Do you want to start a notary public company and need to write a plan? If YES, here is a sample notary public business plan template & feasibility report.
A notary public works as a certified and legal witness, offering their signature as proof of identification. Standard notarized legal documents include contracts, mortgages, and property deeds. Notary public businesses serve customers either from a home office, brick-and-mortar establishment, mobile, or online.
Most of the 4.4 million Notaries in America become Notaries as part of their job duties or as a value-added skill on their resume. Others choose to become Notaries so they can have their own mobile Notary or Notary Signing Agent business.
But they all work as independent contractors who earn money by handling mortgage signings, notarizing trust documents and performing many other tasks. Note that apart from the additional income opportunities available, the office of the Notary Public has a long history and brings with it credibility to the individual Notary.
A Sample Notary Public Business Plan Template
1. Industry Overview
Businesses in legal services industry provide the services of lawyers and other legal practitioners to individuals, businesses, government agencies, and non-profits. The US legal services industry includes about 180,000 establishments (single-location firms and units of multi-location firms).
The legal services industry in the united states generated approximately 288 billion in 2018. In 2018, over 1.1 million people were employed in legal occupations in the U.S. This number was set to rise to 1.38 million in 2023. The largest share of those working in legal occupations was comprised of lawyers. Lawyers also earned the most in this industry, with a mean annual wage of over 144,000 U.S. dollars.
Close to 47 percent of 2018 law graduates had taken up employment with law firms by April 2019 and 70.1 percent were working in occupations which required the passage of the bar exam. According to industry reports, the overall health of the global economy, and the corresponding volume of commercial transactions, heavily influences demand for legal services.
Bigger firms achieve success by working on cross-border cases for multinational clients and constantly expanding their industry practice areas.
Small firms rely on serving local clients and developing expertise in a few practice areas. Firms large and small stand out by touting pro bono work, diversity, and corporate social responsibility. The industry faces several potential disruptors. Client law firms are relying more on in-house legal teams.
2. Executive Summary
Authentic Docs is a legal notary public and paper shredding company, offering document notarization and cost effective destruction services to law firms, businesses, and individuals. We will offer a most secure, efficient, simple and cost effective plan available for authenticating and destroying a company’s confidential information.
At Authentic Docs, we all also provide complete on-site and off-site document verification and destruction services. We plan to service law firms and other businesses in Denver, Colorado. We boast of a massive industry experience in documentation as well as the shredding of microfilm, microfiche, credit cards, computer tapes and other forms of media storage.
We will keep an automated journal and issue certificate of notarization or destruction, as the case may be, with each invoice.
We also offer recycling programs for non-confidential documents. Authentic Docs has a 4,000 square foot facility located in Downtown Denver, Colorado. The park anchors the industrial section of the city and is within easy access of 80 percent of potential customers.
Our start-up cost for Authentic Docs is focused primarily on disposal equipment, disposal bins, and disposal trucks. We will have the ability to draw up and certify contracts and other legal documents that require a notary’s seal and signature such as wills, mortgages, adoption papers, property deeds and financial transfers.
Mason Stevens and the silent partner will each make substantial investments in the company. In addition, Mason will secure a long-term business loan to cover most of the start up and running cost. Authentic Docs will also market an annual service contract at a 20 percent discount to small companies and a 15 percent discount to medium-size companies.
Our competitive edge will be our quick response to a customer’s request for services. Authentic Docs will respond within 24 hours of a request by a company for record verification and shredding services.
3. Our Products and Services
Authentic Docs is a legal notary public and paper shredding company, offering document notarization and cost effective destruction services to law firms, businesses, and individuals in Denver, Colorado. We will offer the following services:
- Document Notarization
Authentic Docs will offer notarization services to law firms, businesses, and individuals that have notary needs. The business will also sell a variety of pre-printed legal forms that will assist individuals with their ongoing legal filing needs.
- Document Security
Authentic Docs will offer on-site document destruction service which is the safest, most secure, and convenient means of disposing of sensitive documents. An assigned bonded and uniformed employee will take a customer’s classified documents from the security bins that we provide for the office directly to the mobile shredding unit where the materials will be destroyed.
- Document on-site destruction services
Authentic Docs will provide security bins to be placed throughout the office area. These bins have a built in lock to ensure documents cannot be removed without a key. The material will be destroyed on-site and the shredded paper will then be taken to our facility where it will be recycled.
- Document Off-site destruction services
We will also provide off-site document destruction. We will still supply our customers with security bins but the materials will be brought back to our facility to be shredded. In addition to the security consoles for the office, we offer 65-gallon Schafer containers.
