3 TIPS FOR RUNNING A LAW FIRM

Get Your Law Firm Off the Ground

Starting a successful law firm can be very stressful. Not only do you have the stress of performing successful litigation, but now you have to add in an entire business aspect to what you’re doing. That’s why it’s so important that you know how to scale the business effectively going into it, providing general counsel services for all of your clients. Without proper scaling, it’s going to be difficult to get that law firm off the ground and start doing the work that you want to. Here are a few things that you need to keep in mind when you’re in the initial stages of starting a law firm.

1. Pinching Pennies Proactively

You need to save money when you start, but you need to be smart about where you save. In order for a law firm to do well, it needs to look as professional as possible, so people know that you’re a legitimate firm that will defend them effectively. When you’re doing your initial round of buying, you should ask yourself if the thing that you’re looking to buy is going to make you look as professional as possible, or if it’s not something that you really need at the time. You do have to start bare bones, but once you get the business flowing, you’re going to be able to start getting the stuff that you want. The point is just making sure you know the difference between what you need and what you don’t.

2. Aggressive Marketing

The thing about working as a lawyer is you’re going to be able to get more business than you think. Starting a business can seem like a daunting task, but once you’re starting a steady flow of business, it’s easier to keep going. If you have a marketing budget it’s best to start aggressively, with a responsive, solid website, to add to the legitimacy of your business. From there, you can spend the remainder of your money on advertising. It’s important to start strong, as the lawyering business has a lot to do with networking and references. If you get some great references, you’re going to be able to scale the rate of new business that you get from there.

3. Careful Hiring

Scaling a business when you’re a small law firm can be difficult, because each new employee is going to be a significant expense for the growth of your firm. You need to make sure that you’re getting productive employees at a fair rate as you scale, because a few bad hires will hinder the rate at which you scale significantly. Make sure that everyone that you hire has experience in what you’re doing, because they’re probably going to have to handle a lot of things at once, as is common in a small business. If you’re careful about hiring as you scale, you’re giving yourself the best shot of doing well in your new business.

Get Your Law Firm Off the Ground

If you want to be successful, you’re going to have to deal with the adversity of getting your law firm off the ground. After you’ve done the legwork and you’re well known in the community, though, you’re going to be able to relax a little bit more. Business will start flowing as long as you start really strong and start getting some good references going.