It is thought that online divorce providers account for around 10 to 13% of the divorce market. These conservative figures were revealed by a study the Legal Services Board ran. It’s actually estimated by some that they could be a lot higher, though, at between 20 to 25% of the market.
One of the services in this niche who makes your divorce online easier is Amicable. The pioneers behind this divorce service and app are Kate Daly and Pip Wilson.
“Amicable was created after Kate went through an extremely expensive and stressful divorce”, explain the co-founders.
Having experienced the shock of such an expensive and traumatic process, they set about creating a business to make this difficult time easier to cope with for ex-couples.
Why is Online Divorce a Good Business?
It is easy to see why online divorce providers are so popular because of the many benefits you get from choosing them over conventional lawyers.
While some of the benefits are easy enough to understand, others are less obvious. Hopefully, you’ll not have experienced a traumatic divorce before, but many benefits you will only notice once you have started divorce proceedings.
Consider the following benefits of using an online divorce service, which meant this was a win-win business for both the consumer and owners.
More Harmonious
When you conduct divorces online, as long as they are agreed upon by all involved, it results in a more harmonious process.
When solicitors are involved, even divorces that start off agreeable can turn bitter and twisted very quickly.
It’s almost adversarial by default as it’s not in solicitors interests to get the process over with quickly and efficiently.
The free app that amicable offers aside from their service is built with a focus on partner communication for the fastest and most amicable result.
More Convenient
There are very few businesses, if any, that still operate within the traditional “9 to 5” hours.
Solicitors are one of the dinosaurs who have not changed though and although you could be paying them a premium rate for their services, you still need to contact them within normal working hours for any queries or information you may need.
It’s even worse if you need to arrange an appointment with them face to face.
Online providers tend to operate on a more open basis and for longer periods of the day. You will also find that they are available on weekends too.
Essentially, the nature of providing virtual assistance means they are available when you need their help and work with and for you, not against what you are trying to achieve.
Speed
Thanks to modern technology, online divorce providers can help process divorces in double quick time. There’s always the letter of the law that applies to the timeframe of divorcing from your partner, so the minimum time a divorce can take is usually around 16 weeks (nothing can be done about that, unfortunately).
Although that doesn’t sound as fast as you may want your divorce to take, services like Amicable’s means it is very quick compared to if the process was conducted offline when lawyers are involved.
Less Expensive
As it costs less for online divorce providers to operate and run their business online, it means they can pass on the savings to you the customer, that lawyers wouldn’t be able to.
All customers are required to pay fixed fees for the services and it does not cost anything to contact them.
No Court Attendance Required
When divorces are uncontested, court attendance is not necessary. That means less anxiety, stress and time wasting.
As lawyers charge you an hourly rate, they have greater motivation to ensure court proceedings take place. It’s the nature of their business after all.
However, opting for a lawyer not only brings with it greater expense, it also makes the whole divorce process less amicable, more bitter and acrimonious and can have lasting effects on the relationship you have with your ex.
With this new business model available, by relying on the help of an online divorce provider, you can maintain a healthier relationship with your ex after the divorce, which is important if you have children together.
Services like Amicables also offer divorce coaches with legal advice as part of what they do, so you don’t miss out on this important guidance.
It’s not difficult to see why the Amicable business model has gone from strength to strength. They are a perfect case study of how a business thrives.
They’ve found a market with a big problem,in this case, expensive and stressful divorces, and have created a solution to help the consumer.
It’s a win-win scenario and should provide inspiration for wantrepreneurs everywhere.