These Schafer containers are used for high volume areas. Customers with large volumes of paper find this to be the most economical way to handle classified materials.
4. Our Mission and Vision Statement
- Our vision at Authentic Docs is to develop into a foremost notary and business services agency within Colorado and all other neighbouring states.
- The mission of Authentic Docs is to provide a cost-effective document notarization and disposal service that protects our customers demand for assurance and security.
Our Business Structure
Our business structures at Authentic Docs will emphasize our standard in the industry. Mason Stevens will be responsible for day-to-day operation of the facility. He will also manage the sales team. An off-site facility team will manage the notarization of documents. They will also be tasked with the disposal of records at the Authentic Docs Facility.
The on-site team will manage collection of documents to be notarized, collection of documents for destruction and the disposal of documents at a customer site, as the case may be. Our business structure will include the following portfolios;
- Attorney Coordinator
- Paralegal/Legal Analyst
- Lines Account Manager
- Accountant
- Office manager
- Security Officers
5. Job Roles and Responsibilities
Attorney Coordinator
- Review documents to determine if they meet notarization eligibility requirements as set forth in the Company’s policies
- Where an affidavit is provided in connection with the document, verify all of the information in the affidavit is true and accurate and, if it meets the standard, timely execute the affidavit in compliance with applicable laws and Company policies.
- Monitor the Company’s relationship with law firms and other clients to ensure they are performing in accordance with contractual expectations and represent Credit Acceptance professionally, compliantly and cost-effectively.
- Coaching, performance managing and auditing a defined group of clients to ensure all binding agreements are being worked in compliance with our policies and procedures and the contract.
- Evaluating data concerning clients performance and documenting observations based on that data
- Presenting performance results to clients, including Action Plans developed through the relationship management process
- Completing initial and annual due diligence reviews of clients to confirm that they understand and are capable of complying with the protection laws
- Oversee compliant and efficient progress of documents placed with the company
- Provide ongoing support to all other employees
Paralegal/Legal Analyst
- Drafting of powers of attorney for use worldwide.
- Ensure compliance with power of attorney process and standards.
- Coordinate apostille or legalization for powers of attorney.
- Maintain company database and records.
- Maintain contracts database and records
- Review and negotiate routine contracts (MSAs, Confidentiality Agreements, etc.)
- Manage online compliance program, including facilitation of third-party representative applications and approvals
- Prepare compliance-related communications
- In coordination with HR/Payroll, manage garnishments, including receiving notices, responding to interrogatories, and managing open garnishment orders
- Assists with matter management and litigation hold systems and assists with data entry and reporting within same
- Update company policies and standards related to legal and compliance matters
- Monitor and report on key performance indicators related to legal and compliance support of business initiatives
Lines Account Manager
- Manage client accounts and client relationships, as well as generate new personal lines business
- Provide customer service via phone, fax, and email, including gathering information for all change requests
- Quote and issue new policies and market renewals
- Input claims
- Input / update client screen and policy screen information in the Agency Management System
- Process client payments as agency sweeps when necessary
- Invoice all agency-billed transactions within the department and follow up to collect payment from clients
- Maintain relationships with Personal Lines Carriers
- Drive and support cross-selling strategies for existing clients, as well as new relationships
- Foster and seek relationships with teammates across all levels
- Attend training sessions, courses, etc. to maintain up-to-date skills
- Other duties as needed
Accountant
- In charge of preparing financial reports, budgets, and financial statements for the agency
- Prepares the income statement and balance sheet
- Provides managements with financial analyses, development budgets, and accounting reports
- In charge of financial forecasting and risks analysis.
- Performs cash management, general ledger accounting, and financial reporting for one or more properties.
- In charge of developing and managing financial systems and policies
- In charge of administering payrolls
- Ensures compliance with taxation legislation
- Handles all financial transactions for the Agency
- Serves as internal auditor for the agency
Office manager
- Receive, sort, stamp and deliver all incoming documents and items.
- Interact by phone and web with the client and internal management and staff. Perform data entry using company-developed software and Microsoft Excel and perform basic work processing using Microsoft Word and Outlook.
- Provide clerical support for the Attorney Coordinator including but not limited to: assist with the preparation and review of the monthly and quarterly deliverable reports for client; daily workload reports for management meetings and client meetings; as needed.
- Primary point of contact for Expense Reports including but not limited to training and review.
- Provide Notary Public services as requested.
