The post today regarding signing a lease gave me some insight into another post-internet change in today's society. In the old days, we business lawyers would get a call from a promising entreprenuer when they got to the stage in their start-up when they were ready to lease a brick-and-mortar storefront. When we got that call, we would not only talk about the lease, but introduce the potential client to all the other items that belonged on their new business checklist; business organization (i.e. LLC), sales tax, accounting issues, EIN's, and the list goes on. In today's Internet world, entreprenuer's don't sign a lease, they buy a domain and a hosting site and their storefront is up and running quickly. However, because they don't need a lawyer to review a lease, they don't realize that they are starting a business without seeking legal representation. There are many items on the new business checklist they don't even know exist. I get many calls every week from entrepreneurs who are starting an e-commerce site and who want me to help guide their steps. We discuss the domain, their hosting, their merchant account, the Privacy Policy, the TOS, and much more. Generally, these clients will spend less than $1,500 to set their business up and open their web site with sound legal advice. I am surely not the only lawyer who understand's e-commerce, you have many to choose from. However, I am sure all of them would say that spending some money up front to do things right can save you many thousands of dollars if it is not done right.
The "problem" is the internet is seen as a low or even no cost entry model with little requirment to get bound into a long term agreement with anyone. I have to say however that I am surprised about your experiences in the "good old days". Certainly in the UK I would argue the majority started their business without the use of a solicitor and many also without the use of an accountant (though they were more common before you could set up a LTD/ LLC online). In many cases the use of a lawyer is basically similar to buying insurance, a risk transfer mechanism. Pay a known up front fee to protect yourself against the posibility of a large unexpected fee in the future. Even with those trading with physical premises, stock etc are however cutting down on all precautionary costs (wisely or foolishly)