What Lawyers Can Learn From NetFlix

Two days ago in the WSJ I read a great article about Netflix and how the owners are preparing for the demise of DVDs.  Well, demise may be a bit of a strong word but they are well aware that snail mail is going the way of the typewriter and they will need to prepare and adapt their business to what modern technology holds (which as of now appears to be movies sent digitally directly to subscribers’ TVs).

So here’s a really quick summary of the article and how you can employ the same wisdom to your practice.  The first point was that they know that although they are cranking out cash with their current setup it’s not going to last forever (in fact they’ve predicted that in 4 years DVDs will be almost obsolete – not movie-watching, just the DVD part).  What elements of your practice are going to become obsolete or are going to require adaptation to keep up?  Are your clients going to still come into your office to see you, are they going to work with you remotely, does video integration into your current structure make sense.  Is paperwork that is currently being mailed going to be filed electronically (or more of it be filed electronically).  If the economy booms, what areas will take off.  If we have another recession what areas of law will take a hit.  Are you prepared for any or all of these possibilities.

The second part of the article made reference to how Netflix invested several million dollars to create a small box which would go on top of your TV and allow movies to be delivered directly to your TV.  Great idea except that they nixed the idea AFTER development and realized that they were in the movie business.  Not the gadget-development business.  Smart people.

So they outsourced the work to a company that does it best and they focused on what they do best.  Question is, “are you focusing on what you do best and outsourcing what you do not?”  Most lawyers don’t.  Not only do they practice areas of law that they have little or no knowledge about (aka the “general practitioner”) but they also handle their accounting, administrative duties, etc.

Focus people, focus.  We’ve been taught our entire lives to work on what we’re “weak” at.  Forget that.  Our weaknesses are infinite while are strenghts are limited.  Focus on what you do well and do it better.  Besides keeping you happier and sane it helps the bottom line by making sure you’re earning $300 an hour for what you do well versus $0 for making photocopies and sharpening pencils (which I can’t imagine is that hard but it’s certainly not paying you what you’re worth).

Lessons from NetFlix:

1) Be forward thinking by pulling your head out of the sand and seeing what is either forseeable (remember that great term from law school) or inevitable; and

2) Do what you do best and outsource everything else to others who do that stuff best.

Now take a break and watch a DVD while there’s still time!