There used to be two main reasons why people set up in sole practice -- aspiration and desperation.

Yet currently, because of the over supply of solicitors, there may be a third group of solicitors emerging consisting of those who have been qualified for a number of years but who have only been able to obtain temporary postings.Whatever your motives for wanting to set up as a sole practitioner, it is a very big step which should not be taken lightly.

It is an exceptional solicitor who will have the necessary management and business skills to set up and manage a sole or small practice with only three years' qualification under his or her belt.However, there is perhaps a better case for doing so now than before.

The market has never been so strongly favourable to prospective tenants as now, particularly those tenants who can give the kind of covenant which a solicitor can.

Many landlords may now feel more inclined to allow sub-letting because extra income from the sub-tenant will ensure that the tenant's rent is more likely to be paid.

Even at an early stage, it is wise to anticipate a certain amount of expansion when taking premises, unless you are taking space at a prime commercial centre where even a modest increase over your minimum requirements will result in a substantial increase in the overall rental.Most solicitors will have the good sense to work out their set-up costs carefully even if they do not go as far as producing a business plan for submission to a bank or other potential lender to provide finance for the practice.

Many people will prefer to finance the set-up costs from their own resources so that pressure from a bank to repay a loan will be one less factor to worry about.

It is likely to cost in the region of £12,000 to provide a very basic sole practitioner's office.

This is assuming no staff other than a secretary -- who will be your spouse working at least initially for free.

A professional indemnity contribution of £500 will be payable as the Solicitors Indemnity Fund will treat the practice as brand new with no clients introduced from a previous practice.Banks are still reasonably amenable to lending the finance required to set up a new practice but will probably want to see a business plan.

Seven or eight years ago solicitors might have spoken to a senior contact within a bank to obtain an overdraft facility of, for example, £15,000 unsecured in order to start a new practice.

However, it is no longer assumed that a new solicitor's practice will be a winner.

Lending systems have changed so that local managers no longer have the power to authorise lending on the basis of personal knowledge of the customer.

You may also be required to secure even a small loan by way of a charge on your house.Many solicitors may consider starting a new small practice with one or two close friends.

However, apart from the situation where a number of colleagues wish to split off from an established firm it is unlikely that friends will be in a position to join you in a new practice even if they would wish to do so.

Even if they are logistically in such a position, they may consider the risks involved to be too great.

People have mortgages and other basic living expenses to service and they may not have the kind of savings required.

An immediate problem would arise where one party demanded a regular draw from the outset while the other partner agreed there should be no draw until a clear profit trend had been established.

Unless the practice is a partnership of equals in terms of age, experience and value of clients introduced, there are likely to be immediate disagreements over level profit-sharing ratios.

For these reasons partnerships, even with close friends, are likely to be impracticable or unworkable unless two people find themselves in the same kind of difficulties at the same time.

That is not to say that sole practitioners cannot take in close friends at a later date.

However, personalities are unlikely to be the deciding factor whereas client base, funding and agreement on profit share are.

Some people may be wary of combining with a close friend in case a beautiful friendship is ruined by business problems.

Whilst this is a perfectly legitimate concern, you at least start out with a firm basis of trust and are each likely to be able to judge fairly personal traits and the degree of commitment and energy which the other is able to bring to a new venture.

Suspicion and mistrust are the seeds of many partnership break ups.Those people who see sole practice as a move towards a better quality of life are likely to be sadly disappointed.

A sole practitioner is exactly that.

You are out there in the front line and you are on your own at least for a year or two and possibly for a good deal longer.

The problems which face all practices are there and you face them largely alone and unaided.

However, sole practice is not without its rewards.

There is no doubt at all that any credit that the practice enjoys belongs to you.

You can listen with a kind of grim satisfaction and weird voyeurism to the tales of intrigue going on within other firms certain in the knowledge that those kind of office conspiracies are a thing of the past.

Questions to ask before going solo:-- What finance do I need and how can I get it?-- Will I be able to find suitable premises that I can afford?-- Do these premises allow for a modest expansion?- What type of practice do I want and what kind of work will I be doing?-- Where will this work come from?-- What fees is it likely to produce?-- Will they be sufficient to cover at least the overheads?-- Have I calculated the set-up costs properly?-- Which clients, if any, can I be sure will follow me and what fees will they produce?-- Are there any contractual problems, such as partnership deeds or contracts of employment, which might make it difficult for me to have them as clients?-- Am I the kind of person who is likely to be able to make the transition from member of a medium or large firm with ample resources to a fledgling practice struggling for survival in the early days?-- Will I be able to take the isolation it involves until the practice grows?