Profiting From Running Your Firm Like a Business

Profiting From Running Your Firm

Like a BusinessDavid J. Zumpano, Esq., CPA

Co-Founder, Lawyers With Purpose

ENTREPRENEURA person who organizes and operates a business, taking on greater than normal financial risks in order to do so. - Merriam-Webster Dictionary

E-Myth (Michael Gerber)

• The Entrepreneurial Myth is that most businesses are started by individuals risking capital to start a business but actually most are started by an entrepreneurial seizure, which leads to the:

Fatal Assumption: “Because you know how to do the work required in a business, you assume you know how to run the business that provides that work.”

The four pillars of profitable law firms

• Marketing

• Processes & Systems

• Technology

• People (skill sets)

Pillar One: Marketing

• Retail Marketing: (B2C) Media (TV/newspaper/radio/etc) Public presentations

• Wholesale Marketing: (B2B) Allied professionals Nursing Homes

Chet Holmes International Study

• 3% buying right now

• 6%-7% open to the idea of buying

• 30% not thinking about it

• 30% think they are not interested

• 30% definitely are not interested

Perceived Value

• Your hireability is based on your client’s perceived value of what you can do for them. (Can you solve their problem?)

• Perceived value is based on “relationship” with the client and their trust in you. (They really don’t have a clue what you’re doing!)

• How do you identify their problem & create relationship Effective communication

• Identify their “need”, from their perspective and explain in “their world” terms how you can help them

Process • Break it down to bite size pieces for them (process) and do what you

promise

Keep it simple and relevant to the customer!

Example: Explaining Medicaid and how much of clients assets are at risk.(Do you agree this is complicated?)

Presentations:Mr. & Mrs. Richards: Protection Plan

• Total assets at risk (no plan) $699,865 With plan

• Immediately Protect $592,463• Balance at risk… $107,402 only 38 months• After 38 months (still healthy)• protect $4,708/mo until month 60 when it’s…

All Safe!

We all have our OWN Numbers!

Showing your prospects…

• LWP Opinion Letter

• Asset Risk Analysis

• Value Proposition

It’s as simple as knowing your numbers

Where else do you use theValue Proposition?

• Marketing Talks/Presentations

• Prior to client meetings Opinion Letter

• In client meetings Asset Risk Analysis

• With your family• At the bar

WHOLESALE MARKETING (B2B)

Create relationship with other professionals who serve your target market.

Perception vs. Reality

• Perception “If I meet with many referral

sources & give presentations, I will be successful”

• Reality Meetings & presentations do

not assure referrals; you need good relationships and a SYSTEM to support your relationships to get referrals

HAVING RMS™ MEETINGSdoes not assure referrals from allied professionals…

Relationships do!

CONSISTENT FOLLOW UPis ESSENTIAL!

(Do what you say you’re going to and hold them to what they agree to.)

IN TWO 1½ MEETINGS A WEEK,you can sustain a $1million practice.

You need to have the proper systems to ensure prospects and allied professionals “feel” like you will solve their problem.

Systems allow you to sleep well at night because they eliminate the unknown (person dependent) and keep you aware of your reality!

Process: The steps needed to complete the work requiredSystem: How to get from step to step, what is measured

and what the customer “gets” (impact)

LWP™ Law Firm System

Marketing Creates Leads, Enrollment Converts Leads into Clients

• How LWP™ Systems and Processes build client confidence, enable clients to identify the value you provide, and help clients willingly engage you!

LWP™ Client Enrollment SystemClient Workshops

• Pros for Clients A safe (Low Risk)

environment to explore Medicaid issues

A chance to assess you (Relationship)

A chance to experience your process and competence

• Pros for You Casts a wide net Generates warm prospects Third party credibility

While this is the LWP™ Client Enrollment System, it isalso the first step in the LWP™ Estate Planning System

1 13 1 15

Client Enrollment(Conversion)

Cash Flow Focuser(Money Management)

While this may seem overwhelming, the truth is you are doing it all anyway.

You are just not relying on technology to track it. You are relying on you (or others).That’s why cash flow is inconsistent.

HOW TECHNOLOGY ENSURES PROFITABILITY

It’s nice when technology has your back.

But more importantly, it supports and empowers your team!

How to assemble a team with consistent profitability…

YOUR PEOPLE STRATEGY

Do you have the seven essential skills needed to run a successful business?

YOUR PEOPLE STRATEGY

The seven essential skills of successful businesses

Individual Skills

EntrepreneurVisionary

Transformer(s)Performer(s)

Group Skills

Leader(s)Manager(s)Facilitator(s)

May be in less than or more than seven people,but all roles needed to achieve it!

Entrepreneurs have many of these skills but their greatest skill is facilitating the creation of an organization that is able

to identify, create and/or deliver value the marketplace is willing

to pay for.

LWP™ Definition: Entrepreneur

Level One: An individual who identifies, creates and/or delivers a vision the world values and is willing to pay for (a.k.a. “solopreneur”).

