Post on 12-Jun-2020
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12 Week Executive Crash Course
WEEK 1: Goal Setting, Dashboard, Magic Statement & Niching Your Firm For Success
Week 1 of 12: ❖ Restating Your Professional Goals ❖ Clarifying your Niche & Magic Statement ❖ Mapping your Personal Goals ❖ Identifying your Financial Goals ❖ Using Your Dashboard to Objectively See Your Business
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PROFESSIONAL GOALS You can’t get to where you want to go unless you first get clear on where you are going. Watch/Listen to this very important Goal Setting Webinar. Click here to access the recording.
Why Do You Want Your Law Firm Business
To Be Successful? Let’s make your success unstoppable by working-out the answers to a few seemingly simple
questions that you’ve probably never been asked before:
I Want my Law Firm Business to be Successful so that
or
I Want my Law Firm Business to be Successful to be able to
In order to get to clear on who you want to work with consider your legal practice area as well as the client
type:
My passion is to help people with the following types of legal problems. ______________________________________
I specifically thrive on helping the following types of individuals: ____________________________________________
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NICHE/ MAGIC STATEMENT
In order to convey to individuals one encounters at networking events, social meetings and personal
activities, one must be able to concisely convey what it is you do and how you help people make their lives
better. This is the type of “magic” that grabs people!
Tips to Craft a Successful “Magic Statement”
• Identify who you are helping and what you are helping them do.
• Target your ideal audience and craft your Magic Statement to appeal to the “A client” you want to
represent.
• Use language your client will understand.
• Don’t be long winded - be to the point.
• Make it memorable.
• Make it unique.
• Ask yourself if the Magic Statement may encourage the wrong type of clients and think about how
you could be more specific to exclude those you don’t want.
• Short and sweet – think elevator speech.
• Use Magic Statement to invite further conversation.
• Speak with your own “voice”. What works for one, may not be right for you.
• Play with multiple versions with different adjectives, verbs, adverbs, etc.
• Find a Magic Statement that makes you smile each time you say it. (It should show that you enjoy
doing what you do!)
• “I help . . .”
• “I protect . . .”
• “I defend . . .”
• “I fight for . . .”
• “I represent . . .”
• Edit, Edit, Edit, Refine, Refine, Refine, Boil it Down, Boil it Down, Boil it Down.
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PERSONAL/SOCIAL GOALS
Quantify How You Manage Your Time
Do you have an inappropriate relationship
with your law firm!?
No matter how much time and how much energy you put into your law firm, it’s never
going to love you, and it’s never going to give you a hug.
Your law firm is your mule.
It’s there to pull your plow, so you can grow crops to feed yourself and your family.
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STEP 1: Circle everything you do in a typical day...
Attend Networking Events Document An Office Policy For Staff Payroll
Visit A Client’s Place Of Business Meet With Prospective Referral Source _____________________
Motion Calendar Audit Trust Account Meet With Investigators
Audit Accounts Payable Eat Breakfast Staff Training
Take Deposition Visit Clients Who Cannot Come To You Legal Research
Trial Preparation Develop Discovery Strategy
Chase Down Old Get Training On Law Office Management Software Ongoing CLEs
Present A Speech ______________________ Conduct Trial
Commute To & From Office Pay Bills At The Office _______________________
Give Kids Allowance Pick Up Dry Cleaning Help With Homework
Eat Dinner Personal Hygiene Drop Off Kids At School Read A Book
Draft & Review Documents Conduct Evidentiary ___________________________
Oil Change Read Newspaper Document An Office Procedure
Hearings
__________________ Accounts Receivable Play Bills At Home Spot-Check Staff
Correspondence On Behalf Of Clients Get A Haircut Meet With Litigation Support Professionals
Meet With The Accountant Learn More About Law Office Management
Attend A Sporting Event Voir Dire Attend Hearing Fill Up Car With Gas
Fire Clients See A Movie Conduct A Seminar
Spiritual Time File Maintenance Eat Lunch Sleep Train Clients
Negotiations For Clients Interview Prospective Clients Put Out Fires ____________
Learn About How To Make It Rain ____________________________ Draft Contracts
Grocery Shopping Find The Right Person To Whom Make A Referral
______________________ Prepare For Deposition Alone Time With Significant Other
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STEP 2: Divide YOUR TIME into 3 categories
