Starting your own legal practice is an exciting process and you want to do everything you can to help it succeed.
But success is difficult to obtain for any business. Between markets falling and rising, commercial pressures, internal communication issues, and now a pandemic there are so many reasons that businesses fail within the first few years of opening. This can be especially difficult for small businesses who don't have the resources and teams that big businesses have to rely on.
In fact, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics; more than sixty percent of new businesses close their doors in their first three years of being open. While such statistics can be demoralising, it is important to remember that not all of those businesses should have gone under. With the right strategies and frameworks, many of those companies might still be running today. Below we outline three key strategies to help your new legal practice succeed.
This sounds simple, but the right mindset can help you overcome adversity and succeed where others may not. In order to have a positive mindset, you must first develop your "why"; the reason you wake up each morning, the reason you became a lawyer, the reason(s) you decided to start your own firm. This type of mindset will help you push through road blocks and potentially help you turn a bad situation into a good one.
Staying positive and staying open to adapting can help you grow your firm even in the toughest of situations, like a global pandemic. Once you have grown this mindset will also help you be a stronger manager of your staff. Being a great manager of people is the true mark of leadership, which means you have to be able to get other people to do their best work for you, day in and day out. It is far, far easier for people to listen to, respect, and work for someone who has a positive mindset and motivates them in small ways throughout the workday.
A positive mindset is fundamental in reaping rewards in other areas as well.
Forbes.com says, "sometimes the greatest rewards come from saying yes to opportunities that may be slightly scary or uncomfortable." Without the ability to see the positive outcomes that can result from responsible risk-taking, you may never seize that opportunity that will take your practice to the next level. However, that's not to say that you should leap at every risk that comes your way. Before you take a risk, make sure that you carefully assess it or you may make a fatal decision. A hard look at data, analysing the pros and cons of the situation, and weighing up the final benefits are all parts of this process and will go a long way to ensuring success in the long-run.
Look for opportunities in places you least expect them; and don't be afraid to say "yes" to something that has risk involved, as long as you've thoroughly asses it and the pay-offs.
Keeping your systems efficient means more than simply ensuring that they work. Running a legal practice requires a lot of different processes and they need to be centralised for you to succeed.
One major way that law firms can modernise and maximise their practice management is through technology. Leading law firms are realising that technology is one of the best ways to make systems efficient, particularly in the early days of your practice when you don't have a big team to rely on.
Even with one or two lawyers, it can be difficult to manage, and as you begin scaling up, your practice will become more and more difficult without a legal system which gives you what you need, when you need it no matter where you are. Rather than juggling multiple software systems and having to deal with individual on-boarding for employees so they can use said software, mattero's simple yet intelligent centralised system will have you and your team signing up in the morning, and working on your matters the same day.
Combining technological advances with positive thinking and responsible risk-taking are three proven strategies to helping your legal practice succeed.