3 Successful Tips: Starting a Law Firm in 2020

There are close to 600 million entrepreneurs in the world today. These businesses are run by self-starters who know how to cut through the noise, beat out their competition and get in front of the people who matter.

If you’re a lawyer with an entrepreneurial spirit, you may want to consider starting your own law firm.

Let’s take a look at 3 tips for starting a law firm in 2020 and how you can get there successfully.

1. Have Your Finances in Order

Before making the jump to running your own practice, you’ll need to ensure you can afford the costs that come with owning your own business.

While you can start off working out of your own home, eventually you’ll want to rent an office space to provide a dedicated meeting location for clients, unless you intend to run a virtual law firm.

Expect costs to include items such as rent, office supplies, furniture, advertising, and technology hardware. Before you quit your day job make sure you can afford these costs. Plan to have enough saved to cover the costs of your first year while you build your own client base and start making a profit.

2. Creat an Ironclad Business Plan

While there are millions of small businesses in the world, about 20 percent of these fail within the first year of business.  By the tenth year, this number increases to 70 percent.

These numbers shouldn’t discourage you. Rather, they should encourage you to work harder, and put a rock-solid plan in place that will tip the odds in your favor.

The first step in creating your own law firm is to write up a business plan and stick to it.

Your plan should include:

• An Executive Summary:  This is an overview of what your plan will entail. Make sure to include your mission statement, core values, and your unique value proposition (i.e. what sets you apart from other law firms).
• A Market Analysis:  This will outline what your ideal client is looking for and will include competitor research, with an overview of their strengths and weaknesses.
• Services Provided:  This will break down the services you will be providing. It will include client challenges and how you will help them solve those challenges with your services.
• Marketing Strategy: This is where you’ll identify how to get in front of your target audience.  You should create buyer personas to cover all the potential clients and determine how you’ll reach these clients. Social media channels, events, and content marketing initiatives should be outlined here as well.

3. Specialize in a Niche

To prevent being a “master of none” consider specializing in a niche, rather than covering a broad spectrum of law.

For example, let’s say you focus on worker’s compensation law. When people file a claim, they need to see an approved workers compensation doctor of which you can recommend. Your knowledge in this area will allow you to make quick, educated recommendations depending on the client and their needs.

By focusing on an area that you enjoy and that you’re knowledgeable in, clients will sense your expertise and put their trust in you. Customer trust builds loyalty, which leads to referrals and more business for you.

Reaping the Benefits of Starting a Law Firm

While starting a law firm takes time, patience and perseverance, it’s worth the effort to build a business on your own terms.

Running your own firm lets you control which clients you choose to work with and gives you the freedom to focus on what you love doing most.

Check out the rest of our site for more business tips and advice.