Starting a Law Firm | Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

In a previous post I laid out my starting a law firm to do list, including 13 or so items I needed to get done so my firm can hit the ground running when the doors open. So far I haven't gotten any of the things done, though I have started at least 3 of the to do list items. As I look back through the list again I can see I have set myself up for failure for two reasons - so I need to modify the to do list and modify my philosophy for completing the to do list.

First and foremost, my law firm to do list is not specific enough, and it is causing me to not get anything done because I'm trying to figure out what I need to do first. I'm sure this happens to you, probably when you are trying to write a complicated brief or structure a complicated argument. You know what you want the result to be, but getting there requires several pieces to be completed first.

For example, item number one is putting together my law firm website. I have several things I need to get done, but I haven't sequenced them and broken them down into their parts so I have a distinct plan to follow and so I can get some sense of accomplishment from crossing things off my to do list. Preliminarily setting up the site so it has content is probably made up of more than one step. So step one should really be figuring out what I have to do to get my site up and running and then do those things.

So, number one on my how to start a law firm to-do list is to refine my to do list into manageable, reachable action items. Once that happens then I can actually focus on getting tasks done, as opposed to thinking about what needs to get done to get tasks done (if you aren't confused by that last sentence, good for you!).

The second thing going on with starting a law firm is I am getting really bogged down in the details, wanting everything to be perfect. For example, I spent a couple of hours on the internet last night trying to price a laptop for my practice. In reality, I don't need some state of the art computer to be successful. I need something that has enough memory to hold a lot of pictures and pdf files, and I need microsoft word and power point. That is really about it. So, when looking for a computer, how hard can that be?

I'm falling victim to law firm paralysis by analysis, a common problem among entrepreneurs, I think. I need to remember that one of the great things about opening a law firm is that you have the flexibility and the authority to change things whenever you feel like they need to be changed. That will not mean that my decisions, particularly when significant money or time allocations are involved, will be made willy nilly, but there comes a time when you just have to pull the trigger and move on to something else.

Starting a law firm really has been and I think will continue to be a very humbling and rewarding experience. And moving forward I have to goals: (1) better define what needs to be done and break those things down into smaller pieces; and (2) make concise, quick decisions and move on to the next item.

Hopefully in meeting these new goals I'll be able to knock out several items on my to do list and get this law firm up and running!

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