Level Two: An individual with the infrastructure to identify, create and deliver a vision the world values, pays for without his or her direct participation required (“entrepreneur”).

Level One limits impact to your individual capability.Level Two has NO limit on impact.

Visionary:“Someone who imagines with wisdom how to deliver

a new value to the world”- Lawyers With Purpose

Being a Visionary does not mean the wisdom imagined will actually occur. Seeing how it can and knowing how to get it to

occur is the difference between a Visionary and an Entrepreneur!

Other individual skills needed

• Transformer: One who, with their own skills, knowledge and resources available transforms an idea (vision) that benefits others into a product or service that is delivered. Without transformers, the ideas of value are not in a format to be delivered to the intended benefactor.

• Performer: One who utilizes their individual skills or talent to excel at delivering the value to the recipient in a way for them to derive the intended benefit from it. Without performers there is no value delivered, no benefit derived and no consumers to support.

Group skills needed:

• Leader: One who is accountable to those they report for the performance of others who are accountable to them to accomplish the stated objectives (goals). Leaders require content knowledge. They plan, predict and provide expectations for the business then stay alert to changing conditions to protect the business from unanticipated failures (future oriented).

Smaller successful organizations are operated by self lead people who are accountable to one leader

(typically owner).

As your company grows, your number of leaders will grow.

Group skills needed (cont’d):

• Manager: One who is responsible to accomplish the expectations set by leaders and who utilize current infrastructure and personnel to do so. Managers are routine, ready and reactive to day-to-day needs to get the work done as expected (present oriented).

• Facilitator: One who is able to bridge the gap between those with an idea and those with the skills to build it, implement it or manage it. Requires context knowledge and the ability to create proper “inquiry” to identify proposed solutions to challenges by utilizing the proper skills sets available.

Entrepreneurs know how to build companies that have all seven skill

sets. The question becomes whether it is a Level One or Level Two

entrepreneurial endeavor.

LWP lawyers plan for their success

• This is someone who imagines new possibilities. They are committed to their future and focuses at least 20% of their work time to write, map out and develop new skills to achieve the future they identify

Long term (3+ year goals) Consistent (annual/quarterly/monthly/weekly/daily/hourly) Entrepreneurial time template No limitations to their thinking (based on wants, not needs)

Harvard Business Study

• 3% had written goals• 13% had goals, but not written down• 84% had no goals at all

10 years later• 13% who had goals were earning twice as much as the

84% who had no goals at all• 3% who had written goals were earning 10 times as

much as the other 97% combined

LWP lawyers are financially disciplined

• This is someone who knows the difference between cash flow, profit and EBITDA and how to ensure the profit projected is obtained and received.

Are aware of all company data• Marketing/Sales• Revenues/Expenses

Individual/department/team performance to goal Income “pockets”

LWP lawyers are true believers

• Intentional Entrepreneurs inherently believes to their core that they can achieve anything. Despite opposition and challenge, they maintain confidence they will achieve what they set out for and enroll those necessary to do so.

• Absolute belief in self and what they are delivering.

The LWP™ color coded cash flow calendaring system

To be a Level Two Entrepreneur…

You must know your Primary Colors!

Yellow Blue Green

Simply stated, Level Two Entrepreneurs understand three primary colors.

The time you spend on Lead Generation and Lead Conversion (commonly referred to as Marketing and Sales). At Lawyers with Purpose™, we call this Relationship Management and Client Enrollment.

The time you spend on serving your clients to provide the value they hired you for. This requires working with your team, utilizing systems and process to create consistent quality and reduce the time required by YOU.

The time you spend working on your law firm business. While most view this as black time it is actually “Gold” if it’s Proactive!

The LWP Model

(you and team)

20% yellow

40%blue

40%green

Your time should be 40% Blue, 40% Green, and 20% Yellow60

In this hour, we covered…

• 4 pillars of profitability Marketing Processes & Systems

• Relationship Management System• Client Enrollment System• Estate Planning System• Medicaid System• VA System• Probate & Trust Administration System

Technology• Actionstep

People

• Color Coded Cash Flow Calendar

At Lawyers With Purpose we help you…

1. Identify the greatest opportunity in front of you and create a clear path to achieve it. (This alone is worth the price of admission.)

2. Utilize the key tools to ensure effective forward thinking planning to create your future success based on your wants, without guilt.

3. Discover what makes people tick and how to know you are effectively communicating your value.

4. Master the Expectation Focuser, Idea Focuser, Implementation Focuser and Project Tracker to ensure you delegate appropriately.

At Lawyers With Purpose we help you…

5. Identify the key financial measures of every business and how to be proactive and create “pockets” of money to secure your future.

6. Measure your coachability and identify if it’s a proponent or inhibitor of your true potential.

7. Become a true believer in yourself and identify the skills you possess and the support systems you need to thrive and commit to your action plan.

GET STARTED NOW!TAKE ACTION!

www.joinlwp.com

Profiting From Running Your Firm Like a Business

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