December 4, 2024

Happier Life, Better Business

The year is drawing to a close, which means I’m looking back on the good and the bad of 2024 and trying to focus, naturally, on the good. Among the good things of 2024 are three key realizations that have helped improve my legal practice. I’m sharing because I think they can be of value to anyone starting, growing, or managing a business. 

One thing that really hit home this year is that when you’re a business owner, business problems are personal problems (and vice versa). This isn’t because a personal problem means that I’m making less money or that I take every frustrating or difficult situation personally. 

I, like most everyone else, enjoy doing the things I’m good at and don’t like to do stuff that feels hard or stresses me out. But, as a business owner, just because something isn’t easy doesn’t mean I can avoid dealing with it. I still have to either slog through it or go back to bed and pull the covers up over my head (I never do that but hey, technically it’s an option). 

There is, however, a third and, IMHO, better option: Understand why the task is hard and figure out how to make it less hard.

As I’ve talked about before, I used to dread posting to this blog because I was sure that some anonymous Internet troll was going to get offended by something I said, scold me for getting a fact wrong or get all huffy over a misplaced comma. I became so focused on not upsetting anyone or making mistakes that I ended up churning out some pretty pedestrian content. Worse, it took me FOREVER and a day to write anything because I obsessively examined and reexamined every damn word. Unsurprisingly, this did not make it easy to regularly post new material.

Acknowledging these feelings was a huge first step in overcoming them. It enabled me to look at my fears objectively and consider if there was any actual data to support their existence (surprise: there wasn’t!). Ultimately, addressing these personal fears and starting to make more regular and compelling blog posts turned out to have huge results for my business, as this blog has measurably helped attract new clients (for which I am extremely grateful). 

The second big revelation is that it’s not only okay to be choosy when taking on clients, it’s critical for my sanity and my firm’s success. For a long time, I operated as if every potential client might be my last. Irrational, to be sure, but also pretty normal. As a result, I felt like I was endangering my business and financial future if I didn’t say yes to any matter that even vaguely fit into my area of expertise. That meant ending up saddled with work that wasn’t profitable or, worse, made me miserable because I either wasn’t interested in the subject or the client didn’t value my insights, knowledge or ideas. Perfect example: Have I litigated securities fraud issues? Sure. Could I do so again? Of course. Do I want to? No! Securities fraud cases are not something I enjoy, nor will they lead to more of the cases I thrive on. In other words, while taking on cases or clients that aren’t a good fit may put money into my pocket in the short term, they don’t result in work I can excel at and people I enjoy working with. That’s where I need to focus my attention. Now, I am way more selective, and while I know that turning down work sounds a little crazy if you’re just starting your own business, it’s been a game changer for me. 

Which leads to my final big discovery of the year: By saying no to things that don’t serve my firm’s (and ultimately, my own) long-term interests, I have more time to focus on doing and getting work that I DO want. My time and energy are finite resources (this is really the BIG realization) and by using them more efficiently I’ve seen rapid, tangible results in the growth of my practice. I’m happier, my clients are happier, and my family are happier. And that’s ALL good, this year and for the years to come.