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 You have all heard the old adage "If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten." This months newsletter focuses on sacrificing some of our "sacred cows" and replacing them with better alternatives.
Sincerely,
Stephen Fairley
888-588-5891 |
| Sacrifice All Your Sacred Cows
As our economy falls into a recession, many businesses, including law firms, will fail. Now is not the time to coddle your sacred cows. Challenge the traditional ways of doing business. Think about your business model. What may have made sense last year may no longer work.
 Creative thinking involves breaking out of one pattern in order to create a new one. All too often, we become ensnared by the familiar phenomenon:
- We make rules based on reasons that make a lot of sense.
- We follow these rules.
- Time passes and things change.
- The original reasons for the rules may no longer exist, but because the rules are still in place, we continue to follow them.
Ask yourself these challenging questions:
- How can you provide the same level of services at a lower cost?
- How price-sensitive is your target market?
- How can you structure payments to better fit the new financial realities in our economy?
- What parts of your practice make the most profit?
- Should you expand your practice areas or get rid of one?
- Should you really hire another associate or paralegal or could you outsource it to a part-time contractor for half the price?
Start by making at least one change in your practice that makes sense today, and continue to identify those areas that no longer serve your best interest or your bottom line. |
