Why I Rarely Worry About Money as a Solo Attorney

In this week’s edition of Things I Wish I Knew, solo attorney Joleena Louis discusses why her finances don’t stress her out like they once did.

Being a business owner is stressful, and the number one thing we stress about is money.

Like many solos, I’ve spent many sleepless nights stressing about money and the future. Even more so after my divorce when my expense increased and I didn’t have my ex-spouse’s income to fall back on.

This stress seriously interfered with my sleep patterns and caused more stress when I was too tired to get everything done; it got to the point where I couldn’t take the stress anymore, so I simply stopped worrying about money.

Once I let go of my worries about money, my business thrived.

Here’s how I was able to minimize the stress when it comes to my firm’s finances.

Focus On The Why

The best piece of advice I received (after a minor panic attack) was not to let what I do overshadow why I do it. This means I don’t get caught up in the day to day struggles and focus on the why.

This has helped my outlook on the situation immensely. When I get stressed out, focusing on why I started my practice makes it easier to do the things I need to do.

Control What You Can

I always tell my client’s not to worry about what they can’t control. Once I started taking this advice myself, I stopped worrying about money so much.

I can’t control how many new clients I get each month, but I can make sure that I am doing everything within my power to keep new leads flowing. Every day I do at least one activity that will bring me new clients or nurture the ones that I have. My mantra is “Never stop marketing.”

So when I feel the dread and stress of how I’ll pay upcoming expenses, I remind myself that I am doing everything in my control to keep money coming in. If there is nothing I can do about it, then I stop worry. If there is something I can do, I’ll do it.

Plan, Plan, Plan

The best way to stop worrying about money is to plan. Know your expenses and have a budget in place. That way during the good months you know exactly how much to set aside for the slower months.

I also keep a prioritized list of things I need spend money on, so when I have a really good month I can pay for the important things first. For example, I’m behind on my CLE’s so that’s what I will spend any overages on before I upgrade my computer.

Make Sure You Get Paid

Many of my colleagues stay awake at night worrying about the money they are owed. It’s very stressful to do work and count on getting paid, then never receive the money. This is one area that I don’t stress about because I have very strict policies regarding payments.

If this is something you worry about, there are several things you can do to make sure you get paid such as increasing your fees, not taking on clients who can’t pay your retainer in full and always being paid before starting any work.

You may miss out on a few clients this way, but they are probably clients who would not have paid you in full anyway.

I still occasionally worry about money, but it no longer keeps me up at night or interferes with my work since I started using the strategies above.   

How do you keep yourself from worrying about money?