers. This includes small incorporated and unincorporated staff associations which utilise employment law information for their members. The website allows us to have a national reach.

Competition

The ABC Limited offering is unique. There are no direct competitors in the United Kingdom that provide an equivalent service. Various organisations provide different aspects to varying degrees. Regarding information and guidance on the law, there are governmental and non-governmental organisations that provide very simple, paternalistic advice and information on various legal subjects. They are not specifically focused on employment law as we are.

There are of course the claims management companies (no win, no fee) that are focused on obtaining clients for employment tribunal and personal injury claims.

We provide support in the workplace, not just in litigation. These companies do not provide resources, signposting or support to users.

Further Development

With the experience gained from running the current website, we are confident that the business model can be extended to other areas of legal advice where legal aid is restricted or non-existent and self -representation is prevalent. Within 18 months from the launch of the fully-fledged website it is our intention to apply our business model in the provision of family law, and residential tenancy information, support and advice.

We have registered the company ABC Family Limited with the registered domain names – abcfamilylimited.com and abcfamily.com. ABC Family will give information, advice and resources for legal separation, divorce and child custody matters.

The domain name http://abcresident.com/ has also been registered to deliver and equivalent service for residential tenants.

Why Us?

Nadine Adams has a law degree and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. She has over 20 years’ experience of working with trade unions internationally, and works with Jenny Jones of Washington Law Associates. Jenny was a trade union lawyer for over a decade before setting up her own law practice. Because of this trade union back ground the site replicates and improves the servicing aspect of traditional trade unions and embeds a social enterprise function in that we facilitate as much free advice and signposting as we can through the “Best of the Web” section on each advice page.

1. Use of Loan Funding

We developed our brief and invited proposals and quotes from 6 web development agencies. We chose locally based Exeter Businesses Illicit Web Design (https://www.illicitwebdesign.co.uk/) web development, and The Click Hub (https://theclickhub.com/) for digital marketing because of their competitive quote and understanding of our business, their previous experience and willingness to stay with us for the long haul. The detailed proposals and quotes are attached in the appendices. The Loan Funds are intended to pay Illicit Web Design and the Click Hub to further develop the website, our services and products to deliver on these key revenue areas.

The funds will also be used to pay for the Claims Management Regulator and Ombudsman Service which are a prerequisite for representational and advice work.

Equipment & Tools

Requirement for a powerful desktop computer to handle all work done.

Regulatory Requirements

The Claims Management Regulator

Under the Compensation Act 2006 (“the Act”), any persons wishing to carry out a regulated claims management service must be authorised unless they are exempt. ABC Limited cannot collect membership subscriptions for the advice or give advice directly to clients until we are registered with the Claims Management Regulator. Therefore, the advice on the website is free and clients are referred on to the Affiliate Subject Area Specialists, who do not require regulation because they are legal practitioners.

ABC Limited needs to be registered with the Claims Management Regulator

2016/2017 fees

• a one-off application fee of £2,000
• an annual fee of up to £800 a year based on business turnover

Legal Ombudsman Complaint Handling Fee’s

The Legal Ombudsman handles complaints against firms registered with the Claims Management Regulator. ABC Limited is required to pay an Annual complaints fee of up to £540 a year based on business turnover under The Legal Services Act 2007 (Claims Management Complaints) (Fees) (Amendment) Regulations 2016.

The Key Revenue Areas

1. ADVICE PAGES

The current website directs visitors to relevant employment law advice pages via simple topical categorisations. On the new website, the advice pages will come in the form of downloadable PDFs which can be purchased for £3.99 per download. Owing to the high traffic that the existing website enjoys, we will retain the URL structure for the advice pages or implement 301 redirects from old URLs to new to retain link integrity.

2. SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE

A second key revenue stream for the new website will be the offer of a subscription service of £4.99 a month (payable on a quarterly basis in advance, or with smaller monthly fees if a 6 month or annual subscription type is selected). As well as offering off-site benefits such as discounted access to legal advice and insurance, there will be several online member‐restricted contents such as videos and blogs, discounts on the purchase of e‐books and free advice sheets as follows;

• Ask Eddy Series – A series of 12 animations illustrating internal disciplinary and grievance procedures as well as court and tribunal processes. For example, how to address a judge and the other party. How to cross examine witnesses etc. Accessible to subscribers only. Working with Word and Record in Canada, we have created a character called “Eddy” who narrates each animation. Based on the “Steady Eddy” caricature, he has a soft Geordie accent, which is one of the most trusted regional accents in this country.
• E-zine – Monthly exclusive articles, offers and information delivered via email to subscribers only.
• 20% Discount on Shop Products – There will be an automatic percentage- based discount on all products in the e-bookstore.
• Podcasts – Audio broadcasts of employment law updates and information which subscribers can download and listen to.
• Webinars – Web based seminars transmitted over the web using video conferencing software. It is interactive, and subscribers can receive and discuss information in real time. We will be able to share audio, documents and applications with attendees. Members will have exclusive email notification of webinars (the webinars themselves will be conducted off-site using another service and will not be integrated into the website itself)
• Rescue Mentor – Access to support with using ABC Limited Guides.

3. THE SHOP – https://www.website.com/shop

Our e-book shop currently contains approximately 30 products, both physical and downloadable. The list attached in the appendix illustrates our full prospective catalogue which we will be able to develop with additional funding to contract one additional legal writer.

√ E-books

We have produced employment law guides in the form of e-books which are available to download on the website, or to purchase on Amazon as Kindle books. The books give users the information, templates, how-to’s, so that they can represent themselves effectively in the workplace.  Where further advice is required, users can use the Premium Rate Advice Line as described above. ABC Limited is the publisher of the books. The books are downloadable from the shop and are also sold on Amazon and LULU eBook Retail Distribution. Subscribers get a discount on e-books purchased on the website.

√ Print Books

Print books are also available which we publish through Create Space Independent Publishing. Funding would allow us to market them more effectively, and start selling through WH Smith and other book retailers. Subscribers get a discount on print books purchased from the website.

√ Precedents, templates, documents

Precedents, template documents and forms are available for purchase on the website. Users can use these to address internal disciplinary problems. The resources include templates and precedents for employment tribunal claims. Purchasers can file their own claims and then come through to the Settlement Zone for consultation on any aspects of their case with an Affiliate Subject Area Specialist (which they pay for) or request representation at the hearing stage or at any other stage if they want to.  Subscribers get a discount.

√ Merchandise

Sell branded ABC Limited merchandise such us mugs, mouse mats, t- shirts etc. through the website.

4. INSURANCE

Joint Venture with an insurance company to deliver before the event (BTE) and after the event (ATE) insurance, income protection insurance etc. by affiliating with companies such as Temple and Box Legal. ABC Limited will be paid through commission/referral fees.

5. SETTLEMENT ZONE

The Settlement Zone is where users go to have more traditional legal support and advice. The Settlement Zone is a conduit for users and they would interact directly with lawyers. Employers can have consultations on mediation, arbitration and other alternative dispute resolution services on offer, but we do not advocate on behalf of employers. This is the only service on offer for employers. The Settlement Zone will offer;

• Employment law consultation through our subject area specialists.
• Employment Tribunal/Court Advocacy
• Settlement Agreements
• Mediation and other alternative dispute resolution
• Personal Injury – Employer’s liability claims

This service is charged by the individual lawyers and ABC Limited receives a standard payment.

The build of the Settlement Zone has been split into two stages. The initial build will be a single page on the website that will offer information around dispute resolution. Central to the Settlement Zone will be one custom contact form with a document upload facility which will enable visitors to make initial contact with ABC Limited for advice.

The stage two build will extend the functionality of the contact form so that initial visitor queries and first response from ABC Limited is recorded in a database on the backend of the site. The process is as follows;

• Visitor makes contact using an email contact form. The initial query is recorded on the database with a unique reference number. ABC Limited is alerted to the enquiry by email.
• ABC Limited responds to the visitor through the database, adding a message, attaching any supporting documents, and logging any supporting notes. The response is emailed out to the visitor and simultaneously stored in the database. Further correspondence between the parties will take place offsite via letter, phone or direct email, so records of these correspondences will be manually entered into the database by ABC Limited until the correspondence ends. The exchange will then be marked as complete.
• Fields for each recorded correspondence will include: Reference number, name, date of contact, documents, notes. (Digital signatures for any legal letters will be though EchoSign. No integration with the website will be required regarding this service or the digital signing of documentation).

