Business Plans Suck. Planning your legal career doesn't.

Two years ago, I was enduring the unending humidity of a Maryland summer. When you are trapped in air conditioning and unemployed, you're likely to pick up anything.

Now I've practically memorized Scot Gerber's "Never Get A Real Job." It's a primer for starting and running an enterprise. GET THIS BOOK, if only to read the chapter called "Business Plans Suck."

A business plan is a waste of time.

Planning is essential. But The Business Plan has taken on a life of its own. Here are a few realities:

The Business Plan is mostly fiction.

None of the things you write in The Business Plan will happen when you say they will.

No one reads the darn thing. I haven't read my business plan since I put it together in 2010. Why? It sucked. It had numbers and graphs and testimonials, and the bank put it in my file and never looked at it again.

A startup plan is NOT a waste of time.

Here is the difference. Like the Constitution, your startup plan is a living document. You can allow yourself to experiment with a startup plan. A startup plan can help you identify your best business model. A startup plan can be anything you want. But it should have some clearly defined goals, milestones, and ideas. You might want to think about money, but don't do that until you have a clear idea of your product, your market, and your selling strategy.

Your startup plan is short, sweet, and can be accepted on Kickstarter or IndieGoGo without any fuss or changes.

Scott Gerber recommends 8 questions to ask, and I like them. They are not mine. They are Scott Gerber's. Get his book to help you figure out how to implement them into your startup plan. 

1. What is the service your business performs or the product it provides today? 

2. How does your business produce or provide the product or service right now? 

3. How will customers use your product or service as it exists right now? 

4. How will your business generate immediate revenue? 

5. Who are the primary clients your business will target immediately? 

6. How will you market your start-up to prospective clients with the resources you have at your direct disposal? 

7. How are you different than your competitors right now? 

8. What are the secondary and tertiary client bases you will target once you’ve attained success with your primary base?

See, Gerber, Scott (2010-11-02). Never Get a "Real" Job: How to Dump Your Boss, Build a Business and Not Go Broke (pp. 91-92). John Wiley and Sons. Kindle Edition. 

I'm a Lawyer. I don't have anything to sell. So I don't need a plan.

Yes you do, so stop making excuses. You sell this thing called knowledge. You have a product, which is your advice, your skill, and your assistance. Figure it out. If you don't know what your product is, how are you going to attract clients? 

Any plan is better than none at all. You can illustrate your plan any way you'd like. Some people draw pictures of their plans. Others draw incredibly complicated "mind maps." I like mind maps, because I think chaotically. A mind map helps tremendously before you hone your offering to a few unique points. Brainstorm, get some friends over for wine and pizza, be as creative as you possibly can with your plan and your business model. 

Then refine it. 

What would you put in your business plan?

Three Strategic Planning Essentials to Make Your Practice Work

Have any of these things just happened to you?

1. I just graduated from law school and I have no job with anyone but me, a small law firm engagement, my dream job with a judge or BigLaw firm.

2.  I finished my first year of law school and still have most of my brain cells left. I have no job, a small firm engagement, or my dream clerkship with a judge or BigLaw firm (yay free baseball all summer!)

3.  I'm just starting law school in the fall and I have no idea why I signed up for this.

You can resolve each of these three situations with a simple acronym: PPM. In my environmental law world, it's parts per million, but do not get it confused. Rather, to make any business venture succeed, your PPM is:

PLAN

PEOPLE

MONEY

You must have each component of PPM in your practice. It's a really good idea to incorporate these during law school, too, just to get into the habit. Warning: this is a short introduction; I'll cover these in detail over the remaining week.

Plan

You will never get anywhere without a plan. Feel free to leave your disagreements in the Comments section. The fact is, you are always executing your plan or someone else's plan. If you're executing someone else's plan, it's likely you're an employee. If you're executing your own plan, you either a very smart employee, or you're working on developing your own practice. 

Your plan doesn't have to be long. It has to be good. It has to be clearly stated. It has to be workable. Don't fall into the trap that your plan needs to have graphs and projections, unless you're a visual thinking. Your plan is your roadmap, not a funding piece.

