Hera Hub is excited to share Startup Stories from our members in honor of National Entrepreneurship Week. Each day this week we will interview incredible business women from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines. Our goal is to share our members’ wonderful stories with the public.
Heather Orr, the founder of HSO Law, helps build businesses from scratch, prioritizing their legal needs to ensure that they are adequately protected while also remaining affordable. HSO Law is a firm dedicated to the service of entrepreneurs and business owners, a one stop shop for businesses. Unlike traditional law firms, efficiency is a high priority. HSO Law also provides litigation services for contractual or other business disputes.
Heather has been a Hera Hub member at our Mission Valley, California location for more than one year. Here is her Startup Story:
What was the inspiration behind your business?
After serving Fortune 500 companies for the first part of my career, I began to realize that large corporations are often incentivized to act in a way contrary to my values, namely to prioritize profit above all else, including the needs of their employees and customers. It became clear to me that small businesses had the best opportunity to be good citizens of the community. However, traditional legal services were often too expensive for small businesses and so they frequently found themselves inadequately protected. I set out to offer big firm representation at small firm prices by making one change to how big firms practice: efficiency.
Who are your clients and what do you do for them?
My clients are a diverse bunch with only one common trait: integrity. I work for clients committed to being ethical and honest and I help them traverse the often overly complex legal system in a way that aligns with their values. My clients range from medium-sized manufacturers to small Solopreneurs and everyone in between. Amongst my clients are a PR firm, a luxury vacation company, software developers and programmers, a company that makes revolutionary planners, a hotel design agent, a furniture company, animal rescue groups and many, many individuals offering their services as independent contractors.
What are your business’ values? How do they align with your personal values?
I believe that lawyers can find more success and happiness if we embrace the original directive of our practice: to put our clients first and to prioritize ethics over profit. I didn’t become a lawyer to make money; I became a lawyer to make a difference, as cliché as it sounds. The more I hold that in my awareness as I grow my practice, the more fulfilled I am and the better service I provide to my clients. I believe a lawyer is nothing without their integrity and it is my most prized possession. Fortunately, through the success of my practice I’m also able to donate my time to animal rescue organizations, fulfilling one of the great callings of my life.
How/Why did you choose your business name?
I wanted to keep it simple, first of foremost. I strive to be direct and succinct in the way I communicate and my name is a reflection of that. It’s also a reflection of the personal nature of my practice – in that its my initials, as my practice is relationship based.
What do you love most about your work?
I love being a champion for someone I believe in. Few things bring me greater joy and meaning. I get to spend my days using each of my talents for the benefit of people in whom I truly believe. I love negotiating a good deal for my client, winning a hard fought case for someone who was wronged, or simply giving my clients the peace of mind to know that their contracts protect them from whatever their worst-case-scenario is. The trust that my clients place in me truly inspires me because it really is an honor.
What is the biggest challenge in running your own business?
Time management and the limitations of the court system. As far as the time management hurdle goes, I’ve spent six years reading books, articles and listening to podcasts in my ever-continuing quest to squeeze more of the important stuff out of each day while letting go of the less important stuff. I’m happy to say that I’ve made significant headway on that front and have become an excellent delegator!
As to the legal system, it seldom works for anyone but the lawyers. Few people that come to its doors leave fully and adequately compensated for what they’ve lost; it’s always a loss, not only of money but of time and often sanity. It’s why I realigned my practice five years ago to offer more preventative medicine, so to speak, because once a party finds themselves in court it’s often too late to obtain any justice.
What are your/your business’ goals for the future?
My primary goal is to write books that are as informative as they are enjoyable so that the average citizen can gain access to information often too convoluted to weed through without a law degree. I have two books coming out this year, one non fiction and one fiction, but both equally intended to inform.
What advice would you give to a new entrepreneur?
Figure out the “why”! Everything starts with the why. At your core, what do you want to accomplish? Stay loyal to those roots as you grow, checking in frequently. Financial reward alone is a hollow goal and will eventually leave you empty during the long hours and/or trials that will inevitably come your way. To get over those hills, you have to have something else in your tank besides a desire to make money.
