4 KEYS TO BREAKING THE 7-FIGURE BARRIER
careful about signing long-term leasing agreements , especially when your revenues can ’ t justify it .
Money — very few attorneys went to school to become a bookkeeper or an accountant , but to manage a growing business you must know how to manage your money . You need to know the basics of finances for small business , from reading a profit and loss statement , to analyzing your cash flow . Being an owner means other people are depending on you managing the money wisely .
Metrics — to consistently break a million dollars per year in revenues , there are over a dozen numbers you must be monitoring and measuring consistently . Here are a few of them : how many unique website visitors each month , how many leads per month are you getting , how much is your average cost per lead by marketing channel ( PPC , SEO , TV , radio , print , etc .), how many appointments is your team setting per month , what is the show up rate to your appointments , what is your conversion rate for initial consultation by attorney , what is your average cost per client acquisition by marketing channel , what are your COGS ( cost of goods sold ) per practice area , and your profit margin per practice area . This is not a comprehensive list , but if you know , measure , and track each of those metrics every month , you will be far ahead of your competitors !
Strategy — while having a great strategy is necessary , the reason why it ’ s so far down on the list is because most attorneys spend way too much time on developing a strategy and far too little time implementing the strategy ! Get some leads in the door . Make the sale . Collect the money . Do great work . Get some referrals . Wash , rinse , and repeat ! Then work on your next level strategy .
Self — upgrading yourself is the last , but most important step . You need to read business growth books or take classes or attend marketing seminars , whatever fits your style of learning better . Hang around other successful business owners . Join a mastermind group of successful attorneys . Push yourself outside of your comfort zone . You will never build a multi-million dollar law firm by staying inside your comfort zone . You will have to face bigger challenges than you ’ ve ever faced before . You must make tough decisions without having all the information . You will encounter “ bet the business ” scenarios . You will be accused of things by employees or clients that you didn ’ t do . Building a highly successful business from the ground up has never been easy . It is not for the weak or the faint of heart . The bigger your business grows the bigger the target on your back becomes . Spending time with business owners who have already been where you want to go is a great way to reduce your learning curve .
2 . Focus on a niche .
When you ’ re in the startup phase ( from $ 0 to about $ 250,000 ) you face a neverending challenge of taking whatever business comes in through the door in order to pay the bills or concentrating on one area to build a niche practice . It becomes a question of short-term focus vs . long-term survival – and I realize that most solos need to balance both in order to make it .
However , the faster you can start focusing on one to two practice area niches the faster you will go from having a job ($ 0 to $ 500,000 ) to creating a practice ($ 500,000 to $ 1M ). When people see you as a jack of all trades ( the generalist approach ), they also perceive you as the master of none . People will pay more for a specialist because they see you as an expert . People will refer more to a specialist because they aren ’ t afraid of you stealing their clients or competing with them . Contrary to popular belief , this approach does not limit you ; rather , it helps to focus your marketing and business development efforts .
There are many ways to select a niche , but it must be small enough to be realistic , yet big enough to have enough potential clients in it . For example , being the number one bankruptcy attorney in all of the Phoenix metro area is not realistic . There are far too many entrenched and successful competitors to ever achieve this . However , you could be the number one business bankruptcy and tax attorney for entrepreneurs and small business owners in the East Valley .
Review your top ten client list ( either by amount of revenue / fees generated or in terms of how much you enjoy working with them ). Then look for any similarities . It may not be apparent at first , but keep asking questions and you will find it . Once you niche your practice , you will find that referrals come more readily to you , since it will become clear in referral source ’ s mind just exactly what it is you do .
3 . Identify your ideal target market .
Your Ideal Target Market ( ITM ) is the person or company who is most likely to retain you initially , repeatedly , and at the highest profit margin . Most bankruptcy attorneys focus on individual consumers so here are some questions to help you determine your ideal client . I recommend you answer these questions with as much specificity as you can :
1 . What does your perfect client look like ? ( Think in terms of age , profession , gender , education , interests , work , marital status , family size , hobbies , and lifestyle .)
2 . Who can afford your fees ? How much can they afford ? What ’ s your value to them ?
3 . Why should they hire you versus another competitor or
National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys Summer 2016 CONSUMER BANKRUPTCY JOURNAL 27