6. LEGAL FIRM DIRECTORY

A further route of monetisation for the website will come in the form of a business directory for employee party law firms and professionals. The directory will be a simple listings and profile system whereby results can be filtered by location (Mainland UK county), legal specialism and name of firm. Clicking on a result will bring up a simple profile with the name, a logo, some information and contact details (phone, email, web). The system will allow advertisers to manage and publish their own profiles after they purchase advertising space via the website based on a rolling subscription using Stripe as the payment gateway as follows;

• Users sign up to the site to become advertisers. They will be required to pay a fee (£80) via the website after which they are automatically provided with a user account. Advertisers can create a profile within their account, and this becomes publishable on the website once the profile has been vetted and deemed relevant and appropriate by the website’s administrator.
• The profile has a time-limited life on the website until either a renewal is paid for, or it expires and is subsequently unpublished from the website.
• Any profile may have its advertising space ‘renewed’ by the Advertiser through an automatic recurring payment.

7. ABC LIMITED APP – £1.99 per download

Static Mobile App that supports Android, IPhone and Windows. Include in app purchasing and advertising of ABC Limited products.

2.  Opportunity

A Problem Worth Solving

Increase in self-representing litigants

Access to justice is a fundamental right. Richard Smith, Master of the Rolls has stated; “Access to justice is a right not a privilege. That right has in the vast majority of cases traditionally been exercised by members of the public through the services of a lawyer. Over the last ten years there has however been an increase in the number of individuals who have, for various reasons, pursued and defended claims on their own behalf: they have been and are litigants in person (or self-represented litigants). It is anticipated that in the years to come the number of litigants in person will increase and perhaps will do so sharply.” (A Handbook for Litigants in Person, 2013 – https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/publications/handbook-litigants-person-civil-221013/

As Richard Smith describes above, self-representation in all areas of law is growing. The information available for self-represented litigants has always assumed that claimants and defendants would be represented by a lawyer in court. This is no longer the case, and more people are choosing to represent themselves in court.

There is a dearth of quality information and guidance available which is acknowledged by members of the judiciary and legal professionals.

“Unbundling” legal services

In September 2016, the Legal Services Consumer Panel said that legal services to consumers should be “unbundled”. Unbundling is where a package of legal services is separated into parts and the work shared between the consumer and lawyer. An example of unbundling is a consumer preparing the evidence and the court bundle themselves and then directly instructing the barrister who represents the consumer at the court hearing. According to the Legal Services Board and Legal Services Consumer Panel who commissioned Ipsos MORI to undertake qualitative research with consumers, lawyers and judges, this would enable consumers to have access to justice by developing affordable alternatives to full-service representation.

Fee Charging Employment Tribunals

Employment Tribunals used to be free and were set up to enable employees to carry out their own litigation. Although the self-representation aspect remains, employees are now required to pay up to £250.00 on filing a claim, they can pay up to a further £1800 for the hearing itself.

Prohibitive costs of traditional legal services

Most employment law consultancies will charge upwards of £2000 to go through documents, before they start any work. This is in addition to the tribunal fees that prospective claimants must pay. If one includes legal fees, the current regime makes it quite prohibitive for prospective claimants to take a case. People are being effectively priced out of justice and become vulnerable to “no win, no fee” companies. ABC Limited does not offer conditional fee agreements (“no win, no fee”).  The law on conditional fee agreements have changed so it is not so lucrative for claims management companies and law firms to offer any more. Before the event insurance also works the same way, with most insurers setting a more than 51% likelihood of winning as the threshold for providing legal insurance. The new rules also affect trade unions who usually self-insure when they take on cases for their members. This means that no win, no fee will only be offered for the most easy-to-win cases. If a case is easy to win, then our approach is that the prospective claimant can handle the case themselves with our assistance and support.

Our Solution

ABC Limited addresses this dearth with information and resources which are far superior to that which is provided by organisations such as Citizens Advice Bureau, ACAS and Advice Now because we only deal with employment law for employees and workers. We assist in raising informal complaints, formal grievances, explain statutory rights, direct users to ACAS and other free resources to help our users resolve matters at the lowest possible level.

We enable our users to have access to justice by providing information, guidance and resources for the civil courts and tribunals. Case law is explained in simplified language and users are advised on how to apply the law to their circumstances. We supply template documents and precedents in support of the information supplied, and users have access to lawyers for further support should they require it.

The information and resources are provided through 12 main advice pages which are displayed with icons on the home page. On selecting the icon which best describes the user’s employment law query or problem, the user is taken to the advice page which gives a general overview of that area. On scrolling down, the user arrives at a list of related pages (subjects) which provide a further breakdown. On selecting the relevant related page (subject) the user is taken to the advice and resources available for that subject. The advice includes a “Best of the Web” signposting section on that subject.

Instead of trawling through the web, users have access to a one-stop-shop of information presented in a way that they would understand. For example, where a business is being sold it is called a Transfer of Undertaking (TUPE), and most of the information on the web is under “TUPE”. Most people don’t know that a business being sold is called TUPE, so we provide the information under “The business is being sold”. We provide a basic explanation of TUPE, then pinpoint users to the best of the free information. In addition, we pinpoint the paid information available, for example “How to negotiate your new contract if the business is being sold”. Once users understand their individual situation and rights from the free resources, they will better understand the problem they are facing and purchase a guide. The website currently does not offer the subscription service because funding is required to develop the facility.

Our offering is particularly resonant in the current UK climate, where fewer employees are members of trade unions, and yet still require the individual workplace support that trade unions have traditionally provided. Effectively, ABC Limited is an internal workplace representative, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

2.1 Target Market

The UK Legal Services Market Report 2016 from IRN Research states that the legal services market (including private practice firms, barristers, patent agents, and other legal services providers) was valued at an estimated £32.1bn in 2015 and annual growth was almost 7%.

In both 2016 and 2017, annual revenue growth in the UK legal services market is likely to be around 5.5% to 6%. in 2017. Competitive pressures will continue and the move to “flexible law” will gather pace in the next year or so, i.e. more DIY law by individuals, more unbundling of legal services, increased use of online dispute resolution (ODR) and more use of freelance and temporary legal professionals by corporate clients.

ABC Limited’s core clientele include the following;

1. Employees and Workers
2. Small Staff Associations
3. Charities that give employment advice

The UK Labour Market Statistical Bulletin dated July 2016 estimates that between the 3 months to February 2016 and March to May 2016, there were 31.70 million people in work, 176,000 more than for the 3 months to February 2016 and 624,000 more than for a year earlier. There were 23.19 million people working full-time, 401,000 more than for a year earlier. There were 8.52 million people working part-time, 223,000 more than for a year earlier. The employment rate (the proportion of people aged from 16 to 64 who were in work) was 74.4%, the highest since comparable records began in 1971. Approximately 24.7% of these are trade union members, some of whom currently use the services of ABC Limited. The remainder are all prospective clients of ABC Limited.

2.2 Competition

Current Alternatives

We are not in competition with Trade Unions. Trade Unions politically organise their members for collective bargaining purposes, and service their negotiated agreements.   The primary providers of employment law information are the Citizens Advice Bureau, and Advice Now which are not specifically geared towards employment law and employment relations but rather provide a broad-brush approach to general legal information on rights. Their signposting generally leads users to ACAS.

ACAS supplies very simplified information for employees, and minimal resources. Their detailed resources are directed more towards employers than employees, and the phone advice line is not manned by lawyers.

ABC Limited has no direct competitors offering an equivalent service. We have indirect competitors offering certain aspects of our service.

Competitor Analysis

Co-op Legal Services – https://www.co-oplegalservices.co.uk/employment-law-%20solicitors/

Co-op legal services offer fixed fee employment law solicitors and very basic information about employment law. It is not an on-line business. The website is a brochure site advertising Employment Solicitors. Users are encouraged to call for a quote. Like ABC Limited, their employment law service is only for employee’s, however that is where the similarities end. Their pricing is not transparent. Even though it is advertised as a fixed fee, the price is still based on traditional legal hourly billing.

