9 Must-Take Actions for Women Law Firm Owners to Generate Wealth
Davina Frederick: Hi, and
welcome back to the wealthy
woman lawyer podcast. I'm your
host, Davina Fredrik, founder
and CEO of wealthy woman lawyer.
And today I want to share with
you, the nine must take actions
for women, law firm owners to
generate wealth. We are here at
the first day of the last month
of the last quarter of the year,
and a lot of us are thinking
about 2023 right now. And our
plan for the year we're looking
at our goals maybe that this
year and looking at what we
achieved and what we didn't
achieve. And thinking about, you
know, what we can do differently
next year, if our goal is to
generate wealth, I have nine
must take actions for you. So
let's jump in and get started.
Number one is to get clear on
your goals and your why. So you
think Duh, of course get clear
on my goals. But that's not
exactly what I mean. What I mean
is, it's so important for you to
get very specific about your
goals, what it is that you want.
For a lot of people wealth can
be a dirty word, and they can
think to themselves, well, I
can't say that I want well, if I
can solve, assign some arbitrary
number that I want for my
business, but that's not what
I'm talking about what I'm
talking about, is you getting
clear on what is important to
you. If you want to make
$250,000 You say want to make
turn $50,000 in personal income,
then why do you want to do that?
What is it that that money means
to you? What is it that is going
to do for you? So to give you an
example, a lot of people will
say, Well, my kids are my why?
Well, what do you mean, your
kids, your why? What did you
want to provide for them, I want
to provide for them a life that
I was not able to have as a
child, which is what to go and
do things to travel the world to
have their college funded, so
they don't have to take on
student loan debt to create
generational wealth for them. So
I could pass on something them
to them that I didn't have.
That's an example another why
may be well, I don't have kids.
That's not my why my why is so
that I can travel the world, you
know, maybe take six
international trips a year, and
just live my best life. Another
why is I want to make sure that
when I'm old, I'm not living on
cat food and homeless. So I
really, it is compelling to me
to create enough money that I'll
have enough money to set aside
and invest for my future. Get
really emotionally attached to
your why what is this money
about what you want, if you have
a financial goal, then attach
something if you have other
goals, and you don't think in
terms of money, then I want you
to do the opposite. I want you
to think about what it is it's
really important to you, your
kids, your your freedom, your
traveling your future, whatever
it is, it's important to you.
And then I want you to attach
numbers to it. Because often I
will hear people say, well,
money's not important to me. But
they but they want to take six
trips internationally every
year, or they want to have kids
and take care of their kids, or
they don't have a plan for the
future. They don't even think
about the future. They just
think that they're never going
to get old, that's not going to
happen to them. Well, I'm here
to tell you, there's a whole lot
of people who do get old, and
hopefully you will be one of
them. So get clear on your
goals, but really attach it to
your why what's important to
you. Number two is put law firm
growth on your calendar. If you
want to grow a profitable,
sustainable wealth generating
law firm business that exists
for you and creates money for
you over time, you have got to
start prioritizing that, which
means you got to put it on your
calendar, your calendar is a
reflection of how you spend your
time during the day. And if
you've got a very full booked
calendar, with all these other
things that you're doing, then
you say anything, oh, well, I'll
I'll, I'll squeeze that in, I'll
figure out time to look at that
or listen to this or invest in
this or whatever. But you never
put it on your calendar, you
won't because your calendar is
just a reflection of how you're
spending your time during the
day. If you have a cram full,
you probably have things that
aren't on your calendar and also
crammed in there. So you're
never gonna find time for it,
you're gonna keep putting it off
and kicking the can down the
road. If you want to grow a
wealth generating law firm, you
must put time on your calendar
every week to focus on working
on your business. And make that
a priority as much of a priority
is anything else. If you just
wanted to practice law, you can
get a job working for somebody
else. But if you want to be a
business owner of a wealth
generating firm, you have to
make it an equal priority.
Number three is hire a million
dollar team so you can stop
doing and start reviewing is
what I tell people stop doing
and start reviewing. Stop trying
to do all the things you have to
hire a team to help you get to
and through a million dollars.
