Making your firm run more smoothly counts as “growth.”
In fact, anything you do to improve your law firm, or to improve your life is growth. And of course, you can look at everything organic that surrounds you, and appreciate that growth is natural.
So it makes sense to see your firm as something that naturally wants to improve and better support your lifestyle.
The question is: HOW can you best help your firm grow? And the answer is…
Sensibly.
Which, unfortunately, is not the way most solo and small firms do it. Granted, it’s understandable why they don’t.
They’re busy focused on helping their clients.
Plus, they never studied how to grow a business. And, that’s really the biggest reason they struggle.
Look, let’s not kid ourselves…
Practicing law and managing a law practice are not the same thing.
And if you are (1) not clear about how to manage a law practice, and (2) too busy to learn…
Well, it doesn’t bode well for growing your business. Right?
So, what do you do to learn the things you need to learn to grow?
And how do you learn in the most efficient way?
(given that most of your precious time is spent practicing law)
Well, I suggest you get help from a third party. That is, from someone you trust.
Or from someone you can feel confident that you can trust.
When I went out on my own I spent an inordinate amount of time figuring out how to better manage and market my practice.
Back in 2006 there weren’t any coaches or consultants focused on helping solo and small firm lawyers.
Now, there are a few at least.
Of course some lawyers might think, well I don’t need a coach/consultant to help me because I can figure it out myself.
And it’s true. You can figure it out yourself.
It won’t be easy.
Because, it’s hard to figure it out and practice law at the same time.
That’s why most lawyers try to solve a bunch of practice management problems in one fell swoop.
For example, they go to a conference and get a bunch of “guru recommendations.” Then they try to implement as many as they can in the shortest period of time.
Why are they so frenzied?
Because they know that soon after they return from the conference they’ll be dragged under again…
Dragged under by the intense, day-to-day demands of their busy law practice.
Compare this approach of growing a firm to the growth of a plant.
It’s like saying, I want this plant to grow but I need it to happen super quickly without having to pay too much attention to it.
What do you do when you’re busy and can’t water a plant regularly?
Do you just dump a month’s worth of water on it and then go back to being busy?
No probably not. Because guess what will happen?
The plant will not grow.
More likely, it will die.
Growing anything takes ongoing attention.
And that’s the thing most lawyers have trouble providing for their businesses.
Which is why the business doesn’t grow.
That brutal reality is why I created the Co-Pilot group coaching program.
So, there it ls…
That’s option #1.
Or, option #2 is you can check out my so-called competition.
Option #3 is to keep doing what you’re doing now, which will likely keep yielding the same results.
So just pick whichever option makes the most sense to you.
General Resources
- Check out my Inner Circle (to participate in ongoing discussions about tech tools I discuss and recommend)
- Check out this Law-Tech Assessment if you want specific recommendations for improving based on the technology you’re using in your practice
- Click for a list of the Best Tech Tools for Lawyers
- Subscribe to: The 80/20 Principle newsletter (it’s free)
Discover how to create a relaxed law practice by using the 5 Tech Pillars.