I. Things You MUST Do Yourself Every Day And Cannot Delegate. #HRS/ WK
Sleep ______
Eat ______
Personal Hygiene ______
Commute ______
Other ______ Subtotal
II. Things You WANT To Do
Exercise/ Hobby ______
Kids Playtime/ Homework ______
Personal Time w/Spouse or S.O. ______
Spiritual Time ______
Social Time w/Friends + Family Other______ Subtotal
III. Things You Do For The Mule To Keep It Healthy + Productive.
Marketing
Networking ______
Sales Calls ______
P.R. ______
Management
Training + Supervision Staff ______
Policies & Procedures ______
Financials
Budget/ A/R’s/ Evergreens ______
Trust Account Management ______ Legal Services
Calls w/ or for Clients ______
Research ______
Court/ Prep for Court ______
Draft/ Review K’s + other Agmts ______
CLE ______ Other ______ Subtotal
Total: 168 hrs
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STEP 3: Count hours
I . Things You MUST Do Yourself Every Day And Cannot Delegate __________ #HRS
II . Things You WANT To Do __________ #HRS
III . Things You Do For The Mule __________ #HRS
TOTAL: __________
24 Hrs x 7 Days = 168 Hrs Available to you every week.
Since life’s not perfect and some weeks will be better than others, it’s best to average
every two-weeks. In other words, some weeks the mule needs you to prepare for a big
case so you’ll give it more Hrs. Other weeks you need time with friends + family. Use this
exercise like any other kind of budget as a management tool not an edict carved in stone.
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From the Newsletter:
A Busy Lawyer’s Guide To Budgeting Your Time
In honor of the recent Memorial Day Weekend I re-read Tom Brokaw’s 1998 book “The Greatest Generation”, which I highly recommend the audio version narrated by the author.
On it’s surface, this article may appear to be about how the most Successful Rainmakers budget their time to balance work and life. But there’s a deeper meaning here for you that we can all learn from the Veterans Brokaw interviewed for the book who reported the feeling of having “lost” the years they spent at war, and being motivated to find a way to “catch up” upon their return to civilian life. According to the book at least, one of the reason for all the extraordinary civilian accomplishments of so many of those Veterans upon their return was the time and pressure of sitting in foxholes planning and prioritizing the way they’d use their remaining time when they got back.
I’ll leave it to you to decide for yourself if you need to go out and sit in a hole in order to get your own priori- ties in order or if a few quite hours in an empty conference room with the phone unplugged and the computer turned-off will suffice. Either way, I give you. . .
A Busy Lawyer’s Guide To Budgeting Your Time
24x 7 = 168. There are 168 hours in a week.
I created a simple worksheet to help you budget your time to be sure you get to spend enough of it with family & friends, instead of in the barn with the mule. With proper planning and just a little bit of discipline, you’ll find it takes far less time, than most people think to professionally operate a successful law firm.
Very often, lawyers are actually disadvantaged by our law school education which emphasizes adherence to precedents. Too often the lawyers with whom I share these exercises begin by budgeting the life they are already unsatisfied with, instead of the one they want to lead.
Instead I want you to begin by thinking about every single thing you do in a day from the mundane tasks like eating and going to the bathroom to the truly important activities such as spending quality time with family and exercise. Then list all the things you do for the business including time spent on administrative tasks like paying bills, training staff, marketing, putting out fires, and of course, delivering high-quality legal services. Don’t even bother to think about how much time each task takes. We’ll get to that later.
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A “Typical” Time Budget
From the hundreds of lawyers with whom I’ve done this exercise, I have a pretty good idea how you’ll likely want to budget your time. Most lawyers with whom I’ve done this exercise over the years end up budgeting their time something like this:
First, we usually talk about the things they MUST do each day, like eating & sleeping. Almost all of the things that absolutely must get done in a day are biological in nature, but also include things like your commute to & from work.
So, before you can get to your workbook, while you’re driving and just listening, let’s just make some rough estimates.
➢ Budget 8 hours a day for sleep, times 7 days is 56 hours a week for sleep.
➢ Let’s figure most people spend about 2 hours a day on personal hygiene.