Who are those people going to
be? We're looking for positions
not people okay? Identify create
a model aspirational org chart
and identify who what positions
are required to get you to and
through a million dollar team.
Do you need to add an attorney
do you need to add two attorneys
so that you can build them out
and they can make you money and
make you profit do you need add
paralegals Do you desperately
need somebody to handle your
social media to free up some of
your time, figure out who your
team is, from a standpoint of
positions, then you can fill in
people later. Alright, number
four is learn to lead. This is
really about investing in your
own skill development, and
learning how to be a better
leader. Oftentimes, as we're
leading a team of people are
trying to be a manager, which is
different, a little bit
different from being a leader.
Managers are a leader, but not
all leaders or managers. So you,
you may, you may blame the other
person they did this, they did
that they didn't work out, they
were terrible. And you may be
right in some cases. But it also
could be a you problem, it could
be that you haven't invested in
the skills that you need to
manage, which is a day to day
operations kind of thing. Or to
be an inspirational leader, you
haven't learned how to be a
thought leader, you haven't
learned how to be an
inspirational leader that others
want to follow. And that helps
you in all walks of your life,
all areas of your life, being a
leader in your community, being
a leader in your business. And
being a leader where you're,
you're a thought leader, that
that's attracting those ideal
clients that you want to serve.
Number five is systematize,
everything that you can. So
systems are different from
automation, a lot of people
conflate the two, but systems
existed long before automation.
A system being systematic is
taking a process that's going to
be repeated over and over again,
and documenting that process so
that anyone can theoretically
sit down in that position and do
that same activity, because you
haven't documented and they have
step by step instructions on how
to follow it. You want to for
every repeatable process in your
business, you want to create a
checklist, video training,
something that documents that
process, so that anybody can
listen to it and then replicate
it. Number six is automate what
makes sense, though there are
automation is wonderful these
days, there are so many tools
out there we can use to
automate. But we often it's
like, Have you ever seen
somebody who everything they
were as designer, and you're
like, that looks terrible. And
it's because they're so focused
on the label, they're not
focused on coming up with a look
that just looks, you know,
beautiful and stylish, they just
want everything to have a label
on it. That's what it can be
like with automation, if you get
if you don't have a clear plan
for what you're going to
automate and why you're going to
automate it, and how you're
going to automate it. And then
you just jump in and start just
buying a bunch of products,
because you see some other
lawyer on Facebook, recommending
that you use this product, you
might already have a tool that
does the exact same thing,
because you haven't been trained
on it, or you don't have your
team trained on it. You're not
using it. And then you go and
buy another product that does
the same thing. It's a foolish
waste of money. So you want to
automate what makes sense. Also,
when you're automating what
makes sense, there are things
that may not make sense for
automation, you may apply
automation to your onboarding
intake process, and you should,
but there also may need to be a
human element there. Have you
ever tried to call a any
government entity or a large
corporation and gotten the phone
tree where you just keep going
through their system? Because
you never have that human
contact? Experience? That and
how does that make you feel? And
do you want your clients to feel
that way? Yes, automation is a
great benefit does, it's a great
benefit to the client. But
sometimes we need human to human
contact. And so you need to make
sure that that if you want to
provide that high touch boutique
experience, that keeps clients
clamoring to hire you and coming
back to you, you need to include
that part as well. Alright,
number seven is master business
math. I know, I know, I hear you
right now,
I don't like math, which is why
I became a lawyer. I hear that
from a lot of lawyers, I am that
person as well. I was a star
math student till I was 10 years
old. And then they started
introducing letters into by math
and I got all confused. So I get
you. But one of the things that
you need to understand if you
want to grow a wealth generating
law firm business, is you must
master business math, you must
understand how to read your
financial reports and what it
means. You must understand what
key performance indicators are
and which ones are important for
you to be tracking and which
ones you don't need to worry
about right now. Are you should
you be sitting there lining up
the numbers like little soldiers
like a bookkeeper? No, you need
to hire a bookkeeper to do that
for you need to hire a CPA, but
you need to have an
understanding. You can't blame
your CPA and say, Well, I can't
make that investment because my
CPA won't let me or I don't
understand that. I'll have to
check with my CPA. I can't tell
you what my revenue was last
year. I'll have to call my CPA.
