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As chairman and chief executive officer of We The People, the country’s only retail storefront chain that provides legal document preparation services, Jeffrey Weiss feels a certain kinship with some pioneers of another industry.

Brothers Henry and Richard Bloch paved the way for H&R Block to grow into the world’s largest tax services company by introducing storefront tax preparation services to everyday Americans in 1955. Weiss sees a common thread in We The People’s affordable legal document preparation services for consumers from a cross-section of America who choose to represent themselves in uncontested legal matters.

We The People provides document preparation for more than 50 common legal documents including living wills or trusts, bankruptcies, divorces, incorporations, powers of attorney and more. Although prices vary by state, fees are generally around $99 for a will, $99 for a living will, $299 for a personal bankruptcy and $399 for a divorce. It is the only business of its kind that is growing via franchising.

In March 2005, We The People was acquired by Philadelphia-based Dollar Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: DLLR), which operates a network of more than 1,300 consumer financial services stores in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom. The stores offer a range of products and services primarily consisting of check-cashing, short-term consumer loans, money orders and money transfers.

Weiss has served as Dollar Financial Corp.’s chairman and CEO since an affiliate of Bear Stearns & Co. Inc., acquired the company in 1990 when it was a $14-million, 60-store chain. With more than 40 acquisitions in 16 years, Dollar Financial has grown into a $300 million public company.

“Our expertise is in finding small, entrepreneurial companies such as We The People that have perfectly targeted consumer retail needs,” Weiss said. “We bring professionalism to those companies and spur additional growth.”
Founded in 1985, We The People has 145 retail storefronts nationwide. We The People’s market potential is enormous.

We The People addresses the needs of consumers throughout the country who can save hundreds, even thousands of dollars with the increasing popularity of the self-help legal movement. In California alone, where We The People has about 60 offices, more than 75 percent of divorces are now done without attorney representation.

We The People opened its first franchised location in 1996 and by 2000 had surpassed 25 locations, mostly in Southern California. Owned by a husband-and-wife entrepreneurial team who had bootstrapped their way into franchising, We The People’s growth began accelerating after 2000. However, the demands of a fast-growing franchisee network began to outpace the franchisor’s ability to meet their needs.

“We had entrepreneurs who were wearing a number of hats as small-business people often do,” said Roy Hibberd, We The People’s senior vice president of franchise relations. “The company had grown to more than 150 stores and needed additional resources—not just money—but people, systems and infrastructure.”

With Dollar Financial Corp.’s acquisition of We The People, full-time staffing is being added in marketing, compliance and training. In addition, a renewed customer service focus is backed by the latest in technology. Whereas previously We The People’s document preparation was completed at dispersed centers with non-uniform standards of efficiency, central processing centers now produce all documents accurately and efficiently.

“The support services needed professionalization,” Weiss said. “The heart of the business is processing the customers’ documents. We have dramatically improved the efficiency with which that’s done.”

Weiss’s short-term goals include maximizing the revenue of current franchisees, continuing We The People’s growth on a national scope and further development of new products. In 2006, several immigration-focused products are expected to be added, including document preparation for U.S. citizenship.

According to Weiss, operational improvements made to We The People since its acquisition have been well received by franchisees, who are reaping the benefits of improved resources and services.

“There was an acknowledgement that they had joined a very, very young organization with an awful lot of growing pains,” Weiss said. “I think they looked forward to a larger company smoothing things out for them.”
Franchisees are passionate about the service they provide and are active members of their communities. We The People also offers individuals a unique opportunity to invest in a retail concept that is distinct from traditional fast-food or other retail goods franchises.

“You can make sandwiches, but are you helping people?” Hibberd said. “We had an instance where a customer came into one of our stores whose father-in-law was dying. He needed a will and asked if our franchisee could come to the hospital to help him. So many of our services are emotional in nature. Our customers appreciate the professionalism that our franchisees offer them.”

We The People’s competition in legal document preparation services comes from four primary sources: the traditional method of using an attorney, do-it-yourself kits, Internet-based services and paralegals who operate small or home-based businesses.

However, according to a survey of industry customers by Kanter International, more than 62 percent of respondents said affordability was a primary reason for not using an attorney for legal document preparation. Thirty-five percent of respondents considered using a do-it-yourself kit, but the need for guidance and a personal connection of some sort resulted in their selection of a service such as We The People.

“We’re blazing the trail as H&R Block did,” said Melissa Soper, We The People’s executive vice president and general manager. “Who doesn’t need legal document preparation services? It’s a broad demographic and we haven’t even scratched the surface.”

We The People’s ideal franchisee is someone with a good business acumen and talent for exceptional customer service. No legal background is necessary since franchisees don’t give legal advice, but simply help customers represent themselves in uncontested legal matters. With a total investment of $123,200 to $169,500, We The People offers franchisees an easy-to-operate retail business.

With a retail storefront of about 1,000 to 1,200 square feet, We The People locations feature a casual setting of tables and chairs to meet with customers. The stores are typically located in retail strip centers or high-visibility, street-front locations. Aside from the document workbooks that customers purchase and complete, no other inventory is required. Stores can be run with one or two employees and are generally open weekdays from 10a.m.to 7 p.m., with some evening or Saturday hours.

We The People franchises are suitable for both single and multi-unit investors and area developers. The concept is popular with husband-and-wife teams. About 10 to 15 percent of franchisees are remote operators who hire a manager to oversee operations.