Why Solos Aren’t 7-Figure Law Firm Owners
Davina Frederick: In today's
episode of the wealthy woman
lawyer podcast, I want to
discuss something that most law
firm coaches are afraid to tell
you. It is highly unlikely to
achieve seven figures in a law
firm business, if you are still
operating as a solo. Yes, even
if you have one or two staffers
working for you, it's a hot
topic. And we're gonna get into
it today. If you are a solo and
you're listening to this
thinking, Davina, that's not
true, don't crush my dreams, I
hear you. And I encourage you to
please hear me out because after
nine years, almost 10 of helping
women law firm owners scale
their law firm businesses, I
would never want to crush
someone's dream or tell them
about quote unquote, reality. If
you have listened to me for any
length of time, you know, I
believe we create our own
realities. What that means to me
is that we have the ability to
create what we want to see in
the world. But the journey to
get there may not be the one we
envisioned. Sometimes the
universe has other ideas. So
certainly that's been my
experience, you may have
something very a goal clearly
mapped out in your mind and the
plan of how you want to get
there. And sometimes oftentimes,
we don't get to follow our plan
exactly, because the world has
other ideas for us. And the
journey is a little bit messier
than we anticipate. But before
we get into it, I want to tell
you that I'm devoting all of
October to this concept of
expansion. That's expanding your
mental and emotional capacity
for more of what you want. But
more specifically, expanding
your capacity to shift from
being a doer and implementer
working your butt off in your
law firm business to being a
CEO, a visionary, and a leader
of a high impact law firm
business. I'm seeing far too
many women law firm owners still
playing small, because they are
worried about the how, how can I
afford to hire another attorney?
How will I find time to train my
staff? How will I lead when I'm
still trying to figure it all
out myself? More than 50% of the
women law firm owners in a
recent poll I conducted told me
that they are still solos, many
of them true solos, doing
everything themselves. I
understand starting out that
way, because that's what I did.
And that's how a lot of people
start out. But within the first
year, it's time to begin to hire
help. Even if you need to hire a
virtual remote or independent
contractor, getting someone to
answer your phones, hiring a
part time assistant. Those are
the kinds of things we can
expect to be doing in the first
year. But what I'm really
talking about are women who have
been doing this for a while. And
maybe two, three years, five to
seven years, some might not have
gotten close to 10 years, being
so close with one or two
assistants. And these really are
the groups that I'm talking to
here. Those folks who, who are
still functioning without the
fully realized team that they
need to have. I've known women
law firm owners who've gotten
all the way up to a half million
dollars in gross annual revenue
with only one or two staffers.
But they were so burned out at
that point that they couldn't
see strain. One client of mine
who was in her 30s while they're
in the hospital thinking she was
having a heart attack by doing
this very thing. When she hired
me, the first homework
assignment I gave her was to
completely unplug for about four
or five days. And she had to do
that because before she could
begin to even start thinking
strategically about her
business, she had to really rest
that brain and rest her body and
calm down her nervous system so
that we could actually have
clear thought, clear thought and
clarity around what she wanted.
So here's the thing, what got
you here, going to college
passing the LSAT going to law
school, passing the bar,
becoming a lawyer hanging out
your shingle, it's not the same
thing that's going to get you to
the next level. If you are like
most middle class Americans like
me, you have been taught to
believe that hard work or a
strong work ethic is the key to
success. And while that that has
that has a role, it has a place.
The unvarnished truth of the
matter is that there are many,
many people who work their
fingers to the bone every day
and never become wealthy. These
are good, honest, hardworking
people. I know very many, and
I'm sure you do too.
The journey to wealth requires
something different. It requires
trust. transforming the way you
think about how you get things
done. It requires you to develop
your mental and emotional
capacity for wealth, and
leverage and connections and
other things. It requires you to
shift from being a dreamer to
being a visionary, from being an
implementer, to being a leader
from being a solo to being a
CEO. Now, I know that there will
be people who may point to and
say, well, she's a solo. And
she's also a millionaire, there
are certainly people out there
that it appears that that is how
they function, it may appear
that way from the outside
looking in. But I can assure you
based on the hundreds and
hundreds of conversations I have
had over the past decade, with
many women, business owners, if
they are millionaires, they have
had some kind of help getting
there. Even if they didn't hire
employees, they have a team of
some kind, people who support
them, people who do for them,
maybe their vas, independent
contractors. There are all kinds
of support systems available to
people in this modern age with
technology and automation, where
you you don't need the full
staff that maybe you did a
decade ago or two decades ago.
