When your business systems are fixed and your law firm is working like the factory you knew it could be, what’s next?
When you are an entrepreneurial type of business owner, you are always going to have this little “problem” of wanting to build another factory. There’s no use in pretending it ain’t so, because it is.
Drilling down into this, there is one piece of advice you should engrave into your brain: S-T-O-P!
This means DO NO PASS GO, do not take action, just pause and wait.
It is really easy to hop into something that will be easy to get into but not nearly as easy to get out of. This can be some of the most valuable advice you will ever hear if you are in those shoes. Too many clients and acquaintances have ignored this advice and have found themselves awash in a perfect storm. Years and years of hard work and savings can easily be wiped out in this storm; some have found themselves near bankruptcy levels.
Now, to be clear, if you are making more money than you can currently spend, not that you can’t figure out how to make ends meet from your current practice. Here are some options for you.
First, make sure you have the basics in place:
- You know your business math cold and have reports delivered to you daily.
- You see every transaction that moves through the bank and the company credit card.
- Your attorneys and non-attorneys involved in the intake process are being inspected and trained several times a week. Yes, you read that right, “several times a week”.
- You have company goals for each day, week, month and year and there is some mechanism in place for these goals to be measured and celebrated when met.
- Every position in your firm has a contract/job description.
- Every task which needs to be performed is outlined and explained in detail in a company operations manual which is reviewed annually.
- Every job duty is reviewed by the Chief Inspection Officer as often as required to make the job efficient.
- If you were gone for an extended period of time someone else is in place to ensure these basics never fail to be followed and communicate directly with you so you can inspect the inspector.
Only when your law firm has secured these elements can you discuss what is next with good conscience.
There’s no end to your current business and it doesn’t have to be boring. With thought and innovation, you can grow from within and enjoy it as much as finding something else to do. Remember, business is business and my business is no different than yours.
Building you a better business, one new practice area at a time…
