FEW can have such a great affinity with new ventures than ourselves.

Ware & Kay is the result of two long-established York solicitors' practices merging four years ago, so we have the advantage of being old heads on young shoulders!

We know how tough it is to establish a new brand, to maintain high energy levels, exacting standards and enthusiasm in order to progress; know how hazardous can be the journey.

Because we have that empathy, we are good at sympathetically guiding and advising. We are not just legal advisers: We are mentors. New businesses that we help know that they are not battling alone.

Peter Kay is on the board of the York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce and I am on the board of York, Selby and Malton Business Advice Centre whose modus vivendi is to help corporate fledglings fly.

Between the two of us we constantly monitor the harsh route new businesses have to take and are prepared, when necessary, to signal the alarms.

Unforeseen barriers often lie between the new venturers and their golden dreams. Just waiting to snare them for example are rapidly-changing employment laws, increasing government regulation and the problem of actually getting their money after a job well done.

We know these pitfalls inside out and we recognise that however booming is our economy today, its health in the future depends on how well the corporate acorns are planted.

And our interest does not stop when the saplings go into leaf. We specialise in many areas such as business law, conveyancing, partnership agreements, probate, wills and employment law, all of which can be used to ensure that sapling flourishes into a mighty oak.

So our message to all you go-getters is this: By starting out you have already displayed the biggest quality needed for success - namely, self-belief.

Now harness that belief to entering this category. You can only be in it to win it.

Updated: 09:56 Tuesday, June 01, 2004