Today I had lunch with a guy who was thinking about starting a law firm. He hadn't even started law school yet, but he was sure that he wanted to do his own thing when he got done. So I sat down with him over lunch and we talked about what it takes to start a successful law firm. And it was interesting where the discussion went, leading me to a bit of a light bulb moment that made me run to the computer and start writing this post. Are you ready?
To have a successful law firm you must have a keen business mentality.
By the way, I didn't intentionally write that huge revelation to be so murky and hard to understand, it just came out that way. And I'm too lazy to change it. So I'll just explain what I mean.
When I began talking about this guy one of the first questions he asked me was "what is the most important thing to know when starting a law firm?" I immediately told him to always remember that getting clients is the ultimate goal (now before you get to snarky let me explain). That if you are the best attorney in the world but have no clients you'll be a failure.
He said "okay" and then we started talking about what kind of firm he wanted to open. And in that instant I knew he hadn't really understood what I was saying. We talked it out and I think he got it, but the bottom line is this - a law firm is a business. If you aren't thinking like a businessman at all times when making decisions you are going to at best tread water and at worst lose ground to your competition.
And here's where most people mess up when they are starting a law firm. They fantasize about what it's going to be like to be a big time lawyer making a bunch of money doing the work that they love, like it's going to be all roses and stuff like that. Here's the truth of the matter - you've got to hustle your ass off to have a successful law firm. You've got to spend a large amount of every waking day doing things to make your business better.
I was driving in the car from court today and I was thinking about the lunch I had and I was trying to figure out how to say this in a way that everyone can understand. And this is the best that I could come up with: don't create your law firm because you want to practice law, create your law firm because you want to have a successful business. If I want to be just a great lawyer I can go do that anywhere. I opened my law firm because I want to do two things - I want to create a business in the mold I envision, and I want to make a boat load of money. Practicing law and the firm, while a part of each other, are not the same thing.
And don't take that to mean I don't treat my clients well. It's actually the opposite. I provide the best service in the state in all likelihood. I answer my own phones, I attend all my court hearings, and I have systems in place to make sure my clients and my former clients know how much I appreciate them. But in the end it's all part of a larger plan to create a successful business. Let me put it to you this way, you think Nordstroms takes back anything as a return because they like you? It's great for you, but it's also great for them.
Now, back to the talk. After a little while I learned this guy had already owned and operated a successful business in the past, and that he was trying to find something to do in his industry that he could start a business in. The reason he chose law was because he thought (as we all do before we become lawyers) that once you get that license people just line up to give you money. He liked what he did at his last job but the funding fell through and he was let go (it was a government position). And here's what thinking like a business person gets you.
I asked him what I thought was the best next question - "they still need that work right? Do they farm it out to private contractors?" He said the work still needed to be done, and that the few people they still had on staff could not keep up with the work. So, (and I know you all already know what the next question is) I asked him the next obvious question - "why aren't you that guy they are contracting with?" He couldn't answer that question, but I hope he explores that idea.
Here's the god's honest truth for all of you. I love being a lawyer. I love getting up in court and arguing. But I like business better. A lot better. And just like I told my new friend, I'm going to tell you. My plan's not to just start this firm, be successful, and rest on my laurels. In a couple of years my law firm will run like a well oiled machine. And then I'll start another business, build it up, and then start another. I don't know about you, but my goal isn't to work 10 hours a day for the rest of my life, it's to golf every day and spend the rest of my time managing my businesses.
I've got a couple of other things I'd like to talk about, but I think we're going to explore some of this a little bit more in upcoming posts. You can't just start a law firm and expect people to show up. It just doesn't work like that. So I'm going to pose a couple of questions to you and let you start to mull them over. Once you answer them, assuming you still want to start a law firm, you'll have a thousand times higher chance of success.
See you soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment