A funny thing happened to me yesterday that is a perfect starting a law firm post. I was sitting in my office, working away as usual, when the owner of the space I lease from (who is also a DUI attorney in the area, by the way) poked his head in to ask if we could have a chat. This guys okay as a person, but I've quickly learned he's not talking to me or anyone else unless he wants something or unless he's got something to tell me. He didn't want anything.
He just hired a new attorney, and while that was great for him, he'd overextended himself on space. What I mean is, he rented out all of his open offices to people. The other people are probate attorneys, employment attorneys, and non-attorneys. I was the only person in the suite that was a fellow criminal defense attorney. I knew where this was going.
My lease is up at the end of May. And he's not renewing. No hard feelings (and none felt), but he needs the space. "No worries" I told him. "I'll start looking for a new law firm office space immediately."
The lesson there is that business is business, and you can't take it personally. I knew he didn't want me there. Quite honestly, his employees like me better than him, and he knows that if I asked they'd all come and work for me. It's a way for him to kill two birds with one stone. So I move on.
But, while I had him in my office, I wasn't going to let him escape just like that. I knew he was feeling a little guilty about kicking me out, so I peppered him with a few business questions. If this guy is nothing, he is successful, and I wanted to get some of that information from him.
It started out with one simple question - how long did it take before you felt like your firm was really successful, until you were meeting your expectations? He didn't even wait until I was finished with the question before he said - "5 years." "And," he said, "that timeline applies with almost all new businesses."
He went on to tell me that in his first years he'd met most of his goals, though just barely. Then, in year three he started to do pretty well. Then in year four, he was really starting to kick ass. And then he looked back at the end of year five and found that he was exceeding his goals.
Another thing he said, and something that I think is important for all of you out there thinking about starting a law firm, is that you have to stick with it. It isn't nearly as easy as I make it sound here. It takes a lot of hard work. You are going to be out of your comfort zone almost every day (especially if you are doing things right), and there are going to be days where you wonder if you are moving in the right direction.
But the key is to keep progressing, keep working on the plan and keep pushing forward. Service based businesses aren't built over night. And if you quit before you even get started, you have no chance.
Heading into this weekend, don't think about how you are going to start your firm. Think about where you want to be in year one. Think about where you want to be in year two. And think about what you are going to do to get there. And then get going.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Friday, April 16, 2010
Starting a Law Firm | Remember Why You Do It
When you start a business, whether a law firm, a restaurant, or anything else, it's easy to let it engulf your entire life. What ends up happening (or at least what's happened to me) is that your business is always in the back of your mind, no matter what you are doing, and you are constantly thinking of new things you can do to help make your business better. In the end this is great for your new law firm, but it can be bad for you personally.
In honor of spring finally sprouting out here in my neck of the woods, I'm going to talk about what my ultimate goals are for the firm, from a business perspective. We all know that we want to help people and blah blah blah. And, honestly, some more than others. I love the battle that goes on with each case, and, like I tell my clients, I don't really care if they are innocent or guilty, the way I see it my job is to do everything I can for them to make their lives better.
And, I guess what this post is really about is not the long term goals, but the short term goals (and benefits) of starting a law firm. What I mean is, I have a goal for this year, and this summer in particular, that I want to get out and play golf one a week. But, I'm not necessarily talking about during the weekend. I'm talking about during the week.
"Oh my god" I'm sure some of you are saying. "How can you take off half a day and still have a successful practice?" You know how? Pretty easily. First, half a day isn't going to destroy anyone's business. And, honestly, what it makes me do is focus on what I have to do during the rest of the week. That means all that facebook and internet browsing time you have that turns your 5 hour work day into a 10 hour work day I just don't have.
I'm sure you didn't start your law firm to work all the time. I'm sure you started it to take care of yourself, take care of your family, and enjoy life. Why not start doing that now? I bet if you ask the boss he (or she) will tell it's just fine if you take a half day off every once in a while.
In honor of spring finally sprouting out here in my neck of the woods, I'm going to talk about what my ultimate goals are for the firm, from a business perspective. We all know that we want to help people and blah blah blah. And, honestly, some more than others. I love the battle that goes on with each case, and, like I tell my clients, I don't really care if they are innocent or guilty, the way I see it my job is to do everything I can for them to make their lives better.
And, I guess what this post is really about is not the long term goals, but the short term goals (and benefits) of starting a law firm. What I mean is, I have a goal for this year, and this summer in particular, that I want to get out and play golf one a week. But, I'm not necessarily talking about during the weekend. I'm talking about during the week.
