The law can be difficult when you feel alone in the trenches of it. Surprisingly, the isolation you feel doesn’t always get easier as you mature and grow in your practice. Instead, overtime, it can increase and leave you feeling at a loss, despite all the “wins” you experience.

Whether it be a sounding board for your ideas, a safe space to vent, or someone to celebrate your wins with you, having someone on your side can make a huge difference. That third party take perspective on what your success means, as well as a historic understanding of what you have overcome to be where you are right now, can prove invaluable over time.

Long story short, if you are feeling lost, alone, or stuck in your law practice, it may be time for you to get a mentor or a performance coach.

With a mentor coach, new attorneys or associates, as well as experienced attorneys transitioning into new practice areas, can get guidance on how to establish themselves. What do you need to know? Where do you find the local, federal, and state law for your new practice area? What systems will you need to put in place to set yourself up for success? How will your team help with the transition? Do you have ideas on how to expand your market in this new practice area? These are things that you can discuss and work through with a mentor coach.

A performance coach, alternatively, can be a great help to attorneys who are established and have the knowledge, but seem to be getting stuck somewhere. Something is not working as it should. This could relate to issues with revenue streams, staffing, or systems the firm has in place or does not have in place but should. The goal of working with a performance coach is to break through the roadblocks and fulfill the potential of the firm and those that work there.

With both a mentor coach and a performance coach, you get that sounding board you have been looking for and you have someone on your side that will help tackle the challenges, as well as help identify them, and also help you celebrate your victories. Learning to celebrate success can be an important part of coaching as well. When you take the time to celebrate your successes, you are modeling something important for your staff. They will, in turn, feel free and encouraged to celebrate success as well. This is just one way a coach can help you create a firm culture that people want to be a part of and stay a part of.

Whether you are looking for a mentor coach or a performance coach, Practice42 has your back. Our coaching programs are specially designed to meet your needs and help you work through your challenges so you can reach your full practice potential. Let us help you grow and succeed! Call us to schedule a free Strategy Session at 850-933-5072 or fill out our Contact Us Form and we will call you!

Have you considered starting your own practice? The pull towards being your own boss, making the decisions on how the firm is run, and being able to decide which cases you take on can be strong and can, some days more than others, be extremely appealing. It is, however, an endeavor that you should thoughtfully consider. 

Are you ready to take the plunge and open your own practice? We help so many attorneys who are in your exact same boat, let us help. In our blog here we want to review some questions to ask yourself first.

1. What are your goals? Having a clear vision of your goals will serve you well in this undertaking. These will act as guideposts for all of the major and minor decisions you will make as you establish your practice. Why are you starting your own practice? How will your firm be different from others? Set your sights on your business mission and development. Do you have a specific vision for it? This can be essential to setting up your firm for success.

2. Are you financially ready? Dreaming is free, but opening a firm costs money. Before you can make those dreams of having your own firm come true, you need to make sure you have your finances in order. 

First, how are you going to fund the startup costs associated with setting up your practice? Lay out the expenses you are going to need to cover up front. This may include insurances, fees, office space, office furniture, support staff, marketing costs, and more. Get a clear idea of what it is going to cost you to open up your firm, how much you will need as a cushion prior to your firm generating revenue, and how you are going to cover these costs.

Second, what do you need to live on and support yourself. We see too many attorneys, new and established, forget to pay themselves. We do not want you to be one of those attorneys. Even if your salary goals are small to start, such as just covering your mortgage payment, it is important to create the healthy habit of paying yourself in your monthly overhead.

3. Do you have the support you need? A supportive team can be critical in establishing your own firm, but not always tied to those physically in your firm. Although you may want to hire first, you may need a guide first. Especially when you are a DIY-er. 

Surround yourself with those that are going to coach you, support you, and guide you through the exciting, but overwhelming process of opening your own practice. Do you have a mentor? Do you have a strategic performance coach? Having someone who has gone through establishing a law practice, as well as someone you can bounce ideas off of as you go through the process yourself, can provide you with guidance and an overall feeling of confidence as you make important decisions. 

You do not and should not go this alone. Get the support you need to make your practice the success you want it to be.

At Practice42, we help set law firms up for success. From working with you to get a clear vision of your goals to providing support and mentorship, we can help guide you through the process of not just setting up your own firm, but setting it up to thrive. We encourage you to schedule a free Strategy Session with our team to find out more about what we can do for you.