How do you find good professional help? (Lawyers, Accountants, Graphic Designers, etc)

I always ask around - whether it's family, friends, or even the business next door. I also go to networking events to try to find contacts.

Once I find a name or two, then I'll schedule an appointment and, if we seem to click, I'll open up with a small project. Maybe a contract review. Or my personal tax returns. Or a logo that's already been designed.

It's simply a trial to show how well they work or don't work. And if they don't, then I repeat the process. Usually, the professional will do an acceptable job (otherwise, I won't pay) so, at the very least, you're only out time.

I agree that referrals are the best way to find qualified people. However, make sure that they are not only qualified generally, but are specifically qualified in your area.

Also, we just found an amazing graphic designer on Craig's list. While you have to sort through a lot of junk, there are definitely some great finds on Craig's list of people just starting out on their own who are very qualified but offering freelance pricing.

Make sure to interview them thoroughly and get references.

Besides qualitifications and references ask for a clear description of what they are going to do and how much they charge you!

Be aware of the following signals: - After a 1 hour meeting they will say, I'll write up a short report --> which takes them 3 hours, charging $160 an hour, while the report contains nothing new. That's wasting money. It's better to make your own notes. You could send the advisor a short e-mail asking him to confirm if your notes are correct.

• If you have a meeting and they say: "Let me get my colleague, s/he knows about this stuff better than I do". Ask if s/he is also billing by the our. If so, it might be that all of a sudden you are having a meeting of 2x$160= $320 an hour instead of $160.

• If you need them to research something or they say "I'll check that for you and get back to you" agree on the maximum time/costs.

• If a lawyer needs to write up a contract, let them indicate if they have a template at the ready or else provide them with a template. In The Netherlands we for example have the site casus.com which provides a large amount of templates. Changing a template will cost them only a short amount of time.

Advisors are really useful and you need them, but be aware of your financials! It's relatively easy to "save" yourself some money by getting "lean and mean" advice instead of all the official reports these advisors write for large companies. In a startup every penny counts!

As I wrote in another answer, I think the single most important thing is cross-domain communication, i. e.

• how well does the professional understand what you want?
• how well do you understand what he / she is doing?

I've found that people who are good at this will spend the time to talk with you about the outline of what you need done, without charging for it and without you making any commitments. At the end of that conversation, you should have a clear idea of what's going to come next, how the complete process will look like, and at least roughly what sort of money you're talking about. You should be able to summarize this and the other person should agree. The professional should be able to paraphrase what it is you want and you should feel understood.

A problem that's often underestimated is that you, not being familiar with the particular domain, will not know exactly what you want or what's good for you. A great professional helps you with that, at no charge, before you hire him / her, and without regard to his / her revenue, like an independent advisor. I know a media agency who regularly spend a man-day or more on free, open-ended consulting to prospective clients. They did my website and CI and I'm totally happy, even though they aren't exactly cheap.

See this article for graphics designers in particular. Most of the advice applies elsewhere as well.

Here are my top 4 tips for finding a professional - - Ask for a referral but with people in a similar situation as you. Word of mouth is the best way

• Ask specifics on what experience stands out for the transaction or service with the professional

Once you find referrals there are some things you need to keep in mind:

• The Busy ones are the safe ones. The professional that advertises may not be the one you want to retain.

• Ask questions to the professionals even if you think they are dumb. Because the best professionals know how to treat dumb questions.

• Ask them the profiles of existing clients and most importantly if they have existing testimonials.

That's what the internet for.

I've recently used http://www.justanswer.com/ instead of seeing a doctor. Nowadays almost everything is on the web.

There are online proof reading services, health, lots of lots freelance graphic designs sites like Guru, elance or design/logo competition sites.

Basically use the internet for whatever you need, somewhere in someone opened a website and gives online services for whatever you need. Read the reviews, try them out, use them. It's way easier than going out and trying to find some decent contractor (unless you already knew them)

You need to have people you are comfortable working with. If your accountant annoys you, or your attorney intimidates you, they aren't going to be that much use to you. That gut-level feeling has to be there.

Also, assign a small task first, and see how well it is done. Do you understand the work product? Was the advice good? Did the numbers add up?

Overall I think Hanno's advice is great.

I'll reply re lawyers, because that's my profession.

1. The lawyer needs to have lots of experience working with startups, because they have special needs.
2. You can look for lawyers who post here at OnStartups.com, though you can find many more on Avvo and LinkedIn - search for questions that are similar to the questions you have.
3. Search for blogs that discuss legal issues for startups (mine is The High-touch Legal Services Blog).

Disclaimer: This post does not constitute legal advice and does not establish an attorney-client relationship.