Your Firm Business Plan: 3 Resources to Help You Draft
Did Gabriella convince you?
If you're preparing to launch your own small firm practice, you really should have a business plan. The plan should weigh the relevant factors, from practice area to practice location, before you open up shop. A proper law firm business plan may also be a necessity if you are applying for a small business loan to cover startup costs.
If you're suffering from writer's block, despite Gabriella's great advice, here are few more resources to get you started:
1. MyShingle's Planning for Success
Author, attorney, and small firm guru Carolyn Elefant's MyShingle blog should be on every solo's bookmarks list (right next to our fabulous blog). In her "Planning for Success" post, she provides three great resources: a checklist for starting a firm, a mind map of considerations for the planning stage, and "Back of the Napkin" informal business plan.
(Sidebar: if you have trouble viewing the three resources, click the "fullscreen" buttons on the bottom of each.)
2. Bplan's Sample Law Firm Business Plan
For those in need of a more formal business plan, with objectives, market analysis, and other "MBA speak," Bplan has a comprehensive sample business plan for a small law firm on their website, which could come in handy as a template for your own plan.
3. Texas Bar's Checklist
Want to make sure you didn't miss any critical considerations when planning your practice? The Texas Bar CLE (not affiliated with the actual bar, it seems) provides a great how-to (PDF) for law office business plans, in a handy bullet point/checklist format.
Get Started!
It's the 7 Ps: Proper Planning and Preparation Prevents [Pitifully] Poor Performance.
It's also common sense. A properly prepared practice has a much higher chance of financial success and client satisfaction than an attorney with a laptop, a hint of legal knowledge, and a shingle that says, "Lawyer."
There's also one more P: Procrastination. Don't let it stand in the way of your firm's success.
Related Resources:
- Five Ways to Work on Your Law Firm's Business Today (FindLaw's Strategist Blog)
- 3 Major Ways to Reduce Your Office Overhead (FindLaw's Strategist Blog)
- Should You Charge for Consultations? (FindLaw's Strategist Blog)