Which Legal – https://legalservice.which.co.uk/join-us/

Payment of an annual £88 membership gives access to a team of lawyers and specialist legal advisers covering 6 areas of law including Employment. The members’ area allows subscribers to download legal letter templates. It is not a fully automated, dedicated on-line resource.

Rocket Lawyer – https://www.rocketlawyer.co.uk/

Rocket Lawyer provides a document delivery service for family law, business formation, ask a lawyer for a flat fee and basic legal guides across the legal subject spectrum. together with free employment law guidance for employers. It is not focussed on employment law, or employees. Does not offer support in the workplace or for self-litigants and is focused on documents and agreements for small business.

Legal Zoom – http://www.legalzoom.com/

Legal Zoom is in the process of being launched in the UK, and so our research has focused on the US site which is being reproduced in the UK. It focuses on business formation documents, Wills and Trusts, Intellectual Property and offers advice from a lawyer for a flat fee.    Like Rocket Lawyer, Legal Zoom is not focussed on employment law, or employees. Does not offer support in the workplace or for self- litigants and is focused on documents and agreements for small business. Neither of these offer support in the workplace or for self-litigants and are focused on documents and agreements.

The on-line market is fluid, and although we don’t have direct competitors we will continue to remain relevant to our users by keeping their information needs at the forefront of the service. Having a web based business allows us to change, innovate and match our service to demand.

Our Advantages

Since the website was launched in January 2015, there are on average 6000 users every month, of which approximately 1200 are returning users. This is evidence that users recognise the superior information, and guidance from ABC Limited. Our resources are more detailed and direct users to the relevant statutes and case law with citations as well as concise explanation of the law and examples of the law in action.

ABC Limited’s competitive advantage will be based on two factors, experience and specialization:

Experience

Nadine Adams has a law degree (LLB Hons), as well as a Graduate Diploma in Business Studies specialising in Dispute Resolution. She is also an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. She has worked for over two decades as an Employment Relations Specialist, working for Trade-unions, Employers’ Associations and Employers in the public and private sector on an international level. This experience allowed her to recognise the need for a service such as ABC Limited. She has designed and propagated the website, as well as putting together a team of affiliated solicitors and barristers to deliver the quality service described in this plan. Cilinnie has put together a team of Affiliated Subject Area Specialists who are employment law barristers and solicitors. There is over 30 years’ employee focused employment law experience available to users of the service.

Specialization

We place our users at the center of the information production process. In designing and structuring information we don’t write for lawyers, we write for lay people who will be facing lawyers and judges in court. Apart from providing quality information, we place capacity building at the forefront of the information that we provide. Everything that a user could need to resolve their problem is provided on one page.

This includes templates, resources, applicable law and directions to what is freely available on the web. The information is prepared according to the guidelines in “Public Legal Education Principles and Guidance published by the Public Legal Education Network Advice Services Alliance (www.plenet.org.uk).

The Foundation for Public Legal Education (Law for Life), is the publisher of the website Advice Now. It is the leading organisation for the provision of legal advice and information to the public in the UK. In its publication “Meeting the information needs of litigants in person” 2014 the organisation found that litigants in person need effective information to help them do the following;

• Understand the role of the court/tribunal
• Understand and follow procedures
• Understand legal language
• Understand the law
• Apply the law to their case and evaluate it
• Identify, obtain and fill in the correct form
• Develop skills, for example, preparing, filing and serving documents, engaging and negotiating with the other side, and speaking succinctly and confidently in
• Know where to get more help and

The report found that many of these key information needs are not being covered, or need to be covered to a higher standard. It said that not only are there gaps in topic areas which need to be filled, but new and existing materials should be more accessible to litigants in person.

ABC Limited meets the fundamental needs described above and goes several steps further by providing users with the same resources that lawyers have access to through our bespoke guidance and systems. The website offers employment law guidance and information to enable users to address workplace issues themselves.

Users can take their own cases through to the Employment Tribunal and can buy in the services of lawyers at any point during proceedings.

They are not bound to any agreements and can pay for consultation on specific issues, or representation at any point during proceedings. To facilitate this, there are how-to-books on the website, with step-by-step instructions, and templates to use in writing the claim, together with information and support on pre-trial applications.

As part of the social aspect of our work, we can refer suitable claimants to the Free Representation Unit, and the Bar Pro-Bono Unit. We also have affiliated barristers and solicitors that we work with.

2.3 Swot Analysis

Strengths

• The website already has an average of 6000 users per month.
• Capacity building and support approach to employee specific employment law issues.
• Strong product presentation.
• Experienced and capable legal professionals and employment law specialists with employee specific skills.
• The rise of self-representation.
• User recognition and use of un-bundled legal services

Weaknesses

• As identified earlier in the document the main area of risk is competition and customer indifference/lack of understanding. To minimise this risk our marketing message covers all the problems that users face and offer solutions, which they can identify with.
• Access to additional operating capital.

Opportunities

• Growing market with a significant percentage of our target market still not knowing that we exist.
• Strategic alliances offering sources for referrals and joint marketing activities to extend our reach.
• Internal potential for selling our products in other markets.

Threats

Weakness of current website

3.  Execution

3.1   Pricing and Costing

Our primary offering involves Legal editing and Feature writing currently carried out by Cilinnie with the editing and formatting contracted out at £50 per publication. The task involves researching, writing and delivering content that reflects current employment law practice. Our publications are prepared to a high quality and scope to reflect the business objectives and the needs of our users.  We have worked out our legal writing costs at £15 an hour. This is the standard fee paid for Freelance Legal Writing, although prices do go up to £30 an hour.

Costing of advice sheets and e-books

Editing and formatting – £50 per publication

Costing of print books

The Print Books are done through Createspace. Only the higher cost publications are supplied in print. Higher cost publications are priced at £25.00 for e-books and £28.00 for print books. The cost of production is the same as above except that publication and shipping costs £7.58 each. We have a 36% profit margin on each print publication sold through the website.

3.2 Marketing

Loan Funding will also be used towards a robust digital marketing strategy. We have chosen The Click Hub (https://theclickhub.com/) as our digital marketing agency. The marketing message for users is to promote the website as an indispensable resource for employees with queries about workplace rights, when facing problems and disputes at work, for prospective claims in the Employment Tribunal or civil courts, and when in litigation.

The website was launched in January 2015 to test the market and viability of our proposition. We currently have an average of 6000 users of the website a month. Improving search engine optimisation (SEO) through our robust web marketing strategy will increase the number of visitors to the website and these visitors can be converted into customers. The free resources on the website will be advertised through social media to draw traffic to the website. The strategy is to use minimal paid resources and focus on getting as much organic traffic as we can.

The following free resources will be developed with funding and will draw users to the website where they will be directed to the paid resources through direct calls to action;

√ Social Media and Email Newsletter

Twitter, Linked In group, Google+, Pinterest and Instagram. Facebook, Twitter, Linked In and Google are used to promote blogs from the website. Pinterest and Instagram are used to promote publications. Social media is used to actively showcase the information and advice in a user- friendly way, to lead users to purchase the resources on the website or buy a subscription.

√ Micro-problem, Micro-Solution Reports

Bite sized case studies with solutions uploaded on the website and propagated via social media.

√ News

Current employment law information and updates uploaded on the website and propagated through social media.

√ Free Calculators

Employment Tribunal Time Limits Calculator

Many employees miss the very short deadline within which to file a claim in the Employment Tribunal or Civil Courts. The Tribunal has no jurisdiction to hear a claim once it is out of time. It is therefore imperative that claimants submit their cases on time. We have developed an application that calculates number of days until the deadline by which a prospective claimant must file their claim.  On entering the relevant start date, the deadline date will display.

Personal injury compensation calculator

This is an interactive, image-led calculator in the shape of a human body. Two images represent the front and back of the body. Mouse hovering over a body part will reveal compensation claim figures based on the three compensation levels set in the “Guidelines for the assessment of General Damages in personal injury cases” published annually by the Judicial College.

