Solo Practice

The Financial Post has a wonderful piece titled, " Understanding the Psychology of the Successful" in which it explains the traits and characteristics unique to the individual who becomes a successful solo entrepreneur and these traits and characteristics clearly translate to the lawyer who starts her own solo practice.

A recent finding of interest is that contrary to the popular conception of successful entrepreneurs being solely independent, single-minded and devoted to their unique passions, they are also characterized by high levels of social competence and social intelligence, with an ability to build relationships and to connect with others on a social and interpersonal level.

As well, early research has indicated that successful entrepreneurs seem to think a bit differently from the rest of us, viewing the world and the potential risks in it through a different lens. For example, they often have a unique ability to see opportunities others fail to recognize. Or they may judge ambiguous business conditions in more positive, enthusiastic, and optimistic terms. One of the appealing notions of exploring these and other cognitive strategies employed by successful entrepreneurs is they are likely learnable skills that education, training and practice can improve upon.

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Additionally, evidence indicates startup firms that take advantage of resources such as mentoring, counselling and other small business development assistance have a better survival and growth rate than do their peers.

There is a growing body of work discussing what separates entrepreneurs from employees and there seems to be a unifying theme of creativity and commitment to the end goal..a global vision and the stamina and endurance to do what it takes to realize the vision. In additon:

Nascent entrepreneurs are often relatively comfortable with ambiguity, uncertainty and risk, strongly influence events (what psychologists refer to as self-efficacy), and have high levels of work motivation.

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However, another "type" of intelligence is even more important to the outcome of an entrepreneurial venture. Some blend of critical analytical thinking, creativity, and practical implementation of ideas, which psychologists often refer to as "successful intelligence" can also predict outcomes such as business growth rate.

Entrepreneurs with higher levels of successful intelligence are likely to be better positioned to navigate the environment they are in -- an environment often characterized by urgency, uncertainty, insufficient resources and rapid change.

This is some pretty inspiring and heady stuff.  It also explains why solos persist in the face of professional negativity:

Entrepreneurs with higher levels of successful intelligence are likely to be better positioned to navigate the environment they are in -- an environment often characterized by urgency, uncertainty, insufficient resources and rapid change.

It really needed to be repeated ;^)

Solo practitioners quite often, in my experience, exhibit these characteristics in abundance.  They are disinterested in over analyzing and more committed to getting started.  While they may do an informal calculus regarding possibilities...it is just that..informal and not meant to be a deterrent.  It's simply an assessment of potential hurdles they must clear.

Where do you fit into all of this?