Before we wrap up today, though,
I want to help you identify
whether you need to work on
expanding your mental emotional
capacity for wealth. So you can
expand your law firm business.
So I want you to take a minute
now and answer these questions.
If you are where you can, you're
listening to this someplace
where you're seated, and you can
write down your answers. That
would be great. But if you are
in the car, most of these are
sort of yes or no questions.
You're in the car, or you're out
walking, you can also answer
these mentally in your mind. And
that will work as well. Okay, so
number one, do you feel like you
never get everything done on
your to do list? Even if you
were to work? 24 hours, seven
days a week? Do you want to hire
help? But you worry that they
will do it right? And you'll
have to either do it over? Or
have your reputation ruined? If
they do it wrong? Perhaps you've
hired somebody before and had
that experience? Do you fear
losing control over the details
of clients cases and being out
of the loop? Are you afraid
others will screw up? And you'll
have to pay the price? Do you
think you are the only person
who can serve your clients
adequately? Do you ever feel
like you're just faking it and
hoping others don't find out?
Even though there's no evidence
that this will occur? Are you
intimidated by setting up
systems and automation? Are you
intimidated by technology? And
is that keep you from embracing
some of the tools out there? Do
you think you have to know all
the answers to everything in
your business? Especially before
you start making changes or
growing? Do you worry about
money all the time? Whether it's
in your bank account or not? So
whether you're flush at the
moment, or you're not flushed at
the moment? Are you always
thinking worrying about money?
Do you fear making investments
in your business because you're
worried you'll make an unwise
decision and look foolish? Do
you want a team in theory but
feel overwhelmed by the idea of
hiring them and then training
them? And perhaps one day having
to terminate someone? Are you
delegating everything but those
activities that are the highest
and best use of your time? Do
you even know what activities
are the highest and best use of
your time? Do you know how much
revenue you've made in the last
year in your law firms business
without saying I'll have to
check with my accountant on
that. How much did you make in
profit, your monthly average
revenue expenses and profit or
the cost to acquire a new
client? If these questions as
I'm reading them out, and are
making you feel sweaty, your
palms sweaty, nervous, like
you're gonna have a panic
attack. Don't the reason I'm
asking them is not to freak you
out. The reason I'm asking him
is because I want to help you
open your eyes to why you don't
have the capacity yet for to
grow, own and operate a million
dollar or more law firm
business. Because there is a lot
to learn and a lot of
foundations that you need to
have in place for you to scale
to that
if I handed you most solos
actually the key to a million
dollar law firm today. As I
said, Here you go run it, you've
got a team of, you know, 1020
people. It's a multimillion
dollar firm, you will probably
freak out. Why because you
haven't allowed yourself time to
develop the skills that you need
to be a CEO of our high revenue
generating business. We grow
into being the CEO of a
business, it is not something
that we flip a switch, and
automatically you are a CEO. Not
not working day in and day out
in your business. If I added 100
new clients to your docket in 90
days, you probably freak out.
Why? Because your firm does not
yet have the capacity. And you
very quickly be in over your
head and you'd be absolutely
normal, you'd be absolutely
normal. This is a step by step
process. And so what we want to
do is learn to fall in love, and
embrace the growth process to
get where we want. What I want
you to take away from this
episode is that just because
you're not ready yet to own and
operate a million dollar law
firm does not mean you can't and
won't get there. The next step
is to work on your mindset and
be honest with yourself about
where you are. And the second
step is to ask for help getting
there. Ask for help, can I get
the tools that I need? Right?
What tools or resources are
available to me to help me get
there? If you'd like to join the
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And we so so appreciate it. All
month long. I will be sharing
new resources to help you learn
to be a better manager, a leader
good at hiring and cultivating
curating a top performing team
and this becoming the CEO of a
profitable sustainable law firm
business. So be sure to stay
tuned and get connected. And I
thank you so much for being
here.