- Maintain the office corporate calendars: Staff and Training in conjunction
- Provides courteous and prompt service to all internal and external customers.
- Prioritizes and addresses requests and assignments in a professional manner to develop cooperative relationships and to ensure that customer confidentiality is assured.
- Performs other duties and assignments as requested by the attorney coordinator.
Security Officers
- Ensures that the agency is secured at all time
- Controls traffic and organize parking
- Gives security tips to staff members from time to time
- Patrols around the agency on a 24 hours basis
- Any other duty as assigned by the school administrator.
6. SWOT Analysis
Our goal at Authentic Docs is to offer a most secure, efficient, simple and cost effective notarization for companies. We will possess the ability to draw up and certify contracts and other legal documents that require a notary’s seal and signature such as wills, mortgages, adoption papers, property deeds and financial transfers.
Our main objective is to achieve sales goal during first year of operation and also create a customer base of 100 companies. We hope to grow sales by 15 percent during the second year of operation.
To be able to achieve these milestones, we hired the services of well known professional in the area of business consulting and promotion with solid experience in the legal and law service sector to help us in establishing a standard and competitive notary and destruction business.
They had to work with the management of our agency in conducting our SWOT analysis. Outlined below is a summary from the result of the SWOT analysis conducted for us at Authentic Docs.
- Strength
Our strength in this industry is as follows; the experience and diverseness of our workforce will give us an olive branch in this industry.
Also, by creating an impeccable “trustworthy” relationship with our clients through the use of first class equipment and proper verification processes, clients will want to frequent our agency often and recommend it to their colleagues and friends.
Also by showing genuine concerns about the interests of our clients, we can make them feel comfortable and confident that we can meet all of their notarization and document destruction needs.
- Weakness
It will really take some time for our notarization and destruction agency to become well known. Notarization and document destruction is a sensitive venture that goes hand in hand with trust. The time it will take us to build this trust with our customers, according to our SWOT analysis, is the only perceived weakness for Authentic Docs.
- Opportunities
Theft, vandalism, and industrial espionage are becoming ever increasing security problems. There are too many horror stories resulting from unverified confidential information or these information getting into the wrong hands.
Today’s business environment is becoming very competitive and information explosion can be devastating to a business. With the increased use of office copiers and computers, staggering amounts of sensitive information is being generated and carelessly treated. It opens up a massive opportunity for us at Denver, Colorado.
- Threat
At Authentic Docs, we understand that the notary and document destruction industry are well regulated and industry changes are bound to occur here and there. Also the sudden appearance of a competitor within our location of operation can threaten the success of our business.
7. MARKET ANALYSIS
- Market Trend
According to our research, the need for Notaries and document destruction continues to grow, and having performing these duties means that we’re not going to run out of work anytime soon.
- Loan & Mortgage Signings
Loan signings are one of the most common ways that notaries earn an income. In fact, reports have it that more than half of the notary public income comes from providing loan and mortgage signings services. The entire notary industry took a huge hit in 2008 during the housing crisis and subsequent Great Recession.
From 2008 until 2012, there was a loss of notary work as the industry experienced people being unable, or unwilling, to purchase houses during uncertain times. However, since 2013, the need for notaries has increased and is quickly surpassing pre-recession numbers. Recently, as homes change hands at an ever increasing rate, the need for notaries only continues to grow.
And as the United States population increases and ages, more people are purchasing homes, whether it’s a first time home purchase (Millennials) or Baby Boomers (selling their old home and potentially downsizing), the need for notaries will only increase.
- Debt Settlement Signings
Although it’s unfortunate that so many people find themselves getting into debt, that is good news for notaries who provide debt settlement signings. In addition, when notaries connect with reputable companies who provide debt settlement signings service, their ability to get work increases.
National Paralegal & Notary is a recognized leader in debt settlement signing services and welcomes qualified and detail oriented notaries into its nationwide network.
- Verifying I-9 Forms
As we know, the trend for employers hiring remote employees and contractors only grows. And as the federal government continues to audit more and more business to ensure they are adhering to the I-9 form requirement for every new employee, it is no surprise that there are more requests for notaries to help complete these forms.
Employers will often hire notaries in order to verify the identity of the prospective employee and fill out the proper paperwork, acting as a representative of the company. These forms are issued by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in order to verify the identity of an employee and ensure that they are eligible for employment in the US.
While I-9 forms do not require an official notarization, it only makes sense to hire someone who is familiar with the identification documents required. Choosing a notary to work as an “authorized representative” is a no-brainer. Being a Notary Comes With Privileges.
