Last week, we began our 3-part interview series with some of our most successful members, entitled:

The Truth & Nothing But The Truth About Starting, Growing and Running a Really Successful Law Firm.

In it, I’m interviewing 3 different How to Manage members about a different topic each session, and they share their experiences and best practices on the topic.

It’s been HUGELY valuable and really eye-opening, but depending on when you are reading this you may have already missed the first 1 or 2 sessions. Not to worry though, you can still catch a replay!

Click here to hear a replay of the interviews you missed.

We tried to keep the atmosphere light and fun, and we didn’t really follow any kind of effective law firm script. The first interview series was all about the importance of creating and executing a written business plan that can help you expand your law firm business.

There was one fun moment I wanted to share with all of you since it can be extremely helpful for those of you who are struggling to keep your head above water in your law firm.

Like I said, if you haven’t heard the entire interview, click the link above and go back and listen to it, the amount of value in those interviews is immeasurable.

We had some fun though, too.

Towards the end of her time, Meldie Moore made a joke about creating a “Top 10” list for all the reasons your law firm needs a business plan.

So I held her to it!

You could tell she thought she was off the hook halfway through, but no- she finished the list! (with an assist from Holly)

So without further ado, and with apologies to David Letterman, here are the top 10 reasons your law firm needs a business plan:

  1. A written business plan allows you to sit down and form a clear picture of where your business is right now and what kind of shape it’s in.
  2. It allows you to set future goals and create a plan to achieve them.
  3. It provides the accountability you need to get things DONE.
  4. Research says that once a goal is written down, it’s more likely to be completed (this was a big one for Meldie, the research buff!)
  5. Sharing it with your staff and significant other gets you on the same page with them and can help to bring the team together.
  6. If you are working with a CEO, COO, or CFO (and depending on which stage of growth you are in, you should be!), it gives you the ability to show them where you are, where you’re going, and what your goals are.

And here’s where Meldie began to stall out and thought she could get out of finishing the list… no way! Holly Moore (no relation), who was waiting for her turn to be interviewed, jumped in and helped out…

Continuing on with our list:

  1. A business plan gives you the comfort of knowing how it’s all going to work out, instead of just “hoping” it does.
  2. It allows you to be confident that you will actually reach your goals because you know there is a plan in place to do so.
  3. It helps you be able to run a business effectively instead of JUST practicing law.

And the number 1 reason your law firm NEEDS a business plan:

  1. It will help you serve your clients better.

And honestly, that’s reason enough to take the time to create a clear, written business plan.

One thing all three members agreed on was that lawyers tend to have this mentality that they don’t NEED to have a business plan, because that’s “business stuff”. They think that any time spent doing “business stuff” is time taken away from their clients, so they continue to work more and more, harder and harder.

But the fact is that a written business plan allows you to spend your time on the things that matter most, so that you can actually free up MORE time for your clients.

THAT’S the big disconnect that most lawyers have. They don’t realize that running a multi-million dollar law firm is actually LESS work than running a $250k law firm, not more!

The ones that get that are the ones that have a written business plan and they are also the ones who are most successful and spending the most time with their families.

If you want our help getting started on YOUR business plan, click here to download your own FREE copy of the Business Plan Workbook.

If you think you may need help filling it out or want to know more about what How to Manage a Small Law Firm can do to help you increase revenue while also increasing your quality of life, please schedule an appointment with a member of my team.