➢ I’d like you to budget at least half an hour for breakfast, an hour for lunch and two for dinner every
weekday and a little bit more for the weekends, so we’ll figure 20 hours on meals.
➢ And for most lawyers, there’s about an hour-a-day of commuting to & from work five days a week, so that’s 5 more hours for the budget.
That still leaves you with 93 hours you can choose how to use each week. Now, let’s get to the things we WANT to do, but too often sacrifice to the mule.
➢ I want you to budget at least 10 hours each week to spend with family & friends. If you don’t have
any family or friends with whom you can spend the time, use it to find some friends ➢ Budget 5 hours a week for exercise. If you don’t take care of your body, it’s not going to take care of
you and you won’t be able to go out and find lots of great clients, or enjoy the fruits of your labors. ➢ Budget a couple of hours a week on any hobbies you have, or just use the time for quite or spiritual
time to recharge your batteries.
OK, by this time, you’re well rested, well fed and clean. And you’ve spent some quality time with family & friends and taking care of yourself. Guess what? You still have 76 productive hours left to feed the mule!
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PERSONAL GOALS Decide upon personalized GOALS which are measurable, realistic and driven by your desire.
Sleep 7-8 hours each day, so that my body is well rested and I am living a balanced life.
Walk/ Run/ Bike ___ minutes ___ times a week,
Work out ____ times a week. This is important to keep a positive mental state
as well as staying physically fit.
Reduce my BMI to ____ by __________. Lose _____ lbs by _______. This will involve both daily exercise and changing of
eating habits.
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Read one 'real' book a week.
Spend ___ hrs per week on ____________________, my favorite hobby.
Spend ___ hrs per week studying ________________ (language/ musical instrument/ art/ creative endeavor)
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Volunteer ___ hrs/ wk in one charity/ organization I truly care about.
Focus on family without distraction ___ evenings per week
Spend one night a week on "date night".
Plan a ___ week vacation.
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
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FINANCIAL GOALS
Step 1. Visualize the life you WANT to be living 12 months from now.
Use the worksheet on the next page to be sure you remember you take into account the
cost of life & disability insurance to protect that lifestyle once achieved and project it
forward for the way you want to be loving your life 12 months from now, in three years,
and even five years from now.
Step 2. Alright, so what does it cost to live that lifestyle?
[A]
Step 3. Now multiply [A] times two and that gives you your annual Gross Income Goal:
[B]
Step 4. Divide [B] by 12 months to determine your gross monthly revenue
requirement: [C]
Step 5. Here we get a little more granular. Some might say “gritty”. There are 52 weeks in
the year ahead. Deduct all the major holidays and you’re left with only 50 weeks. Deduct
another 2-weeks for “life” to happen to you (kid gets sick, best friend needs a shoulder to
cry on, the day is just too nice to be cooped up in an office so you go to the beach) and now
you’re left with just 48 productive weeks in the year. Now budget at least 2 weeks for a
vacation so you can thank yourself and your family for supporting your career and now we
have no more than just 46 productive weeks in which to achieve your annual financial
goal.
Annual Gross Income Goal [A] divided by 46 (or fewer) weeks = Weekly Gross Income
Goal: [D]
So now you know what your law firm has to generate in gross revenues each week in order
to hit your gross income goals, in order to extract your net income requirements in order
to support the lifestyle you want to enjoy.
Keep that number in mind. This will be an important number we will refer back to and I’ll
show you how and why to measure it when we get to the modules about Financial
Controls.
How much money does your law firm business need to produce...
in order to support the lifestyle you have chosen for yourself?
Let’s look at your spending now. Then figure out how much it costs to live the way you want to be living.