Links to other free calculators:

Tax Calculator

Overtime Calculator

Pay Reckoner

Minimum Wage Calculator

Living Wage Calculator

Redundancy Calculator

Holiday Pay Calculator

Web Chat Module

A live web chat module will be integrated into the website. We have chosen a WordPress plugin called Chat X. This can be licenced for use at a low price. Features include the chat module being automatically replaced with an email contact form when it detects that a chat administrator is not logged in/available.

We will to work with The ClickHub (www.the clickhub.com) as our web marketing solutions provider.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

The Click Hub has provided a proposal and quote for a bespoke SEO service to organically position the business on page one of Google. Increasing traffic to the website, improving our brand awareness and therefore enhancing sales. The Click Hub are Google partners, who are up-to-date with the latest changes to Google’s search algorithm. Our Google Analytics account will be embedded into the site to monitor our web traffic and visitor behaviour.

Cookies and Re-marketing

The Click Hub will utilise re-marketing and cookies as the most effective tool for converting people who have visited the website.

Social Media

Social media is an indispensable marketing tool. It allows us to tell our story, promote products and engage with our users. We have over 570 fans on our Facebook Page, 1223 members in our Facebook Group and over 300 followers on Twitter. Our current social media presence is as follows;

1. Facebook Fan Page – https://facebook.com/ABCLimited/
2. Facebook Group (ABC Limited Community) – https://facebook.com/groups/
3. Twitter – https://twitter.com/ABCLimited
4. LinkedIn Group – https://Linkedin.com/ABCLimietd
5. YouTube – https://www.Youtube.com/ABCLimited
6. Pinterest – https://www.Pinterest.com/ABCLimited
7. Google Plus – https://wwww.Google.com/Plus/ABCLimited

Email Marketing

We will disseminate well written, attention grabbing and professional e-mails, to help us get the most out of our database. The Click Hub will provide us with useful data such as who opened the email, who engaged with the email and most important of all who purchased because of the email.

E-zine, newsletters and Micro Reports

Our E-zine, newsletters and Micro Reports will be sent to subscribers and prospects using MailChimp and Social Media to connect to current and prospective users.

Joint ventures

We will use new joint ventures and partnerships for reciprocal marketing.

3.3 Sales

ABC Limited sells directly to the customer who pays immediately for products. Our current 6000 users have found us through our minimal use of Social Media. Targeted marketing as described above will more than quadruple users who will be converted into paying customers. We anticipate that we will be able to double current users by 100%. Overall sales revenues are targeted to increase by 900% over the next 12 months. In Year 2, we anticipate a realistic growth of 68%. Sales figures are shown net of VAT.

Payment Gateway

Sales are generated through the website, social media, Amazon and Lulu. For online payments, loan funding will allow us to use Stripe (https://stripe.com/gb), a free online payment gateway which can take one-off and subscription payments and integrates effectively into the WordPress platform, with the added advantage of keeping visitors onsite. A small fee is taken per transaction (https://stripe.com/gb/pricing). We have chosen this gateway for its stability and developer friendly code, which keeps development costs down. For recurring automatic payments and membership, we will use a subscription payments plugin called Woo Themes.

3.4 Operations

Locations & Facilities 

ABC Limited is an on-line business currently operating from the residential premises of its two directors. We aim to keep our overheads as low as possible and will continue working from our residence if this arrangement suits the business.

Technology – The Website

The current website (www.website.com) consists of approximately 300 pages of legal advice and an e‐bookshop. Loan funding will enable us to further monetise the website through the key revenue streams mentioned previously.

Key Features of the new website:

Legal Advice Downloads

The primary purpose of the website is to direct visitors to relevant legal advice pages via simple topical categorisations, as per the existing website at website.com. The main difference with the new site however is that much of the content on the advice pages will come in the form of downloadable PDFs which can be purchased for £3.99 per download.

E-bookshop

The existing website has an online shop – http://www.website.com/shop containing approximately 30 products, both physical and downloadable. Currently the e‐bookstore has a different theme to the rest of the site’s pages. We will consolidate the design for a more seamless user experience. While the e‐bookstore will remain a discrete part of the website, and with similar functionality to the existing site, it will have full design continuity.

Subscription and Membership

Another key revenue stream for the new website will be the offer of a subscription‐based membership. As well as offering off‐site benefits such as discounted access to legal advice and insurance, there will be several online benefits.

Payment Gateway

The current website only uses PayPal. This is not a suitable platform for high volume sales. We have researched Stripe (https://stripe.com/gb), a free online payment gateway which can take one‐off and subscription payments and integrates effectively into the WordPress platform, with the added advantage of keeping visitors onsite. As with all major payment gateways, a small fee is taken per transaction (https://stripe.com/gb/pricing).

Web Chat Module

Chat X is a live web chat module which will be integrated into the website. It is licenced for use at a low price and takes a short time to configure. Features include the chat module being automatically replaced with an email contact form when it detects that a chat administrator is not available.

Contact Forms

There is the need for several custom contact forms on the website which will enable the visitor to contact the ABC Limited team, (e.g. calls to action such as ‘talk to a lawyer about your case’ and ‘ask a question’). Five custom contact forms will be built which will send an email query to a recipient of our choice.

Newsletter/Email Marketing Service

For mailing list data capture and email marketing campaigns (Newsletters and E‐Zines) targeted at many users, a third‐party service dedicated to high volume email marketing will be used. We will develop and integrate one general newsletter/mailing list, and one subscriber’s signup form, into MailChimp for data capture.

Case Studies (Micro Problem, Micro Solution Reports)

A series of pages which contain brief case studies. These will be custom posts that can be distributed on social media. For automatic posting of such posts to the major social platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, we will employ a plugin called Jetpack Publicize.

News

All existing blog posts will be migrated to the new website. Posts will be automatically disseminated to the major social platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, using Jetpack Publicize.

Settlement Zone

The settlement zone is a one page brochure for the lawyers and barrister and is also available to anyone. It comes in the form of a download or single web page with contact forms.

Free Calculators

Free employment calculators as follows;

• Employment tribunal time limit calculator: simple application that calculates number of days until the deadline for which a claim can be made. Enter your start date and the deadline date will display.
• Personal injury calculator ‐ a 3D calculator in the shape of a human body which calculates current compensation levels based on user input.

Equipment & Tools

Requirement for a powerful desktop computer to handle all work done.

Regulatory Requirements

The Claims Management Regulator

ABC Limited needs to be registered with the Claims Management Regulator

Legal Ombudsman Complaint Handling Fee’s

ABC Limited is required to pay an Annual complaints fee under The Legal Services Act 2007 (Claims Management Complaints) (Fees) (Amendment) Regulations 2016.

Information Commissioners Office

The Data Protection Act 1998 requires every data controller who is processing personal information to register with the ICO. Because ABC Limited collects data from users, the company is registered with the ICO. The registration number is ZA173958

4.  Company

4.1   Overview

ABC Limited is a duly registered company limited by shares (number 09079968) of 20-22 Wenlock Road, London, N1 7GU. The domain name https://www.website.com/ is owned by ABC Limited and hosted by Coast 360. ABC Limited and the website are registered with the Information Commissioners Office as data processors. Copyright of the website including all data and design is vested in ABC Limited and registered with the UK Copyright Service.

The share distribution in ABC Limited is as follows;

4.2   Team

Management Team

Nadine Adams – Chief Executive Officer

Nadine has worked in diverse industries and occupations on an international level, working with different legislative provisions, cultures, occupational rules and regulations, as well as customs and practices. She has a Law Degree (LLB Hons.) from the University of West London, a Graduate Diploma in Business Studies from Massey University of New Zealand and is a professional member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (ACIARB). Her CV is attached in the appendices.

