Recently, I looked up at the calendar and it hit me. . . I’ve been solo for a bit over 6 months now. Now that I’m six months in, and have 2010 behind me, I thought I’d share a few observations and thoughts.
First, and most importantly, the doors are still open and I’ve hit my rhythm. Many of the jitters that accompanied my first month of solo practice are gone. My systems are in place and I no longer spend the time I used to figuring out the logistics of running my firm. With the help and advice of many, including, of course, my wonderful wife, the practice is growing and flourishing.
I am learning how to better use technology and the various computer and net related resources without which my practice would be much harder. Among the tools that help me immensely are Clio, Dropbox, WordPress and Adobe Acrobat. All of these tools allow me to make my practice relatively portable and to keep me accessible and flexible in helping out my construction clients. Without this technology and the use of the “cloud” my practice would be less tenable and more staff would be necessary. Thanks to some of this technology, I can practice lean and mean while maintaining a high level of service.
Of course, I am still a huge supporter of face to face marketing and relationships. Business and relationship development have taken a large role in my new practice. Surprisingly to me, business development has been somewhat easier now that I’m deciding what to do and when. I have found that in many ways I relate to my clients as business owners in a way that I hadn’t before. I think that this has helped me come up with practical advice for them as both contractors and business men.
In short, I feel even better now than when I made the jump. The ride has been a great one and I have confidence that I can overcome any further challenges that solo practice throws my way.
Thank you to all of my friends, colleagues, and family members who have supported The Law Office of Christopher G. Hill, PC and me personally. Without your support and encouragement, both publicly and privately, the last 6 months would not have been half as interesting and fulfilling.
Image from stock.xchng.
As always, I welcome your comments below. Please subscribe to keep up with this and other Construction Law Musings.
It took a lot of courage to take a solo flight, Chris. Your insight and commonsense advice has stayed consistently excellent.
Thanks for the kind words John. I appreciate the support.
Congratulations on six months!
It takes a fair amount of guts to start a solo practice in a down economy, and lots of work to get it going and keep it rolling.
I’ve heard that law schools don’t really provide much in the way of practice management or advice, which strikes me as making it even harder. Have you found a good source of information for the solo operator, aside from the tech tools you mentioned above? More like a ‘think tank’ for absorbing the tactics you need to adopt?
As far as attorneys go, I love Solo Practice University. For solo businesses, I can’t really recommend anyone, but any thoughts are more than appreciated.
Chris-
Your story of starting your new practice and how you leveraged technology to be effective, relevant and competitive is inspiring.
I believe many of us will have to practice “lean and mean” at times and capitalize on technology and social media in a big way to stay competitive, relevant and effective in the days to come.
Continued success my friend…
Imad
Thanks Imad. I appreciate it.
Keep up the good work. I’m a home builder in Charlottesville, Va and I read each of your posts looking for advice and new ideas.
Thanks Kevin. Let me know if I can help you out with anything and thanks for reading.