Are You a Lonely Lawyer?

Entrepreneurship can be a lonely lonely place.  Not many people get you.  Not even other lawyers.  See, many attorneys who hang out there shingle think that running their business (because that’s what it really is, not a law practice) think that the rules of “regular employment” still apply: 9-5 hours, 45 minute lunch breaks, 401K, health insurance, 2-weeks vacation, etc.

All that goes out the window when you start your own practice.  I’m not saying that you don’t have perks but they certainly don’t follow the rules of regular employment.  You can work 10am to 12pm or you can work 7am to 9pm, you can take days off without having to report to anyone, you will find it a pain in the neck to find affordable health insurance, guess what employer contribution to a retirement plan suddenly means?

All that can be sorted out and you will get to a familiarity and comfortable level with all of this.  But what do you do about the loneliness?  Not the “he broke my heart and I’m home crying” loneliness, the kind that when you meet your 9-5er friends and they can’t relate to a thing you do?  They can’t go for breakfast with you at 10am on Wednesday, whenever you whip out your credit card they will always say, “well, you can just expense it” (I love this one, who do they think you are expensing it to?) and of course the concept of time with family is foreign to them outside of weekends and holidays.  I actually took the day off this Memorial day just so I could spend some time with my “regular” friends (let’s just say at 6am on Tuesday morning we went back to our very different routines).

So how do you overcome the loneliness?  It’s actually quite simple.  Surround yourself with like-minded individuals and entrepreneurs.  And if you care about your well-being at all please do NOT just associate with other lawyers.  There are a lot, seriously, a LOT, of unsuccessful solo practitioners who either don’t know how to run a business or are still stuck thinking they are regular employees (in which case they should not be running their practices to begin with).

Spend your time with SUCCESSFUL entrepreneurs (I highly recommend a “mastermind group”).  The ideas and strategies that are used in business transcend industries and an attorney can learn as much about running and marketing his business from a plumber as a carpenter can learn from a chiropractor.  Do not become deluded into thinking that you are running a law firm.  We are all running businesses and the truths apply universally.  So get out there and make some new entrepreneur friends (but keep the old ones, they’ll be the only ones available to play on the weekends).

Are You STILL Unsure Whether to Start Your Own Law Practice?

A recent subscriber to my newsletter wrote to me and said he’d like to cancel his subscription.  I honored his request and asked him why.  What he said gave me great respect for him.  He didn’t whine, he didn’t complain about how it was too expensive, he didn’t come up with an excuse.  He simply said, “I’m not cut out to be an entrepreneur!”

That I can respect (somewhat like when people don’t drink just because they don’t like the taste of alcohol).  But he’s the exception.  Only about a week back I had a seminar attendee whine to me about how he doesn’t know if he wants to start a law practice or go work for someone else.  He asked for my advice.  In other words, he wanted ME to give him clarity about his life?

What do you want your life to look like in 3 years?

Look, I understand that’s it’s often hard to know what to do.  But it’s not that hard to know where you want to be.  My vote will always be for entrepreneurship but that’s it’s not for everyone.  So figure out what you want your life to look like in 3 years (I say three years because regardless of whether you’re starting your own practice or working for a firm you pay your dues for at least 12 months).

Do you want to be working 60 or 70 hours per week, hopefully making a high six-figure income, only getting to tuck your kids in at night, not having job security, commuting back and forth to the office and remaining in the rat race (fine, I’m a bit biased but if you can justify that lifestyle based on the money more power to you).

Or do you want to work your ass off for the next 12-18 months and establish a practice where you will make MORE money and if you play it smart and listen to what I teach, work less than 20 hours per week.  But that’s not the end goal.  The end goal is more time with your family (or if you don’t have a family and enjoy going out every night and getting lit well, who am I to second-guess you), working from home as and when you choose, might as well throw in a little golf because you know it’s a requirement to be a bar member and overall enjoying the lifestyle we are meant to lead NOW and not when we’re 72 years old and burnt out from the whole idea of practicing law.

So don’t ask me if I think you should start your own practice.   The answer will always be YES.  But if you’re unsure about what you want (and assuming your not a desk rat that really belongs behind a desk all day) then ask yourself, “what do I want my life to look like in 3 years.”  You’ll have your answer.