David Jones – Commercial Director

An experienced business strategist and retailer with extensive technical, solution and consultancy experience gained within emerging markets. David has over 10 years’ grocery retailing experience gained within Kwik Save Group Plc, Iceland Frozen Foods, CO-OP, Netto and Somerfield and 19 years’ experience in the African market place and has offered strategic advice to many companies who engage in the Sub Saharan region including:

• Ericsson Mobitex, a provider of an OSI based open standard, national public access wireless packet-switched data network.
• Lamborghini Trattori, Italian manufacturer of diesel engines.
• Burdens, leading supplier of civil engineering and building materials to the infrastructure, environmental and industrial markets.
• Oxford International Financial Holdings, a global financial services company providing corporate risk and asset protection across three continents. · Advanced Technology Ramar Plc, publicly traded UK based company providing data capture solutions and wide area network communications.

David also headed Geest’s international division, Geest Overseas part of the Bakkavor Group employs over 16,000 people worldwide with an annual turnover of USD 2.4 Billion. David has also worked closely with Government Departments, International Financing Institutions, United Nations Agencies, Non-governmental organisations and the Private Sector.

Jenny Jones – Solicitor

Proprietor of Washington Law Associates, Jenny Jones is a solicitor, published author, accredited mediator and the Head of our Legal Department. She qualified as a solicitor in 1993, obtaining her [degree] at [university]. Since qualifying as a solicitor, Jenny has worked both in private practice and in-house, managing heavy and complex caseloads. In 2011, Jenny set up her own law practice, providing in-house consultancy services and working as Complaints Manager. She is currently the Director of Countrywide Law Associates.

As a result of innovative internal case procedures she created, Jenny acquired Membership to the Law Society Personal Injury Panel. She was also appointed the Legal Aid Franchise Representative. Client-focused, hardworking and self- motivated, Jenny is committed to providing high standards of service. Jenny is a skilled communicator, ready to listen to your needs and apply her expertise to the case in question.

• Employment Law Specialist
• Member of the Law Society Personal Injury Panel
• Legal Aid Representative
• Awarded Quality Standard for a firm to operate as an ongoing concern
• Accredited Mediator
• Equality and Diversity NCFE Level II
• Child Psychology Level III
• Published Cycle of Life: Behaviour from the Inside Out

AFFILIATE SUBJECT AREA SPECIALISTS

Porter James – Barrister

Porter James studied at Inns of Court School of Law and was called to the Bar in 2004. He has worked as both in-house counsel and in chambers, and currently works as Counsel at thedirectbarrister.co.uk.

Porter has extensive experience in employment matters, frequently appearing before the Employment Tribunal, Employment Appeal Tribunal and the High Court.

Whilst he predominantly appears for Respondents, Porter has also enjoyed many successes appearing for Claimants, including a group of seven Claimants bringing diverse claims of discrimination against their employers on the grounds of Race, Sex, Disability and Sexual Orientation.

In addition to his employee relations experience, Porter has extensive experience as a Civil and Commercial Litigator appearing regularly in the County Courts, as well as the High Court in respect of Civil and Commercial matters, including contract disputes, debt and urgent injunctive relief. Further, Porter is well-versed in criminal law, regularly representing defendants accused of complex and serious criminal matters, including assault and fraud, before both the Magistrates Courts and the Crown Court.

Qualifications:

Bar Vocational Course, City University London

LLB (Hons) Business Law, Bournemouth University

Areas of expertise:

• Employment law
• Civil litigation
• Commercial litigation
• Criminal law
• Alternative dispute resolution
• Discrimination
• Corporate law

Memberships:

The Bar of England and Wales

Employment Bar Association

Abegail Willams – Barrister

Abegail Willams, an experienced barrister with expertise in various disciplines, was called to the Bar in 1994. She is a registered pupil mistress and has supervised numerous trainee solicitors.

Throughout her working life, Abegail has always worked within the Court system, from the Civil and Criminal Courts to the Tribunal system. Her experience spans immigration law including asylum, human rights and applications for leave to remain, as well as both criminal and civil law. Abegail’s criminal law experience includes prosecution for the Crown Prosecution Service and the National Probation Service, and defence work. Her civil applications include road traffic hearings, small claims hearings and advices on quantum, liquidation and infant approval.

Further, Abegail has practiced Housing Law, working as a Senior Lawyer for a large Local Authority. In this role, she dealt with various matters including Local Authority criminal proceedings, anti-social behaviour, possession matters, lodgers in occupation, homelessness and disrepair issues. Abegail also has in-depth knowledge of case management procedures and has trained staff for LEXCEL, International Quality Assurance Standard ISO9001 and Investors in people.

Abegail prides herself on maintaining good relations with officers of all levels, and providing premium quality service to her clients at every step of the way, from initial advice to representation in court. Abegail efficiently manages, analyses and advises on complex matters and consistently meets challenging deadlines.

Key achievements:

• Accredited Civil and Commercial Mediator, London School of Mediation
• Called to the Bar in 1994
• Registered Pupil Mistress

Areas of expertise:

• Mediation
• Immigration law
• Criminal law
• Civil litigation
• Housing Law
• Memberships:
• Bar Association of Commerce Finance and Industry

Adam Jonson – Barrister

A barrister with years of experience across multiple disciplines, Adam Jonson received his LLB at the University of London, and his LLM at the University of Staffordshire. He belongs to the Inner Temple and was called to the Bar in 2008.

Prior to joining chambers, Adam worked as an in-house lawyer in both the railway industry and IT sector. This in-house experience enables Jonson to provide programmatic and well-rounded advice to his clients.

As a barrister, Brett has gained extensive experience with government procurement frameworks such as SPRINT II and CITHS, as well as personal injury and criminal

law. Adam has represented a number of clients accused of serious offences including rape, attempted murder and fraud, and has an in-depth understanding of confiscation proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. Additionally, Brett is well-versed in personal injury matters.

Further, Adam, an experienced horseman, has worked on numerous equine-related matters, including the purchase and sale of horses, livery agreements, grazing licences and accidents occurring at equestrian events. Adam is also a councillor on Lichfield District Council

Key achievements:

• Member of The Inner Temple
• Called to the Bar in 2008
• BSc (Hons) Biology – University of York
• LLB – University of London
• LLM – University of Staffordshire

Areas of expertise:

• Personal injury
• Contracts
• Data Protection
• Information Technology
• Procurement
• Immigration
• Crime
• Commercial law
• Equine

Memberships:

Bar Association of Commerce Finance and Industry

Advisors

Christian Gomez, Business Infopoint

Appendices

a. Certificate of Incorporation

b.Copyright Registration Certificate

c. Web Design Proposal and Quote for Loan Funding – Illicit Web Design https://www.illicitwebdesign.co.uk/

d. Web Marketing Proposal and Quote for Loan Funding – The Click Hub https://theclickhub.com/

e. Publications Catalogue

PUBLICATIONS CATALOGUE

Problems at work (Published) –  https://www.website.com/problems-at-work

1. Surviving a Workplace Suspension – £17.99
2. Surviving a Disciplinary Investigation at Work – £17.99
3. The Disciplinary Hearing – £17.99
4. Capability and Performance Management – £17.99
5. How to survive a criminal charge, conviction, caution or police investigation at work – £9.99
6. Alcohol and Drugs at Work: A Guide to dealing with your problem – £17.99

Dismissal (Published) –  https://www.website.com/problems-at-work

1. How to Fight Dismissal on Probation (e-book and print) – £25.00
2. Health and Safety Dismissal: A Guide to your rights (e-book and print) – £11.99
3. Social Media and Unfair Dismissal: Don’t Tweet your way to a P45 – £17.99

Trade Unions (published in e-book and print) https://www.website.com/shop/product

1. Employee Representative Guide for non-union workplaces- £9.99

Personal Injury (Published) – https://www.website.com/shop/product-category/personal- injury/

1. How to Win Your Workplace Personal Injury Claim – £17.99

Grievance ( Published) – https://www.website.com/shop/product-category/grievances/

1. How to Write Grievance That Gets You What You Want – £25.00
2. How to Write a Grievance About Bullying and Harassment at Work – £25.00
3. How to Write a Grievance About Changes to Your Employment Contract – £17.99
4. How to Write a Grievance About the Behaviour of a Colleague, Manager or Supervisor – £9.99
5. How to Write a Grievance About Unauthorized Deductions from Your Wages or Salary – £17.99

Discrimination at work- https://www.website.com/shop/product-category/discrimination/

