Starting a Law Firm | Thanksgiving Edition

It is officially Thanksgiving, at least in Seattle. At 12:16 a.m., we've officially entered the day of thanks. Some would say this day of thanks is a slap in the face to the indigenous people of the United States. I get that. But for me, it's a day to eat great food, mingle with my family, and, this year at least, watch some decent football.

But it also means something else. It means I don't have any court tomorrow, or Friday for that matter. It also means that right now I am waiting for my pumpkin pie to finish cooking - that's what Thanksgiving is all about right - late night cooking? And it also means that I have the time to write a ridiculously long starting a law firm post. I'm going to try to answer the questions I could find, review a book, and talk about what's going on in my firm. If you're interested in reading a ridiculously long post, you're in luck!

Mark Cuban's Book Review | How to Win

I bought this book two days ago on amazon.com. It cost me 2.99. Did I learn anything from it? No. Would I buy it again? In a second. It's the type of book I love to read from a successful businessman - it gives at least a partial glimpse into not only what it took to come up with a successful idea but what it took to turn a successful idea into a successful business. Here's a spoiler alert - it takes a ton of freaking work.

If you like to read go out and buy this book. If you don't like to read, go out and buy this book. And then read it. It's a crash course on success. It reads like this:

1. Get an idea in your head;

2. Pursue said idea with passion;

3. Work your ass off;

4. When you think you've outworked everyone, work some more;

5. Rinse and repeat.

What you'll learn from Mark Cuban is what you'll learn if you read any successful person's manifesto on success - work hard, then work harder than anyone else and you'll succeed. Don't do that and you can be mediocre. You can skate by and be comfortable. But if you want to be great, you've got to go for it every day.

Bottom line, read the book. Okay, now on to other stuff.

What Am I Up To Re Starting My Law Firm?

No one ever really asks me this, so I thought I'd ask myself. I've got a couple of things in the works right now. Here's what's going on.

First things first, I'm looking to expand a little bit. I love being a lawyer. It's great. But one person can only do so much work. Two people can do at least twice as much work. Three people three times - you get the idea. In the past couple weeks I've formed an of counsel relationship with a colleague to take care of some of the cases that I know he's good in. And I'm looking for someone to help me out with my DUI case load. Know anyone that can help? Lemme know.

Second, I'm putting together a video for my website. This isn't going to be one of those boring "if you've reached this site you've been charged with a crime. Our law firm is super boring and looks like all the rest but you should hire us" type of stuff. Hopefully it will have some production value. Hopefully it will be interesting. I've got some video people working on it and we are planning on shooting next week.

Third, and finally, I'm tweaking the website again. The current design is okay, but it's just not right. And if it's just not right, then it's wrong. I've got a new designer helping me out and I think the new look is going to be amazing. It's pretty much finalized, so it should be rolling out soon. I think it does a much better job of promoting our message than what I've got now. Hopefully potential clients feel the same way!

Revenue Goals and Projections

This is a two-fer question. The first question I got was related to this year income projections - what was I projecting. The person was asking because they were curious and because they wanted to put it into context with what I was asking for for my search engine consulting business. The second question was where I got my goal number for 2012.

For 2011, I think I'm going to be somewhere above $200K and somewhere below $250K in gross revenue. That's the best I can give you right now. I do a terrible job of keeping track of exactly what's coming in month to month. I just did my quarterly taxes and I was close to $20K a month, which puts me in the realm of where I just said.

To put that into the context of my search engine business, what I'd be paying right now would be about $1,000 a month. But, now that the question's been asked, I think that's about to go up. The reason for that is several fold. First, I'm not even close to maximizing the potential clients I'm getting to my website (that's why I'm putting on a video and revamping my website). And even with my lack of success I'm still doing better than most. Second, that number just doesn't reflect the value I'm providing. $1K per month to make $20K? Someone's getting the short end of that stick and it's me. Third, and finally, you all had the chance to get in on this early and you balked. This is an exclusive offer - when you sign up you automatically freeze out the competition. That means this service is extremely valuable.

Okay, now onto my 2012 numbers. I just looked up what I think I said, and I think I said $350K. Someone wanted to know where I got that number from, so I'm going to tell you. Last year I thought $100K was unreachable, so I made it a goal. This year I thought $250K was unreachable, so I made it a goal. For 2012, $350K seems like a lot - it make me uncomfortable - that means it's a good sign I should go for it.

Wrapping it Up

The pie is done. I'm finally tired. I've probably bored you. Happy Thanksgiving. As always, if you have questions or comments, let me know.