NOW GOAL HOME
▪ Mortgage/ Rent _______________ _______________
▪ Utilities _______________ _______________ ▪ Telephone/ Cell _______________ _______________ ▪ Domestic Services _______________ _______________ ▪ Maintenance _______________ _______________ ▪ Groceries _______________ _______________ ▪ Clothing _______________ _______________ ▪ Other _______________ _______________
Subtotal: _______________ _______________
ENTERTAINMENT ▪ Restaurants _______________ _______________ ▪ Theater/Sporting Events/ Etc _______________ _______________ ▪ Hobbies _______________ _______________ ▪ Social Clubs _______________ _______________ ▪ Dues/ Subscriptions _______________ _______________ ▪ Other _______________ _______________
Subtotal: _______________ _______________
LEISURE ▪ Vacations _______________ _______________ ▪ Travel _______________ _______________ ▪ 2nd Home _______________ _______________ ▪ Toys (ex: boat, motorcycle, etc) _______________ _______________ ▪ Other _______________ _______________
Subtotal: _______________ _______________
INSURANCE ▪ Health _______________ _______________ ▪ Life _______________ _______________ ▪ Disability _______________ _______________ ▪ Auto _______________ _______________ ▪ Home _______________ _______________ ▪ Boat _______________ _______________
▪ Other _______________ _______________ Subtotal: _______________ _______________
DEBT SERVICE ▪ Credit Cards _______________ _______________ ▪ Student Loans _______________ _______________ ▪ Alimony _______________ _______________ ▪ Child Support _______________ _______________ ▪ Other _______________ _______________
Subtotal: _______________ _______________
SAVINGS/ RETIREMENT ▪ Savings Account 1 _______________ _______________ ▪ Savings Account 2 _______________ _______________ ▪ Savings Account 3 _______________ _______________ ▪ Retirement _______________ _______________ ▪ Other _______________ _______________
Subtotal: _______________ _______________
TRANSPORTATION ▪ Car _______________ _______________ ▪ Car _______________ _______________ ▪ Other _______________ _______________
Subtotal: _______________ _______________
EDUCATION ▪ Adult personal development** _______________ _______________ ▪ Child 1 529 plan/ current tuition _______________ _______________ ▪ Child 2 529 plan/ current tuition _______________ _______________▪ Child 3 529 plan/ current tuition _______________ _______________▪ Child 4 529 plan/ current tuition _______________ _______________▪ Other _______________ _______________
Subtotal: _______________ _______________
** Note: Professional education will be a business expense.
CHARITY ▪ Charity 1 _______________ _______________ ▪ Charity 2 _______________ _______________ ▪ Other _______________ _______________
Subtotal: _______________ _______________
Subtotal Home: _______________ Subtotal Entertainment: _______________ Subtotal Leisure: _______________ Subtotal Insurance: _______________ Subtotal Debt Services: _______________ Subtotal Savings: _______________ Subtotal Transportation: _______________ Subtotal Education: _______________
Subtotal Charity: _______________ Total: _______________
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DASHBOARD
A crucial part to running a successful law firm business is to manage your business by
the numbers. Numbers are objective. The black and white numbers tell a story that can
help an owner quickly diagnose what is working and what is not working without
getting swayed with the “story” that staff or others tell.
It is also important to see these numbers month over month to see the trend and see
the bigger picture of what is happening in your firm. Some lawyers are great with
numbers, some are not… the key is to get started and start entering the numbers so you
can then analyze the numbers over time.
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MILESTONES Need To Do Goal Date Done Tickle to Revise
GOALS: Watch/Listen to Goals Setting Webinar: ☐ ___________ ☐ ______________ FINANCIAL GOALS – Annual Gross Income: ☐ ___________ ☐ ______________ FINANCIAL GOALS – Weekly Gross Income: ☐ ___________ ☐ ______________ FINANCIAL GOALS – 1, 3, 5 Years: ☐ ___________ ☐ ______________ PROFESSIONAL GOALS – Written: ☐ ___________ ☐ ______________ PROFESSIONAL GOALS – Niche: ☐ ___________ ☐ ______________ PROFESSIONAL GOALS – Magic Stmt: ☐ ___________ ☐ ______________ PERSONAL GOALS – Exercise: ☐ ___________ ☐ ______________
PERSONAL GOALS – Reading: ☐ ___________ ☐ ______________ PERSONAL GOALS – Hobbies: ☐ ___________ ☐ ______________ PERSONAL GOALS – 168 Hours: ☐ ___________ ☐ ______________ DASHBOARD – Enter Goal Numbers: ☐ ___________ ☐ ______________ DASHBOARD – Enter Historical Numbers: ☐ ___________ ☐ ______________ DASHBOARD – Enter. Weekly Numbers: ☐ ___________ ☐ ______________
FORUM – Go onto Forum and Post your Goals: ☐ ___________ ☐ ______________