Law Firm Economics 102
So as you probably already know I had a dispute with
the guy I originally hired to build a website for me, it ended up in
arbitration etc., etc. etc.
Not wanting to
keep this story private just for my Members I've been blogging about
the whole thing in case you're interested in the details. But Kristin asked a question in one of
the comments that made me realize there are alot of lawyers who never
studied law firm economics and that could be hurting you.
What follows certainly isn't a substitute for a more detailed
discussion. Consider it to be an appetizer to get you thinking in the
right direction about the financial management of your law firm:
Lesson # 4: In hindsight, should I have pursued the NetArb or
simply
walked away from the $500? I certainly made enough mistakes in this
matter but I still think I made the right call on this point of not
walking away from my money. Most small law firms operate on between a
33-50% margin. That
means in order to spend $500 to treat your spouse to a nice spa-day you
have to earn between $1,000-1,500 in gross revenues.
So consider that
when you walk away from a dollar you'll actually have to work to earn
between $4-6 more of them to make up for the
one you're walking away from, just to break even.
Now multiply that into the number of minutes or hours that
translates into in your practice and consider the last time you had to
apologize to friends or family because you couldn't be there with them
due to having to be in the office to earn your living. And let THAT
image stay in your mind the next time you go into a negotiation where
you're asked to hand over your money.
Got
you thinking? Good!
Here's something
else to think about too…it's now official the year is more than
half-way over. Time to review the goals you set out for yourself six
months ago and either pat yourself on the back or else it may be time to
get some help so you can celebrate on December 31, 2010 and start 2011
on the right foot.
~ RJON
p.s. In case my hint above was too subtle, next week I am
going to be opening-up 5 more spots in my Small Law Firm Management
& Marketing Bootcamp Program. E-mail me if you think you may want
to reserve one of them for yourself!
