Process Serving Agency with a Small Team

Law firms, in-house legal teams, collection agencies, property managers and government-related offices needing reliable serves across a wider area.

You charge clients per serve, plus rush and extra attempt fees, and pay your contract servers a share per job. Your margin is the difference, plus fees for skip tracing and document pickup.

• Organising and dispatching work
• Clear client communication
• Careful record keeping
• Managing and trusting contractors

• Rules on who may serve documents and on licensing for process servers or investigators differ by province, so check your provincial regulator
• Check whether your contract servers are truly independent contractors or could be treated as employees, and ask about WCB/WSIB coverage
• Commercial general liability insurance is worth checking, along with cover for errors in service
• Poor work by a contractor reflects on you, and a failed serve can cost your client in court, so set quality checks
• Handling personal information means checking provincial and federal privacy rules, including Quebec's own rules and French-language requirements if you work there
• Register for GST/HST once you pass the small supplier threshold

Startup costs are typically estimated at around $2,000 to $10,000, depending on your systems, insurance and how many contract servers you set up. Commercial general liability insurance and cover for errors in service are worth checking.

Monthly revenue is typically estimated at around $3,000 to $15,000, depending on client volume and the area you cover. The estimates assume at least about 25 hours a week. Set quality checks, as a contractor's poor work reflects on you.

Things to check include who may serve documents and licensing for process servers or investigators, which differ by province. Also check whether contract servers could be treated as employees, WCB/WSIB coverage, and provincial and federal privacy rules.