1. How to use the Discrimination Questions Procedure – £29.99
2. How to Write a Grievance About Discrimination at Work – £25.00

Schedule of Loss –http://www.website.com/shop/product-category/schedule-of-loss/

1. Discrimination Schedule of Loss (in development)
2. How to Prepare a Schedule of Loss for the Employment Tribunal – £29.99
3. Schedule of Loss Spreadsheet for unfair dismissal – £11.99
4. Schedule of Loss Spreadsheet for discrimination – £15.99

Letter Templates – http://www.website.com/shop/product-category/documents-forms-and-%20template-letters/

1. Template Letter Before Claim [ General] – £9.99
2. Template Letter Before Claim – Breach of Contract (in development)

Employment Tribunal Claim (ET1) Packages (£49.99 each) – http://www.website.com/shop/product-category/employment-tribunal/

Those in bold have been published and are available on the website, the others are in development

Pay, Terms and Conditions

1. ET1 Breach of Contract
2. ET1 Non-Payment of Holiday Pay on Termination
3. ET1 Non-Payment of Holiday Pay whilst still employed
4. ET1 Refusal to permit taking of Annual Leave
5. ET1 Refusal to allow time-off work to perform public duties
6. ET1 Unauthorised Deduction from Wages
7. ET1 Working Time: Daily Rest and Rest Breaks
8. ET1 Working Time: Weekly Rest Periods

Dismissal

1. ET1 Constructive Dismissal
2. ET1 Unfair Dismissal: Alleged Gross Misconduct
3. ET1 Unfair Dismissal: Alleged Poor Performance
4. ET1 Unfair Dismissal: Sickness
5. ET1 Unfair Dismissal: Redundancy
6. ET1 Unfair Dismissal: Trade Union membership and activities
7. ET1 Unfair Dismissal: TUPE
8. ET1 Health and Safety Dismissal
9. ET1 Religion or belief discrimination and unfair dismissal
10. ET1 Sexual Harassment and Constructive Dismissal
11. ET1 Sexual Orientation Discrimination and Unfair Dismissal

Whistleblowing

1. ET1 Whistleblowing and Detriment
2. ET1 Whistleblowing and Unfair Dismissal

Pregnancy and Maternity

1. ET1 Antenatal Appointments: Refusal to allow time-off work to attend
2. ET1 Equal Pay: Pregnancy and Maternity
3. ET1 Maternity Leave Discrimination
4. ET1 Pregnancy or Maternity: Automatically Unfair Dismissal
5. ET1 Pregnancy Related Illness: Unfair Dismissal
6. ET1 Right to return to work after Maternity Leave

Discrimination

1. ET1 Direct Race Discrimination
2. ET1 Indirect Race Discrimination
3. ET1 Race Discrimination and Unfair Dismissal
4. ET1 Disability Discrimination and Unfair Dismissal
5. ET1 Disability Discrimination
6. ET1 Disability: Failure to make Reasonable Adjustments
7. ET1 Direct Age Discrimination
8. ET1 Indirect Age Discrimination
9. ET1 Direct Sex Discrimination
10. ET1 Indirect Sex Discrimination
11. ET1 Equal Pay
12. ET1 Sexual Orientation Discrimination
13. ET1 Discrimination in promotion
14. ET1 Discrimination in Recruitment
15. ET1 Fixed Term Employee: Less Favourable Treatment
16. ET1 Part Time Employee: Less Favourable Treatment
17. ET1 Marriage or Civil Partnership Discrimination
18. ET1 Religion or belief discrimination

Redundancy

1. ET1 Failure to Inform and Consult on Collective Redundancies
2. ET1 Failure to pay Protective Award
3. ET1 Redundancy: Refusal to allow time-off to look for work or attend training
4. ET1 Redundancy: Payment due from the National Insurance Fund
5. ET1 Redundancy Payment
6. ET1 Statutory Redundancy Payment

Employment Tribunal Applications (in development)

1. Application for an order from the Tribunal
2. Application to amend your claim (ET1)
3. Application for a default judgment
4. Application for the Tribunal to decide on a preliminary matter
5. Application for the Tribunal to throw out your Employer’s response (ET3)
6. Application to postpone a Tribunal Hearing
7. Application for a Witness Order
8. Application for your Employer to pay a deposit
9. Application to ask the Tribunal to make case management orders
10. Application to withdraw your claim from the Tribunal
11. Application for the Tribunal to reconsider their decision or judgment

Letters during Tribunal Proceedings (in development)

1. Letter asking your Employer for specific disclosure
2. Letter to let your Employer know that you have made an application to the Tribunal

Company Name: ABC Limited

Website: website.com

Date: 15/09/2016

Services requested

Your campaign

Our aim with an SEO campaign is to get the potential consumer of your services to your website. We identify what they search for when they are looking for your services and products, and then target search terms that we can achieve a page one result for in a reasonable time frame. As Google partners, we are always making sure that our work is up-to-date with the latest changes to Google’s search algorithm. We pride ourselves in our client service and we make sure that you are always informed of the work we are carrying out, and are happy with the results. You will have your own dedicated account manager who will always be contactable during business hours, should you need anything.

Stage 1 – keyword and competition research

Making sure we are targeting the right keywords is a really important starting point. In our research we will:

• Look into what people are typing into Google when they are looking for your services.
• Look at a wide range of search terms to find out how many searches they receive each month.
• Evaluate the competition for those search terms by looking at the SEO quality of the websites that currently appear on page one.
• Target the best search terms that have a good number of searches and that we can achieve a page one result in a shorter time frame.

Our aim here is to optimise the website for search terms which will bring good quality traffic to the website as well as optimising the products you sell.

Below are examples of broad keywords which we would elaborate on.

Please note: once you’re a client we’ll conduct comprehensive keyword research.

Stage 2 – key on-site changes

The next step is to make sure that your website fulfils the basic criteria for Google’s search algorithm. Essentially making sure that the website ticks Google’s list of important things.

• Choose which pages to optimise for which search terms.
• Produce a user-friendly document that outlines a step-by-step guide for the changes that are necessary using our advanced SEO audit software.
•   This can either be sent to your web-developers or if you have ‘back-end access’ they are easy enough to work through yourself
• Set up Google Analytics and Google Webmaster Tools
• Set up our rank tracking software which will allow us to monitor these changes

Stage 3 – on-going SEO work and support

Google treats your website like a shop front and so wants to see regular (good quality) content. In addition, Google wants to see that your website is credible and popular. It is important to us that you are kept informed of the work that we carry out, but no bombard you with technical jargon. Your account manager will always be available to go through any SEO queries and will provide a monthly performance report tailored to your preference.

• Regular content: Our content team will provide a regular written blog on either topics that you specify or based on industry relevant news
• Credibility: Our team will also carry out link-building to increase your domain authority. This is an important factor in increasing your Google ranking.
• Support: You have an allocated account manager who is your point of contact for any SEO related queries, whether it is connect directly to our work or if its advice on another element of your business such as a social media campaign. If you have signed up as one of our clients the support is there. Also, we ensure that the reports that we send to you are produced in the way that you prefer and clearly show the results and progress we make.

Google Display Ads and  Remarketing

Stage 1 – Keyword research and campaign strategy

As with SEO, we conduct keyword analysis to identify which search terms will attract good amounts of high quality traffic. To do this we research which keywords are being used when people are looking for your products. We can also run multiple campaigns and AdGroups to tailor which ads appear for certain groups of search terms or even which part of the country that person is searching in. This variations help improve the effectiveness of the campaign.

Stage 2 – On-going analysis and refinement

Using the data from your AdWords campaign as well as your Google Analytics data we can refine the campaign strategy to identify more successful ads and remove non-profitable ads. At this stage the objective is to use the data to increase the overall ROI from your AdWords campaign.

Stage 3 – Recommendations and marketing insight

At this stage we will have identified an optimum AdWords strategy and will start to look at where we can expand the campaign and make recommendations for further investment. We continue to monitor what the competition are doing with their AdWords campaigns and also look to identify any marketing opportunities that may benefit your business. I.e. remarketing, a campaign aimed directly at people that have previously visited your website.

