Profiting From Running Your Firm Like a Business

Profiting From
Running Your Firm
Like a Business
David J. Zumpano, Esq., CPA
Co-Founder, Lawyers With Purpose
© 2016. Lawyers With Purpose, LLC. 1

ENTREPRENEUR
A 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)
© 2016. Lawyers With Purpose, LLC.
• 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.”
3

The four pillars of profitable law firms
• Marketing
• Processes & Systems
• Technology
• People (skill sets)
4

Pillar One: Marketing
• Retail Marketing: (B2C)
 Media (TV/newspaper/radio/etc)
 Public presentations
• Wholesale Marketing: (B2B)
 Allied professionals
 Nursing Homes
5

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
6

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
7© 2016. Lawyers With Purpose, LLC.

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
10

Where else do you use the
Value 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
13

HAVING RMS™ MEETINGS
does not assure referrals from
allied professionals…
Relationships do!

CONSISTENT FOLLOW UP
is ESSENTIAL!
(Do what you say you’re going to and
hold them to what they agree to.)

B2B Marketing

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 required
System: 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!
22

LWP™ Client Enrollment System
Client 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
25
While this is the LWP™ Client Enrollment System, it is
also the first step in the LWP™ Estate Planning System

© 2012 Lawyers With Purpose, LLC
Rev. 6/2014
1 4
1 8
1 13 1 15
1 14

Client Enrollment
(Conversion)© 2016. Lawyers With Purpose, LLC. 28

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
Entrepreneur
Visionary
Transformer(s)
Performer(s)
Group Skills
Leader(s)
Manager(s)
Facilitator(s)
43
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.
45

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.
47

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.
48

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.
49

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)
51

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
52

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”
53

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.
54

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)
59
20%
yellow
40%
blue
40%
green

Your time should be 40% Blue, 40% Green, and 20% Yellow
60
WEEKLY TIME TEMPLATE
Goal(s)
TIME MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY
7:00
7:30
8:00 Email/Voicemail Email/Voicemail Email/Voicemail Email/Voicemail
Department
Meetings
8:30
Billing &
Drafting
Probate &
Trust Admin
Probate &
Trust Admin
9:00
9:30
10:00
Team
Meetings
10:30
11:00
11:30
12:00
12:30
Drafting
Finish Projects
1:00
1:30
2:00
2:30
3:00
3:30
4:00
4:30
5:00
6:00
7:00
8:00

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
61

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.
62

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.
63

GET STARTED NOW!
TAKE ACTION!
www.joinlwp.com

Profiting From Running Your Firm Like a Business

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