SINGLECASE - WHY LAWYERS MUST GO DIGITAL... OR GO HOME
Pavel Krkoška is the man behind SingleCase, our Praguebased startup, bringing law and order back together. Pavel took the time to meet with us for the interview just hours before his overnighttrain to Eastern Slovakia. In the interview, the young entrepreneur will shine the light on why lawyers have to go digital, what makes entering a new country difficult and what his key lesson learned is.
PAVEL. TELL US HOW SINGLECASE REVOLUTIONIZES THE LEGAL SECTOR IN FIVE SENTENCES?
Sure. Most lawyers are great at what they do but rarely think of their work as a project that needs proper planning. Many can’t provide (and stick to!) actual plans in terms of timing and budget, which is frustrating to clients. On top, lawyers have an infinite number of files and often multiple cases at the same time. SingleCase forms the muchneeded backbone to law operations by taking care of all the documents, invoices, and timesheetsall in one place. You could say we help lawyers stay efficient.
DO YOU THINK LAWYERS HAVE TO ‘GO DIGITAL’?
Absolutely so. Think about it, traditionally you have 1015 lawyers working under one roof. There is more paperwork than in most other professions, plus everybody needs access to everything, at all times. In addition, clients might ask you for a quick draft of an initial agreement.
You don’t want to take hours to deliver such a simple request, right?
But that’s not all… Nowadays, there are real alternatives out there. Basic documents can be found online. Good blog posts can already help clarify questions. So, lawyers are often needed for more specific tasks on a project basis, like helping with a merger. And in those cases it’s absolutely crucial to move fast.
Clients are digital today and lawyers have to be too if they want to stay in the game.
YOU ARE EXPANDING TO ROMANIA NOW. HOW IS THAT GOING?
Mostly well, except for some minor trouble that comes with entering a new market: we need to understand the intercultural differences between the Czech Republic and Romania and figure out how the market works. Also, we just learned that customers value different features.
So we need to adapt the product accordingly. Oh, and here is a really big challenge:
I could use at least 3 more PHP backend developers to help me implement all the features and move fast.
LET’S GET PERSONAL. WHAT’S YOUR KEY LESSON THUS FAR ON YOUR ENTREPRENEURIAL JOURNEY?
You can’t scale if you don’t give competencies to other people. That was hard for me to accept at first. I’m a perfectionist and wanted to do everything myself, but you can’t do that if you want to go big. You need to trust others, even with crucial tasks, and stay in constant, honest communication. That’s the only way.
GOT ANY ADVICE TO YOUNG PEOPLE OUT THERE WHO WANT TO START A BUSINESS?
Well, everybody will tell you to fuck it, just do it. And you have to, that’s for sure. But it seems to me that everybody expects things to happen overnight. Trying for a year or two then starting something else. In reality, all of the big guys spent 3 or 4 years in somebody’s garage. You have to keep going and improve little by little - over time, it can make an immense difference.