8. Our Target Market
At Authentic Docs, we plan to focus on the following target customers:
- Law firms and individuals
These will include legal professionals, businesses, and individuals that need to have documents notarized for individuals with notary needs.
These law firms we believe have substantial document destruction needs. Individuals and their businesses that frequently file notarized business forms (especially among debt servicing and financial businesses.) will also be serviced.
- Second tier companies and Small businesses
These companies have 10 to 100 employees. They represent a significant market since internal document disposal is not cost-effective or efficient. Outsourcing disposal services is an excellent solution that will reduce the business disposal costs by 25 percent.
Record disposal to this audience is quickly becoming an important concern and is usually poorly organized and inefficient.
Our Competitive Advantage
We at Authentic Docs believe our agency has a very large potential market. Due to the uniqueness of our agency throughout Colorado, we strongly believe we can become the main notarization and document destruction agency quickly.
Our competitive advantage at Authentic Docs is our quick response to a customer’s request for services. We will respond within 24 hours of a request.
Our verification processes will be automated and fast, while our disposal trucks will shred documents twice as fast as our competitors and has a greater load capacity. Also, Mason Stevens leadership is a tremendous competitive advantage to this business.
9. SALES AND MARKETING STRATEGY
- Sources of Income
Authentic Docs is an agency developed with the aim of generating substantial incomes in the document notarization and destruction industry and we plan to do these by leveraging all available opportunities in the industry and within the proximity of the law in the United States.
We plan to sustain our business and make profits by charging a fee for each document we notarize or shred. We will strive to sustain relationship with organizations that require a notary and document destruction regularly to ensure a steady flow of income.
10. Sales Forecast
We at Authentic Docs assume that by the end of our first year, we must have connected with at least 30 businesses that need notarization and document destruction services. We also expect an enviable growth rate for several years, up to 200 members.
That will be the maximum number of clients that can be accommodated by this Agency. Further expansion of the grounds shall be considered in future. We project that we will be able to generate sufficient capital from operation to meet our initial needs.
However, our projections are based upon present real market conditions and data. Should revenue generated not meet projections, adjustments will be made in ordering and long-term commitments decreased or postponed. Below is our sales forecast at Authentic Docs;
- First Fiscal Year (FY1): $435,000
- Second Fiscal Year (FY2): $1,193,990
- Third Fiscal Year (FY3): $2,310,034
- Marketing Strategy and Sales Strategy
Note that our Sales (contract and services) at Authentic Docs will be based on the services provided by our agency. We plan to ensure that all the users of our agency must feel they are getting the best possible value for their money. If there is a better value for equal services, we will strive to match or beat that value for customers.
We will also market an annual service contract at a 25 percent discount to small companies and a 17 percent discount to medium-size companies. We will offer a free on-site survey of the company’s facility to determine the company’s exact needs. We plan to build our marketing plan around the following;
- Focus on service and support.
- Establish a relationship business.
- Focus on golf equipment as the key target market.
11. Publicity and Advertising Strategy
We at Authentic Docs explicitly understand the benefits of a good publicity strategy, which is why even though we have no specific marketing plan, we hope to leverage a lot of strategies to boost our business through publicity. We are very ready to become the number one choice when it comes to document verification and notarization and also documents shredding and destruction.
That is why Authentic Docs has made provisions for effective and direct publicity and advertisement of our document notarization and destruction Agency. Outlined below are the platforms we hope to leverage on to promote Authentic Docs;
- Place adverts on both print (community based newspapers and magazines) and electronic media platforms
- Sponsor relevant community based events / programs
- Establish relationships with local law firms throughout the target market.
- Develop ongoing relationships with the Secretary of State
- Leverage on the internet and social media platforms like; Instagram, Facebook , twitter, YouTube, Google + et al to promote our brand
- Install our Bill Boards in strategic locations all around Denver, Colorado.
- Distribute our fliers and handbills in target areas in and around Denver, Colorado
- Passing general information via our agency’s social media handles like twitter, Facebook, Google hangouts etc.
12. Our Pricing Strategy
Generally, notary and document destruction businesses in the United States charge clients a fee for each document notarized or destroyed. Our plan at Authentic Docs is to keep our fees below the average market rate by keeping our overhead low and by collecting payment in advance.
We also hope to give out special discounted rates to all our clients at regular intervals. We also understand that there are some of our prospective clients that would need special assistance, we will offer flat rate for such services.