People

Without the right people in your practice, it will go nowhere. I can hear you saying to yourself "I have no employees; I'm a law student/associate/solo." Feh. You need the right people around you as soon as you start school. Build a network within your class and especially with upper classes. Learn how to gauge personalities. As an associate in a practice, you can network with other people in the firm and other young lawyers outside your firm. 

The people you choose to be with is a reflection of you and your practice. If you have the wrong people in your corner, your practice will be a confusing mess. 

Money

Money makes your plan function and pays your people. I hope you know that already. 

But you can bootstrap, seek investors, ethically seek sponsorships, and maybe even crowdsource to manage the bottom line. There are entire graduate programs devoted to raising capital, and I won't bore you with a crash course on fundraising (at least until Friday).

Today, just start with a plan.

3 Reasons to Hire a Lawyer Who Wears Green Suede Shoes

I wore green suede shoes to an interview with a law firm.  These weren't' the bilious stilettos one might see on the red carpet at the Grammys.

These were green suede Van Elli mules with kitten heals. The green reminded one of a willow in spring. They rocked. They had a little buckle with a bow, so they did pander to the conservative nature of the firm, one of the biggest in the country.

You can learn a lot about lawyers by the clothes they wear, but pay attention to the feet. That's where the true confessions are. This business is 97% spit and polish, and 3% BS, so your feet had better look good.  And if they look good in green suede, go for it. (*NOTE to men reading this: green suede looks silly in anything but a kitten-heeled mule - we'll have to thing of something els for you. Wear green suede to an interview and the partner will think you're applying for the pro position at his country club.)

Now I don't know if these shoes were the determining factor in the firm's decision not to hire me. Actually, another firm beat them to the offer stage.

Assuming they had some bearing on the process, here are the three reasons why firms should hire people who wear green suede shoes:

REASON #1 - The Wearer has a Creative Streak

It takes real skill to plan an interview outfit around a pair of green suede shoes, and a ton of creativity. The green suede shoe wearer will have both skill and creativity in spades. That's what you want in a lawyer.

Trends show that the future belongs to a very different kind of lawyer. Services are becoming commoditized, pre-packaged and readily available online. Left-brain thinkers who are good at writing contracts and crunch numbers are being rapidly replaced by advances in IT. The emphasis will soon be on lawyers who recognize patters and create meaning -- the new lawyer is a big-picture thinker who recognizes unmet need. Future success will hinge on a more creative and imaginative lawyer.

The kind of lawyer who'd wear green suede shoes.

REASON #2. The Wearer has Confidence. Lots of it.

Someone who wears green suede shoes to an interview is likely to have a ton of confidence in her ability to function in the mosh pit of a modern law practice, especially if the wearer can walk in the things without allowing the heel to slap unceremoniously on the floor.

This is not only indicative of confidence, but of careful preparation and consideration for the effects of her actions. Because mules lack a back strap or any other kind of connection to the heel, it's very easy to allow the heel to slap about, resulting in a disturbing clang on most law firm floors.

The green suede shoe wearer will have foreseen this. She will have spent time learning to use her toes to balance the shoe on her foot. She will know and understand how to draw attention away from the shoe and towards her formidable legal skills.

The kind of confidence that comes from such practice and attention to detail is going to be sorely needed in the next several years of the profession. As things begin to change (and they will), such lawyers will be the innovators, marketers, and creators of a multi-sourced legal practice.

REASON #3. The Wearer has Courage.

Finally, it takes courage to wear unconventional shoes to an interview. It's entirely likely that the partnership meeting after the interview will include a discussion of the shoes, and whether the wearer is appropriately serious about practicing law. Believe me, that is not the kind of firm you'd want.

Those pesky future trends are beginning to show that employers and clients want people who will build the firm, stand strong in the face of adversity, and creatively develop long term relationships. Those qualities are dependent on tenacity, creativity, and courage.

The kind of courage it takes to wear green suede shoes.




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© Tamar J Cerafici, The Barefoot Barrister™ 412-467-6141