"Oh my god" I'm sure some of you are saying. "How can you take off half a day and still have a successful practice?" You know how? Pretty easily. First, half a day isn't going to destroy anyone's business. And, honestly, what it makes me do is focus on what I have to do during the rest of the week. That means all that facebook and internet browsing time you have that turns your 5 hour work day into a 10 hour work day I just don't have.
I'm sure you didn't start your law firm to work all the time. I'm sure you started it to take care of yourself, take care of your family, and enjoy life. Why not start doing that now? I bet if you ask the boss he (or she) will tell it's just fine if you take a half day off every once in a while.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
I Finally Reached Number One on Google. What Does it Mean?
It's Masters Sunday, and I really don't have a lot of concentration going on today. Not only do I have a fantasy golf game going on that I'm interested, I have the added distraction of a Masters Pool (currently in second and need a little help to win) and the Masters itself - not sure if you were aware but there's a guy named Tiger Woods who decided to play this week. I'm rooting for him. Everyone makes mistakes.
Now back to helping you start your law firm. If you read the title of this post you might expect that I already have someone ghost writing this for me while I sit in my house counting my money. This week I reached the number one spot for my desired keyword - Seattle DUI attorney. It gets about 3,600 searches a month according to the google adwords keyword tool (which is a great resource for figuring out what your targeted keywords should be). I was pumped. I was ready to start crushing the Seattle DUI attorney market.
Guess what happened? Nothing. Nothing at all. No increase in phone calls. Not a single thing.
So, what does it all mean? Does it mean my thoughts regarding internet marketing were wrong? Does it mean I've been doing all of this work in vain? Of course not. It means one thing - now that I'm there I need to figure out how to take advantage of that position. It means something is off, I need to find out what that is, and fix it.
Until recently I hadn't even looked at my website. When I made modifications several months ago I looked at purely from an SEO standpoint - will Google like this? Now, I realize the error of my ways. I need to answer two questions at all times with my online marketing efforts (and if you are starting a law firm you should do the same). Will Google like this? And, will this compel people to call and come see me? I don't think I was doing a great job answering this second question affirmatively.
Remember, folks, starting a law firm is a marathon, not a sprint. If you get great results at the beginning and don't continue to work on getting better, people are going to pass you by (trust me, I'm passing people right now that have been resting on their laurels). And, on the other side, if you don't experience great success right away, you need to channel the nervous feelings that you are having into working on your business. If something isn't working, don't just give up on it. Recognize it's not working, but take a look at why it's not working and tweak it to make it work.
Have a great week. I think next week, in honor of spring being upon us, I'll talk about my goal to play golf once a week (during the week) and why you should take time to get out of the office.
Now back to helping you start your law firm. If you read the title of this post you might expect that I already have someone ghost writing this for me while I sit in my house counting my money. This week I reached the number one spot for my desired keyword - Seattle DUI attorney. It gets about 3,600 searches a month according to the google adwords keyword tool (which is a great resource for figuring out what your targeted keywords should be). I was pumped. I was ready to start crushing the Seattle DUI attorney market.
Guess what happened? Nothing. Nothing at all. No increase in phone calls. Not a single thing.
So, what does it all mean? Does it mean my thoughts regarding internet marketing were wrong? Does it mean I've been doing all of this work in vain? Of course not. It means one thing - now that I'm there I need to figure out how to take advantage of that position. It means something is off, I need to find out what that is, and fix it.
Until recently I hadn't even looked at my website. When I made modifications several months ago I looked at purely from an SEO standpoint - will Google like this? Now, I realize the error of my ways. I need to answer two questions at all times with my online marketing efforts (and if you are starting a law firm you should do the same). Will Google like this? And, will this compel people to call and come see me? I don't think I was doing a great job answering this second question affirmatively.
Remember, folks, starting a law firm is a marathon, not a sprint. If you get great results at the beginning and don't continue to work on getting better, people are going to pass you by (trust me, I'm passing people right now that have been resting on their laurels). And, on the other side, if you don't experience great success right away, you need to channel the nervous feelings that you are having into working on your business. If something isn't working, don't just give up on it. Recognize it's not working, but take a look at why it's not working and tweak it to make it work.