Pricing

There is no minimum sign up period, however, SEO services can take 3-9 months to see page one results. Our notice period is 30 days from the date of your next invoice date. Quote valid for 30 days from quote date.

Please feel free to get in touch if you have any queries. Kind regards,

Drake Simson

Director
01392 243007
rob@theclickhub.com

ABC LIMITED / WEB DESIGN

ILLICIT WEB DESIGN 24/10/16

1 YOUR WEBSITE

ABC Limited comprises a team of lawyers and employment specialists. ABC Limited offers free online resources and low-cost advice for those in employment disputes who cannot afford legal fees.

Your current website www.website.com consists of approximately 200 pages of free legal advice and an e-bookshop. You are looking to further monetise your website through two additional revenue streams:

1. You will convert your pages of legal advice into downloadable documents which will be paid for per download at a small nominal fee of £3.99.
2. You will offer a subscription service of £4.99 a month (payable on a quarterly basis in advance, or with smaller monthly fees if a 6 month or annual subscription type is selected). Subscription will grant visitors access to member-restricted content such as videos and blogs, discounts on the purchase of of e-books and free advice sheets, as well as offline benefits such as discounted employment protection insurance and access to your legal

Your website is currently built on the WordPress platform. We would propose to build the new site in WordPress, with WooCommerce as the shopping cart plugin. However, aside from retaining your existing blog posts we would be working on the assumption that page content/data and products will be replaced and manually entered into the new website (see section ‘data and content entry’).

features of the website

Legal Advice Downloads

The primary purpose of the website is to direct visitors to relevant legal advice pages via simple topical categorisations, as per the existing website at website.com. The main difference with the new site however is that much of the content on the advice pages will come in the form of downloadable PDFs which can be purchased for a small fee per download.

Owing to the high traffic that the existing website enjoys, Illicit Web Design will aim to retain the URL structure for the advice pages or implement 301 redirects from old URLs to new to retain link integrity.

E-bookshop

The existing website has an online shop (http://www.website.com/shop) containing approximately 30 products, both physical and downloadable. Currently the e-bookstore has a different theme to the rest of the site’s pages. Illicit Web Design would aim to consolidate the design for a more

seamless user experience. While the e-bookstore will remain a discrete part of the website, and with similar functionality to the existing site, we will propose full design continuity.

Subscription and Membership

A second key revenue stream for the new website will be the offer of a subscription-based membership. As well as offering off-site benefits such as discounted access to legal advice and insurance, there will be a number of online benefits:

Legal advice downloads will be free.

There will be an automatic percentage-based discount on all products in the e-bookstore. There will be members-only access to the following pages/content:

• A page containing a video series
• Members only E-Zine, added to subscriber MailChimp* database
• A page containing downloadable podcasts
• Exclusive email notification of webinars (the webinars themselves will be conducted off-site using another service and will not be integrated into the website itself)
• A page entitled ‘Rescue Mentor’ which contains free advice downloads with specialised content.

For recurring automatic payments and membership, we recommend a subscription payments plugin called WooThemes Subscriptions.

Payment Gateway

For online payments we recommend Stripe (https://stripe.com/gb), a free online payment gateway which can take one-off and subscription payments and integrates effectively into the WordPress platform, with the added advatage of keeping visitors onsite. As with all major payment gateways, a small fee is taken per transaction (https://stripe.com/gb/pricing). Funds may take up to 7 days to clear from Stripe to the receiving bank account. This gateway is also chosen for its stability and developer friendly code, which keeps development costs down. Should an alternative gateway such as SagePay or WorldPay required, some additional development time will be required for implementation, to be quoted on request.

Web Chat Module

Should a live web chat module can be integrated into the website, we recommend a WordPress plugin called Chat X. This can be licenced for use at a low price and takes a short time to configure. Features include the chat module being automatically replaced with an email contact form when it detects that a chat administrator is not logged in/available.

Contact Forms

There would appear to be the need for a number of custom contact forms on the website which will enable the visitor to contact the ABC Limited team, (e.g. calls to action such as ‘talk to a lawyer about your case’ and ‘ask a question’). Our proposal will be based on up to five custom contact forms which will send an email query to a recipient of your choice.

Newsletter/Email Marketing Service

For mailing list data capture and email marketing campaigns (Newsletters and E-Zines) targeted at a large number of users, a third-party service dedicated to high volume email marketing should be used. MailChimp has become a de facto global industry standard for this purpose; it is very widely employed and in our experience provides a stable and flexible service. MailChimp provides two paid service packages (in addition to a basic limited free service). Basic features include automatically segment mailing lists according to specific user data (e.g. site visitor vs paid subscriber), and to utilize reporting features to ascertain user engagement.

We will develop and integrate one general newsletter/mailing list, and one subscriber’s signup form, into MailChimp for data capture.

Illicit Web Design’s digital marketing partners The Click Hub can additionally assist with some ongoing email marketing campaigns for the purposes of brand awareness.

Case Studies (Micro Problem, Micro Solution Reports)

You require a series of pages which contain brief case studies. These will be custom posts that can be distributed on social media. For automatic posting of such posts to the major social platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, we could use a plugin called Jetpack Publicize.

News

We are assuming that you will wish to retain your existing posts for the new website, so our proposal will include the migration of your blog posts. Should you wish to automatically disseminate your posts to the major social platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, we could use a plugin called Jetpack Publicize to do so, as above.

Free Calculators

You have raised the requirement for two free calculators on your website, one which we will quote for, and the other of which will require further discussion for a price estimate.

• Employment tribunal time limit calculator: simple application that calculates number of days until the deadline for which you can make a claim. Enter your start date and the deadline date will
• Personal injury calculator – an interactive, image-led calculator in the shape of a human body. Two images represent the front and back of the body. Mouse hovering over a body part will reveal compensation claim figures based on three ‘skill’ tiers associated with that body part (lower, middle and upper). Some thought will need to be given to how this will display on mobile

Settlement Zone (principle build)

The settlement zone will be, in the first instance, a single page on the website that will offer information around dispute resolution. Central to the Settlement Zone will be one custom contact form with a document upload facility which will enable visitors to make initial contact with ABC Limited for advice.

Settlement Zone (stage 2 build)*

The secondary stage of the Settlement Zone is to extend the functionality of the contact form so that initial visitor queries and first response from ABC Limited is recorded in a database, either on the backend of the site. The process is:

• Visitor makes contact using an email contact form. The initial query is recorded on the database with a unique reference ABC Limited is alerted to the enquiry by email.
• ABC Limited responds to the visitor through the database, adding a message, attaching any supporting documents, and logging any supporting notes. The response is emailed out to the visitor and simultaneously stored in the
• Further correspondence between the two parties will take place offsite via letter, phone or direct email, so records of these correspondences will be manually entered into the database by ABC Limited until the correspondence ends. The exchange will then be marked as complete.
• Fields for each recorded correspondence will include: Reference number, name, date of contact, documents,

(Digital signatures for any legal letters will be though Echosign. No integration with the website will be required with regard to this service or the digital signing of documentation).

Legal Firm Directory (stage 2 build)*

A further route of monetisation for the website will come in the form of a business directory for relevant legal firms and professionals.

The directory will be a simple listings and profile system whereby results can be filtered by location (Mainland UK county), legal specialism and name of firm. Clicking on a result will bring up a simple profile with the name, a logo, some information and contact details (phone, email, web).

Should you require both the reduction of web admin your end and a degree of automation, we will propose a system whereby advertisers may manage and publish their own profiles after they purchase advertising space via your website based on a rolling subscription using Stripe as the payment gateway.

In summary:

• Visitors can sign up to the site to become They will be required to pay a fee via the website after which they are automatically provided with a user account.
• Advertisers can create a profile within their account, and this becomes publishable on the website once the profile has been vetted and deemed relevant and appropriate by the website’s administrator.
• The profile has a time-limited life on the website until either a renewal is paid for, or it expires and is subsequently unpublished from the website. (The time limit for adverts may be 1 year for example; this period is to be agreed with )
• Any profile may have its advertising space ‘renewed’ by the Advertiser through an automatic recurring payment.

*Stage 2 build prices are indicative and based on information we have at present, but may be subject to revision following further development of ideas.

