Starting a new law practice can be tough, but it’s one of the best ways to do the work you want while having greater control over your hours, income, and work/life balance. The lawyers that I’ve known who have started their law practice have found higher job satisfaction, working conditions, and fulfillment while focusing on the kind of work that’s most important and valuable to them. But the fact that starting a new law practice can be difficult and challenging shouldn’t be ignored. Starting your new law practice takes careful planning and hard work, but here are some tips to get your practice started off on the right foot and jumpstart your productivity and success.
Define Your Value
Chances are you started your new law firm so you could offer something valuable, meaningful, and unique to your clients. If you want your new law practice to see rapid success, you need to identify and clarify your firm’s value and use this to direct your marketing and client acquisition. The work you do best is also often the work you like the most. This work will be a win-win for you and your clients because you get fulfilling and satisfying work and your clients get a better outcome.
Clarify Your Purpose
Why did you decide to start a new law practice? Sure, there might be personal reasons, like making money, creating a better work/life balance, or focusing more on the kind of cases you want to take on. But what is the purpose of your new practice beyond just making money? What do you want to give to your clients? When it comes to offering your services, what’s the mission you would like to fulfill? Answering these questions help guide your marketing strategy and clarifies your intentions for providing your services.
Identify Your Target Market
Looking at the two points above, what kind of client appreciates the value you offer and stands to benefit most from your purpose? By answering the question, this will lead you to your ideal client or target market. Once you have identified your ideal client or target market, you can consider what’s important to them, what makes them tick, and what they are looking for in a law firm. Then you can create a service and marketing strategy that directly appeals to the clients you want to attract.
Narrow Your Focus
When you’re starting out, it might be tempting to think that you need to take every case that walks through the door. But if you try to be good at everything or get a good result of cases and clients you know will be bad news, you’ll never improve your skills or build an experience where you want to. Narrow your focus and choose just one or at maximum two areas of law to focus on in your practice.
Create A Marketing Plan
After you’ve discovered the value, purpose, and area of practice for your new law firm, it’s time to think like a business and develop a business strategy and marketing plan. Marketing is how you will bring new clients to your law practice, so it’s essential that you work on marketing from day one. As a lawyer, you may not know how to develop your business or create a marketing strategy, particularly if you’ve only ever worked in big firms before. Working with a consultant from the beginning means your new law firm gets a head start on acquiring the quality clients you want, and therefore, making revenue.
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The sooner you make your new law practice valuable, viable, and functional, the sooner you jump start your new law practice to success. Put in the effort from day one (or ideally, even before you open your doors for business) in marketing, client acquisition and business strategy to see the results you want sooner.