Follow these five tips to get helpful and actionable advice on how to grow practice safely and quickly.
Starting a solo or small firm is hard, but growing one can be even harder. How do you set up a practice to scale easily, what are the pitfalls and opportunities that you should look out for?
It sounds like a monumental task, but in reality, growing your firm doesn’t have to be that difficult. Knowing what to do specifically is half the battle, and with that in mind, here are 7 tips that will help scale your firm quickly and sustainably.
1. Track the Right Data
Some of the keys to building a firm and achieving sustainable growth are data and key performance indicators (KPI’s).
The data you need to be looking at can come from a variety of sources, here are some examples of the KPI’s that you need to be tracking:
- Lead Generation (where are your leads coming from)
- How long do they remain a client
- Average fee per case
- Outstanding invoices
- Reason for leaving
- Client satisfaction
- What are your clients’ pain points?
Understanding this data can help you convert more clients and retain them for longer, which impacts both your top and bottom-line growth.
2. Don’t be Afraid to Ask for Help
It’s part of our culture – at least for some of us – to not reveal our challenges to our peers.
Whether it’s a fear of looking incompetent or a fear or damaging referral relationships, it’s not uncommon for lawyers to keep to themselves and not ask for help.
But asking for help is not a sign of weakness, it actually shows strength, a willingness to be vulnerable in front of others. And you will be surprised at how willing people are to help when you seek it out.
3. Time – Your Most Precious Commodity!
The one thing that we cannot create or get back is time.
Be ruthless with it. Being able to scale and meet growth goals requires meticulous time management and prioritizing each day to use your time efficiently. The better you can manage your time, the better prepared your firm will be to grow.
4. Say NO!
As your practice grows, you simply can’t do everything. Your time and energy are sacred and you have to be a better gatekeeper to who or what has access to these limited resources.
Try to make a conscious effort to say no to anything that does not make you happy or add value to your practice. That means turning down some cases, getting rid of cases that are causing stress, and turning down opportunities that didn’t align with growing your practice.
5. Invest in Yourself
You need to take care of yourself.
Being an attorney is inherently stressful. The stakes are high since our client’s life, family or money is often on the line. You need to look out for yourself and discover what changes you can make to your busy schedule. Helping you provide a better service to your clients, while also taking care of yourself.
Also, you will want to grow and learn as a lawyer and professional. Find a mentor or join a lawyer-exclusive mastermind group. The mastermind group will rapidly push your firm to success. The impact of accountability and peer group support can’t be overstated when scaling your firm!