Those are all excuses. Where
you're you're not taking
accountability for you are
ultimately responsible for
knowing your numbers and your
business. The IRS certainly is
not going to take that kind of
thing as an excuse. And it's not
as difficult as you think. A lot
of people think It is but
something that we teach in the
wealthy woman lawyer league is
we help people overcome that
phobia, and really learn how to
get clear on the numbers.
Because all of your business
decisions around wealth, you
must understand your numbers,
because that's your map, that's
what's going to give you the
critical information to help you
get to where you're going.
Alright, number eight is hired
coach who specializes in law
firm business growth. Of course,
that's what I do. That's what my
company wealthy woman lawyer
does. So I obviously have an
interest in telling you that but
also, let me just tell you, I
give I give this advice before I
became a coach as well, because
I hire coaches, and they changed
my life. They taught me things
that might have otherwise taken
me years to learn on my own, I
may never have learned some of
the things that I've learned
working with coaches, had I not
made that investment in myself
and my business, I really did
made that choice so that I would
short cut my success getting
from point A to point B, a good
coach can help you do that. And
so I go further and say, really
hire one that specializes in law
firm business, because we know
that law firm businesses are
unique. Businesses were not the
same thing as a nail salon, or,
you know, a gym or something
like that, right? We have
different ethical obligations,
different legal requirements. So
you really need to hire somebody
who understands that and
somebody who's been there done
that. You know, I know for me, I
built and grew my own law firm
business I've done I've built to
law for businesses. So I
understand the ins and outs of
what that's like. And you may be
surrounded by people who are
supporters who love you, and
they want to support you, but
they don't have the specialty,
the knowledge, special knowledge
that they need to be able to do.
So. Which brings me to number
nine, which is seek out a
community of like minded women
on the same journey, I cannot
stress to you enough the
importance of surrounding
yourself with people who are
optimistic, who walk on the
sunny side, who, who who know
that it's critical to take risks
in your business, if you want to
grow, and who can support you in
that, because they've been there
done that, right. So in in
seeking out a community, we
often have a community around us
anyway, we have our parents, we
have our spouse, we have our
friends, we have people we went
to college with, we went to law
school with people used to work
with all of these people who are
important to us in our lives,
and most of them cannot
understand what it is that we're
doing. And what we have on the
line. When we start and grow our
own law firm business. They you
might have people in your family
who love and support you, but
they've only ever worked a nine
to five job. So they don't get
what the added pressure that you
have of being entrepreneur. And
they may say, Well, why are you
working on the weekend? Or why
are you working at night? Or why
are you doing all this stuff?
And you're like, I'm preparing
for trial. They don't get what
that means, right? They're
telling you to take time off.
They say things like All work
and no play. And they don't
really understand what is you're
doing on your journey. It's
important to seek out people who
do understand that those people
who don't understand love us,
but they don't often know the
best thing for us, right? That's
for us to decide. And it's the
same thing with people who are
entrepreneurs in your family.
Yes, they may be entrepreneurs.
But if they've never owned a law
firm, then you know, there's a
lot of stuff that they don't
know, they don't know that every
time you make a decision for our
client, you're putting your bar
license on the line, because
you're you know, you you, you
could step into malpractice very
quickly. So it's important to
surround yourself with a
community of like minded people
on the same journey as you so
that they can support you and
really understand where you're
coming from. So that's it, those
are the nine must do must take
actions for women law for owners
to generate. Well, I hope you've
enjoyed this episode. I'm
thinking about you as you're
going into 2023 as I am having
many conversations with my
women, law firm, owner clients
about it. And I wanted to really
take a moment to give you some
very specific actions that you
could take as you're planning
out your 2023. And if you have
enjoyed this episode, please
give us a review on your podcast
app. If you're an Apple fan
girl, go there. Whatever it is,
you're listening to this on. If
you could leave us a review,
please do we so appreciate it.
We're trying to get as many
women law firm owners as we can
to listen to the podcast so they
can get the help that they need
to grow their software business.
All right, that's her out. I
thank you so much for being here
and being a member of the
wealthy woman lawyer community.
I so appreciate you and I will
talk to you next week.
