Solo Practice

During the process of planning for the start of any law practice there will be a time when you are making difficult decisions regarding things like equipment, technology and software, research resources/subscriptions, furniture, marketing material, advertising expenses, office space and staff.  I consider this the Needs vs. Wants dilemma.   It is not unlike what we face in our everyday personal lives when we are deciding between things like the new iPhone or our existing Razr, a new big screen HD television or our existing picture tube style TV, or a new luxury sedan or a Camry.  The same kinds of decisions will befall a soon-to-be solo practitioner.  Do you start your practicing out of a home office or do you sign a lease for your own commercial office space?  Do you use your existing laptop or do you purchase a new MacBook Pro or an iMac?  How about that old desk and chair in your extra room or collecting dust in your basement? 

The decisions your make will go along way towards determining the size of the hole you find yourself standing in when you finally open the doors of your new law practice.  If you can arm yourself with only one attribute when you start your business I suggest that this attribute be savvy financial decision making.  Trust me you will be happy you waited until you could cash flow the upgrade purchases as opposed to strapping yourself in debt.

I hope to construct a more thorough list of the needs versus wants for a solo or small law firm start-up in another post in the near future.  What I can say now is that the needs list is similar to what I have mentioned a number of times before including a law license, a computer, a printer, a desk or work areas, and a clue.  The wants are some combination of everything else that you have seen or heard about in an office setting.  The bottom line is that you will have to pick and choose your spots to spend more and to also spend less.  My opinion is that the technology area is not the place to be cheap, but it also an area that can get away from you quickly if you are not careful.  I also came to find out that a solid, workhorse multifunction machine can be lifesaver.  More importantly an efficient multifunction machine is a cost saver when you calculate ink or toner costs with the initial cost over the long-term.  Office space is a whole other animal and quite frankly there are hundreds of post discussing that decision in much more detail.  All I would add is to once again reinforce the importance of being financially smart and realistic when deciding between a home office, an office share, or your own commercial office space.  I can make arguments for all three approaches.  It really depends on your practice and your target clientele. 

Again this is just a start to the discussion of Needs vs. Wants.  I will make it a point to revisit this topic over the next few months with more attention paid to each particular area.  You never know it might help move you off the fence on a couple of those decisions holding up the completion of your business plan.