- Our Payment Options
We at Authentic Docs plan to establish different payment options that will suit our clients at any given time and place. We have also made plans and partnered with a well known banking platform in the United States of America in other to offer these diverse services. Here are the payment options that we will make available to our clients;
- Payment by via bank transfer
- Payment via online bank transfer
- Payment via check
- Payment via mobile money
- Payment with cash
13. Startup Expenditure (Budget)
We understand that the cost of starting our business will depend on the approach and scale of the business. At Authentic Docs, we plan to establish a big scale document notarization and destruction agency that will provide trustworthy services to our clients.
We plan to spend our start-up costs on mostly equipment purchase, office building, stationery, legal costs, advertising and expenses associated with opening our first office. Below is a detailed cost analysis of starting Authentic Docs;
- Business incorporation fees in the United States of America will cost – $750.
- The budget for Liability insurance, permits and license will cost – $103,500
- Acquiring a large building and course that will accommodate our shredding and document destruction machines (Re – Construction of the facility inclusive) will cost – $600,000
- Equipping our office (computers, printers, shredders, notary stamps, markers, pens and pencils, furniture, telephones, filing cabinets, and electronics) will cost – $3000,000
- Launching an official Website will cost – $500
- The budget for the payment of salaries for the first three months of operation: $120,000
- Additional Expenditure such as Business cards, Signage, Adverts and Promotions will cost – $50,000
From our detailed analysis above, we have come to the conclusion that we will need approximately $1,400,000 to start up Authentic Docs.
Generating Funding/Start-up Capital for Authentic Docs
Authentic Docs will be a Limited Liability Corporation financed partially by direct owner investment and a long-term loan. Mason Stevens will own 60 percent of the company, while the silent partner will own the remaining 40 percent. These are the areas we intend generating our startup capital;
- Generate part of the startup capital from personal savings and sale of his stocks
- Generate part of the startup capital from friends and other extended family members
- Generate a larger chunk of the start-up capital from the bank (loan facility).
We have been able to raise about $800,000 (Personal savings $670,000 and soft loan from family members $130,000) and we are at the finishing stage of getting a loan facility of $600,000 from our bank. We’ve made sure that all the required papers and documents have been duly signed and submitted, the loan has been approved and any moment from now our account will be credited.
14. Sustainability and Expansion Strategy
We at Authentic Docs will issue a certificate of completion for each document notarized and destroyed. We plan to aggressively expand during the first three years of operation by implementing marketing campaigns that will effectively target individuals, businesses, and law firms within Colorado.
We also intend to use a number of marketing strategies that will allow us to provide essential notary and document destruction services not just within Denver, but all over the state of Colorado. These strategies include traditional print advertisements and ads placed on search engines on the Internet. We will also use an internet based strategy.
This is very important as many people seeking local services, such as specialized legal support and notary services, use the Internet to conduct their preliminary searches. We will also maintain a sizable amount of print and traditional advertising methods within local markets to promote the notary and legal support services that we offer.
We’ve also been able to establish a concrete connection and understanding with The National Notary Association. With 55 years of expertise, the National Notary Association is the nation’s leader in providing Notary training and education in accordance with state-specific requirements and best practices.
The NNA offers comprehensive training programs designed to enable Notaries to perform their duties professionally and proficiently. We will leverage their training options which include live seminars, convenient self-paced online training, webinars, self-study courses, and certifications to further our claim as the Best of the best in the industry.
Checklist/Milestone
- Business Name Availability Check: Completed
- Business Incorporation: Completed
- Opening of Corporate Bank Accounts: Completed
- Opening Online Payment Platforms: Completed
- Application and Obtaining Tax Payer’s ID: In Progress
- Application for business license and permit: Completed
- Purchase of Insurance for the Business: Completed
- Conducting feasibility studies: Completed
- Leasing, renovating and equipping our facility: Completed
- Generating part of the startup capital from the founder: Completed
- Applications for Loan from our Bankers: In Progress
- Writing of Business Plan: Completed
- Drafting of Employee’s Handbook: Completed
- Drafting of Contract Documents: In Progress
- Design of The Company’s Logo: Completed
- Printing of Promotional Materials: Completed
- Recruitment of employees: In Progress
- Purchase of software applications, furniture, office equipment, electronic appliances and facility facelift: In progress
- Creating Official Website for the Company: In Progress
- Creating Awareness for the business (Business PR): In Progress
- Health and Safety and Fire Safety Arrangement: In Progress
- Establishing business relationship with banks, financial lending institutions, vendors and key players in the industry: In Progress