The One Thing You Need to Start a Successful Law Firm

Before I get started I want to let you know that I've got some pretty big plans for this blog and my law firm marketing blog this year. If everything goes the way I think it will, I'm going to be posting here more often. If you like what I'm saying, and want to make sure you don't miss anything, make sure you subscribe to my feed. That way whenever I post anything you'll automatically get it.

The One Thing You Need to Have a Successful Law Firm

Although I've got a bunch of new stuff I want to talk about, and a bunch of new stuff I want to use this year (think the book - finally, video posts, podcasts, interviews, and more interactive things like that), I got a reader comment this week that I've been wanting to talk about, as it gets to the essence of starting a law firm and what it really takes to be successful.

Here's the comment:

One attorney that I read stated that really all a lawyer needs to start his or her own firm is a computer, phone, fax, and business card. Is there anything that you would add to or subtract from that?

My answer is, yes, there is definitely something I would add to that. It's probably the thing that's going to make the difference in the success of your law firm.

One of the great and terrible things about starting a law firm is all of the decisions you get to make. What type of computer to get. Should you get a scanner? Should you get embossed business cards? What's the best phone system to use? Should you have a virtual office or a brick and mortar place? The possibilities are endless. And endless possibilities are safe.

If you let yourself, you can spend months making all of these decisions. The thing is, though, at the end of the day, none of that matters.

IF YOU WANT TO HAVE A SUCCESSFUL LAW FIRM, YOU NEED TO HAVE A PLAN.

That's really all you need. A plan. You need to have a plan for the type of firm you want to have (what type of law do you want to practice, and if it's more than three areas, you need to rethink it). You need to have a plan for how you are going to handle clients from start to finish. And most importantly, you need to have a plan to get clients.

Let me repeat - you need to have a plan to get clients.

If you don't have that, you don't need anything else. And until you have that, you don't need to worry about anything else. So, my advice to you, today, is to stop thinking about what kind of computer you need or what kind of phone system you want or what kind of business cards you should get. Instead, sit down, and think about these things:

1. What kind of law do I want to practice?

2. Who are my ideal clients for this type of practice (be as specific as possible)?

3. Where are these ideal clients at? I.e. how can I get in front of them?

4. What am I going to do to get in front of them?

5. What am I going to say once I get in front them (what's my value proposition)?

Answer those questions and execute the answers and you'll have a successful law firm.

As always, thoughts, comments, and questions are welcome. The more you talk, the more discussion we have, the more we all benefit. Don't be shy!