Have a great week. I think next week, in honor of spring being upon us, I'll talk about my goal to play golf once a week (during the week) and why you should take time to get out of the office.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Starting a Law Firm and Managing Expectations
When I started my law firm less than a year ago, I had a one year plan, a five year plan, and a ten year plan. The one year plan was aggressive but achievable. The five year plan even more aggressive. And the ten year plan had the sky as the limit. I think when you are thinking about starting your law firm and trying to determine what you can expect (and I'm talking about money for the most part here), I think it's important to manage expectations. It is really easy for the math to get out of hand in your head, and disappoint you early.
For example, at my law firm, one of my goals is to keep costs low. I currently do, and probably always will, share office space (in the future I'd actually like to own an office building, but that's very far down the road). It helps to spread out costs among several businesses. I have a very streamlined approach to everything I do. I don't spend a bunch of money on marketing that doesn't work. I am constantly evaluating the need and efficiency of our methods.
Because of that, right now my business expenses hover around $2,500 a month. Most of it is parking and rent ($1,000). That makes it really easy for me to, theoretically, make money. One DUI case is a minimum of $2,500. That means if I sign up more than one case a month, I'm starting to make some pretty significant money.
When you think about it like that, thinking about how to start a law firm becomes pretty easy. You just open up shop and the money comes in, right? Well, when you get out there in the real world, you begin to realize there are barriers to your mountain of riches. Those primarily consist of the myriad of other attorneys out there trying to do the same thing you are, and the fact that most of those attorneys have multiple years in the marketplace that you are trying to catch up on.
It's not impossible, though, to break through those barriers. Honestly, it's not even hard. But it does take a little bit of time. It takes time to market your law firm. It takes time to get people to your office. It takes time to gain the market share you want to have the kind of success you want.
If you don't keep those expectations tempered during the early months, and sometimes years, of your practice, you can easily be discouraged. What separates the successful new law firm owners from those that just get by or fail is they don't sit in the office when the phone isn't ringing and schedule that next networking luncheon with all the other unsuccessful attorneys.
They don't continue to read blogs and articles on starting a successful law firm. They do. They get out there and get their hands dirty. They write blogs instead of read them. They market on the internet. They market to their ideal customer. They do whatever it takes to get to where they want to go.
As you begin, or continue, on your journey to starting a law firm, remember this - there is a boatload of money out there for you; there is a boatload of job satisfaction out there for you; and there is a boatload of personal satisfaction out there for you. But, like most anything else, you have to work for it. We live in a great country, but it's dog eat dog out there. So, stop wasting time, stop reading these articles, and get to work!
For example, at my law firm, one of my goals is to keep costs low. I currently do, and probably always will, share office space (in the future I'd actually like to own an office building, but that's very far down the road). It helps to spread out costs among several businesses. I have a very streamlined approach to everything I do. I don't spend a bunch of money on marketing that doesn't work. I am constantly evaluating the need and efficiency of our methods.
Because of that, right now my business expenses hover around $2,500 a month. Most of it is parking and rent ($1,000). That makes it really easy for me to, theoretically, make money. One DUI case is a minimum of $2,500. That means if I sign up more than one case a month, I'm starting to make some pretty significant money.
When you think about it like that, thinking about how to start a law firm becomes pretty easy. You just open up shop and the money comes in, right? Well, when you get out there in the real world, you begin to realize there are barriers to your mountain of riches. Those primarily consist of the myriad of other attorneys out there trying to do the same thing you are, and the fact that most of those attorneys have multiple years in the marketplace that you are trying to catch up on.
It's not impossible, though, to break through those barriers. Honestly, it's not even hard. But it does take a little bit of time. It takes time to market your law firm. It takes time to get people to your office. It takes time to gain the market share you want to have the kind of success you want.
If you don't keep those expectations tempered during the early months, and sometimes years, of your practice, you can easily be discouraged. What separates the successful new law firm owners from those that just get by or fail is they don't sit in the office when the phone isn't ringing and schedule that next networking luncheon with all the other unsuccessful attorneys.
They don't continue to read blogs and articles on starting a successful law firm. They do. They get out there and get their hands dirty. They write blogs instead of read them. They market on the internet. They market to their ideal customer. They do whatever it takes to get to where they want to go.
As you begin, or continue, on your journey to starting a law firm, remember this - there is a boatload of money out there for you; there is a boatload of job satisfaction out there for you; and there is a boatload of personal satisfaction out there for you. But, like most anything else, you have to work for it. We live in a great country, but it's dog eat dog out there. So, stop wasting time, stop reading these articles, and get to work!
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