Logo redraft

We would propose a redraft the existing ABC Limited logo. It will retain its triangular shape and recognisable outline of the corporate identity but its cosmetic features will be updated. This will contemporise the logo while maintaining brand familiarity.

Cookies and remarketing

Our partners at The Click Hub offer remarketing service, which can help to increase sales and enquiries from those who have already visited your website.

Social media

As Part of our standard web build, we will integrate up to two live social media feeds (Facebook, Twitter or Instagram) into the website. We can add any simple social profile links from the site.

data and content entry

With hundreds of pages to populate and advice sheets to upload, we would recommend that Illicit build the main page templates and populate 20 pages of new content for testing purposes. We will also populate the E-bookstore with up to 30 products. We will then show you or an appointed webmaster how to add further content, products, page metadata and more via the content management system. However, should you require all data and content entry to be carried out by Illicit, we will charge an additional rate of £50 + VAT per hour.

SSL certificate

We will implement an SSL certificate to boost the security of your website. SSL certificates are fast becoming a standard for web browsing. Google favours encrypted websites, and Chrome is soon to implement a flagging up system for sites that do not have these.

ABC Limited app

We would require a separate requirements brief on the development of an app that is discrete from the website itself. We would need to know which features it will offer (compared with a fully responsive, mobile friendly website).

style and theme

We would recommend designing a bespoke website theme to your requirements. Visually, it should offer ‘breathing space’ to the web pages and convey a contemporary feel. It will display substantial levels of content and information without overwhelming the eye, and will moreover compel the visitor to explore further and get in touch.

We would suggest eye catching textual headlines in elegant but accessible typography; carefully arranged engaging images and bold solid areas of colour set against neutral shades. The website will remain fully onbrand, in keeping with your corporate identity. We would also make economical use of screen ‘real estate’, with a responsive layout designed to make the best use of a variety of viewport sizes and devices.

user experience

Page layout and navigational aids will be designed to facilitate the best possible user experience. We would suggest a layout that positions the navigation menu items and contact details easily within reach, minimising the use of clicks and page scrolling for the user.

We will ensure that the widest possible audience can view the pages through technological compatibility. All of our websites are responsive, meaning that the layout of your webpages will shift and adapt to fit whatever device it is being viewed on for optimal viewing experience. Therefore the website will present and function well on all devices including desktop and laptop monitors, tablets and phones. We also test all of our websites on current versions of Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Opera, and across Windows, MacOS, iOS, Android and Linux.

content management system (cms)

The website will incorporate a WordPress-based CMS. This is a platform that allows you to easily update your website, and is both flexible and responsive to changes at your end. The CMS will enable you to log in securely and add/modify pages, events, news posts, images, documents and other media. We will offer a free one-to-one coaching session of the CMS to an appointed administrator, and email instructions to other users requiring access to the CMS.

technology and web build

We adhere to the latest web standards, employing semantic HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript. The principal backend technologies will be PHP >=5.4 running on Linux Apache, with MySQL for data storage/retrieval.

2 OTHER SERVICES

Support, Maintenance and Development

Illicit Web Design welcome a continuing working relationship with you, and we will always be happy to suggest updates, changes and developments. We will make additions and changes to the website on request. This will keep the website contemporary in design, layout and functionality. This is quoted on a per-project basis at our current hourly rate (Illicit Web Design reserves the right to increase future charges up to keep in line with its standard rates). Technical support is offered by email and telephone Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm. We offer a same day response. Issues and enquiries are normally resolved within a 24 hour time frame.

Optional Updates and Health Check Service

For £20 a month we are able to carry out software updates, a routine health check, and create a backup of your website. This involves:

• Monthly updates to WordPress core and plugins (or equivalent platform/service)
• Routine health check (including broken links checks, broken HTML checks and virus scans
• Monthly file backups (in addition to the weekly database backups)
• Offsite archiving of your files and database
• Your website files and data will be sent to you for your own archiving/transfer purposes
• Monthly site security audit

Hosting

Illicit Web Design can offer advice on the hosting of your new website. As a high traffic site with a large database, a dedicated server or similar (such as virtual private server) will be essential. A recommended package (from either Vidahost or SiteGround) will start at £36+VAT per month at the minimum, depending on the size and popularity of the site at the point of launch. The price will also increase as the website scales, attracting higher traffic and growing in content. You will likely require additional hosting for your mailboxes (either leaving them at their current hosts or migrating them to a new host). Should you require assistance with migrating mailboxes, we will work at our current hourly rate, with time taken depending on the number of mailboxes requiring set up. Alternatively, you may host with a provider of your choosing, ensuring that the hosting technology will be able to support the completed website. The minimum server specifications are: PHP >=5.4, Apache >=2.4, >=2 MySQL databases and unlimited subdomains.

If you have a Google Analytics account, this tool can be embedded into the site to monitor your web traffic and visitor behaviour. For competitive SEO in which high ranking search engine results are crucial, a monthly campaign with our dedicated SEO/marketing specialists can be arranged on request. Our SEO specialists have enabled Illicit Web Design to reach number one for our chosen key terms and come highly recommended.

PRICING, PAYMENT, TIMESCALES

We charge £50/hour excluding VAT. The totals shown below are subject to revision if requirements are changed. We will initiate discussion on any cost implications of changing requirements at the earliest opportunity.

Principal Web Build and Logo Redraft

Settlement Zone (stage 2 build)

Legal Firm Directory (stage 2 build)

*Stage 2 build prices are indicative and based on information we have at present, but may be subject to revision following further development of ideas.

Payment Terms

On acceptance and signing of our contract, we will invoice for 30% of the total amount quoted for the design and development of the website. This is to be paid as a nonrefundable deposit. An interim payment of 20% is due on presentation of a live home page design. The remaining 50% is due upon completion of the project and final signing off by both parties (see stage 8 of “The Illicit Process”). This will be invoiced and will be payable prior to the deployment of the website.

Timescales

Typically, the principal build of a project of this size will take 4-6 months from signing of Terms and Conditions/payment of deposit. However, this may vary considerably either way depending on client content creation and feedback on design phases.

4 ABOUT US

IWD specialise in Web Design, Graphic Design, Branding and Digital Marketing.

Founded in 2010 on the belief that the web should always be bold and beautiful, we began to craft bespoke websites for small and medium-sized businesses with our core mission: to be brave by design.

Today we continue to create websites that not only function as beautifully as they look, but by being daring with design and technology we always make them stand out.

By combining our passion for distinctive design with an honest and straight-talking approach, we build great relationships and awesome websites.

Recent Examples of our work

Airport Suppliers www.airport-suppliers.com

A large-scale website for one of the world’s leading online directories for the aviation industry

Cranbrook Education Campus www.cranbrookeducationcampus.org.uk A school website for Devon’s newest town

Little’s Coffee www.wearelittles.com

An e-commerce website for a popular flavoured coffee manufacturer

Touch Design Group www.touchdesigngroup.com

A portfolio website for a design and architecture company

Testimonials

We have been very impressed with Illicit. They have a great team and we found them professional and efficient when working with us. The output was great, we are really pleased with the websites and all our requirements have been met. A big thank you to the team!

Marcus Gomez, Exeter Community Initiatives

Illicit have produced a great looking website for us which is easy to use and functional. Although a fairly technical site, they went that extra mile to find solutions to make our requirements work. Illicit have been a fantastic team to work with and have kept us up to date with the progress all the way through. Many thanks guys, and we look forward to working with you in the future.

Ezrael Wayne, Hot Rock Print

We are very happy customers! The process from start to finish was smooth, the Illicit team kept us up to date with progress whilst brainstorming additional enhancements for the design. Prior to instructing Illicit Web Design I met with multiple other website design companies in Exeter. Illicit were well above the competition as well as quoting a reasonable price for the build. We will certainly be doing business with them in the future.

Edgar Smith, Autograph Estate Agents

Illicit Web Design and The Environment

As part of Illicit Web Design’s approach to taking responsibility for their impact on the environment, they have partnered with climate and development experts ClimateCare to offset their carbon emissions associated with the following: Car travel, Office Energy, and Web Hosting. All of these are reviewed and offset on a yearly basis.