Put your expertise to work for small businesses.
Give entrepreneurs access to the legal and financial guidance they need to make important decisions and build stronger businesses — all on a schedule that works for you.
The right guidance can change the trajectory of a business.
Legal and financial expertise can make an enormous difference for a small business. But for many entrepreneurs, the cost of professional services can put that expertise out of reach.
By volunteering with Start Small, you can provide the kind of guidance businesses rely on every day and work directly with entrepreneurs building something of their own.
Volunteer in a way that works for you.
Choose how you'd like to contribute based on your expertise, interests, and availability. We identify business challenges, make thoughtful matches, and support you throughout the engagement — so you can focus on sharing your expertise.
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Consultations
1 hour
Help an entrepreneur address a focused legal or financial question during a one-hour consultation.
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Workshops
1–2 hours
Share your expertise with groups of entrepreneurs through practical workshops on essential business topics.
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Projects
A few hours, on your schedule
Work with an entrepreneur on a more complex legal or financial challenge, with meetings scheduled around your availability.
Share the expertise you use every day.
Legal
- Entity selection
- Choose the right legal structure for your business (like an LLC or corporation), and understand what it means for your personal risk, taxes, and ongoing paperwork.
- Corporate governance
- Create or review the key documents that explain how your business runs and how decisions are made (like bylaws and founder agreements).
- Investment legal advice
- Understand the legal side of raising money for the business like adding a partner or investor, and reviewing the paperwork that goes with it.
- Contract drafting & review
- Draft or review common business contracts, including vendor, client, and partnership agreements, so you understand what you’re agreeing to before you sign.
- Commercial lease review
- Review commercial lease terms, risks, and negotiation points before (or after) you sign so you know what you’re on the hook for as a tenant.
- Website terms & policies
- Create or review the rules and legal policies for your website or online business, including how you handle customer data and how visitors can use your site.
- Employment legal advice
- Understand the rules for hiring workers so you comply with labor laws, including independent contractors, interns, and employees.
- Trademark guidance
- Protect the names, logos, and slogans that identify your brand — searching for conflicts before you commit, registering a trademark when that is the right next step, and thinking through a broader strategy for your brand and ideas.
- Copyright advice
- Learn who owns the creative content your business creates and how to protect it, as well as how to use other people’s content legally.
- Patent advice
- Get early guidance on whether patent protection may fit your invention, product, or process and what to consider before moving forward.
Financial
Assistance calculating the cost of production and understanding how much a product or service contributes to paying overhead and owner's salary at various price and sales levels.
Assistance understanding whether the business can afford a new expense — hiring, a loan, or a new commercial lease.
Assistance setting prices and understanding which existing or proposed revenue streams are the most profitable.
Assistance developing 1–3 year financial forecasts for a business plan or raising capital.
Assistance choosing an appropriate system, support to implement it, and training to understand how to classify financial transactions.
Not sure whether your expertise is a fit?
Tell us about your background and we'll help identify opportunities where you can make the greatest contribution.
See what our volunteers make possible.
Every year, thousands of entrepreneurs gain access to legal and financial expertise through professionals who choose to share theirs. In 2025, our volunteers helped make possible:
- 1,375 Business challenges solved with expert support
- 541 Entrepreneurs completed one-on-one services
- 68 Expert-led workshops delivered
- 3,591 Workshop attendances
Looking to engage your company or firm?
We work with law firms, financial institutions, and companies to create meaningful skills-based volunteer opportunities for their employees.
See what it's like to volunteer with Start Small.
Help put expertise within reach.
Join a network of professionals helping entrepreneurs get the legal and financial guidance they need to build stronger businesses.